The week of December 7-13, 2015 is Computer Science Week. Experts in the field encourage all children to participate in an “hour of code” during that week. They foresee that, by the time our children become adults, their jobs will include computer programming in some way. By learning the basics of coding (writing computer programs) now, children will be able to meet the challenge when the time comes. In the library at CJL, we dedicate the entire month of December to coding. That way, every class has an opportunity to try coding during their monthly library lesson.
The kindergartners got a head start on coding before Thanksgiving. After reading a book about the life cycle of the honey bee, the children met Bee-
Bot, a robot shaped like a bee. Bee-Bot can be programmed to move forward or backward and to turn 90 degrees left or fight. The children took turns programming Bee-Bot so it moved from one square to another across a grid. They were excited by the activity and everyone waited patiently for a turn.
Mrs. Cousens’ third and fourth graders also met Bee-Bot. After hearing an information book about animal robots, the students programmed Bee-Bot to travel to a square on the grid that they pre-determined. The children also had the opportunity to program Bee-Bot virtually using the iPad app with the same name.
All first and second graders are all enrolled in the introductory coding course available at Code.org. They began working their way through the 
course this week. After practicing dragging and dropping, the children solved a variety of puzzles involving Angry Birds. They had to write simple programs using arrows to make the Angry Bird get the Pig. What fun! The children will continue in the course during library and computer labs visits throughout the month.
Mrs. LaPointe’s fourth graders and Mr. Harmon and Miss Spinney’s sixth graders are also enrolled in coding opportunities at Code.org. Actually, they are enrolled in two exciting “Hour of Code” courses: Star Wars and Minecraft! When the students visited the library this week, they had a choice of which course to begin. They can opt to complete both courses, if they choose.
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