Computer Science (CS) First
CS First is a free web-based program that exposes students to computer science through video tutorials and modules that students participate in as after-school, in-school and summer programs. Designed for grades 4-8, CS First teaches students about computer science and coding in a hands-on, learning-by-doing way.
CS First is one of many Google initiatives focused on computer science education and Donora Public Library is proud to provide this learning experience to our youth patrons. CS First utilizes Scratch programming, which is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab. It is available for free at https://scratch.mit.edu.
Interested patrons, ages 9-14, may sign up for any of the CS First classes being offered at the library. The courses being offered, on a trial basis, are listed below with their descriptions. There is no minimum number of youth patrons, however the maximum number of course participants is set at 8.
CS First Course Offerings
Create Your Own Google Logo
Be a designer and a programmer—bring the google logo to life using code. This one hour course, designed as an introduction to CS First and scratch programming is perfect for those youth patrons who want to “test the waters” with a small project prior to committing to a larger, lengthier project.
Sign ups are being taken at the Front Desk. Once 4 youth patrons have committed, the class date will be set and youth patrons will be notified of the date and time.
Storytelling with Scratch
In Storytelling, students use computer science to tell fun and interactive stories. Storytelling emphasizes creativity by encouraging students to tell a unique story.
This course will be completed over an 8-week period with classes held once a week for 45-60 minutes. Students will receive Passports to Computer Science in order to keep track of their progress. Students will also earn achievement badges to fill their Passports with.
Interested youth patrons may sign up for this course at the Front Desk. Students will be notified of the start date and time. Tentatively, the course is being planned for Saturday mornings from 10am to 11am.