Mission CISD (Consolidated Independent School District) partnered with the City of Mission’s Speer Memorial Library to introduce their Summer Reading Club members to coding. Last year, MCISD fourth graders began learning simple coding through the use of Ozobots, small robots that are programmed with line segments and color codes to follow paths and perform tricks. Coded paths can be created with blocks of black, red, blue, and green, and the range of what the robots can do is only limited by the coder’s imagination
On Wednesday, June 28, the library’s Summer Reading Club members had a chance to play and learn basic coding concepts with the MCISD Ozobot workshop led by Mims Elementary teacher Sonia O. Salinas and Bryan Elementary teacher Rhonda Peña. Club members ranged in age with some as young as five-years-old who were able to follow the basic concepts to draw directions for their robot. The fun and engaging lesson is part of the district’s emphasis on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics). Next year, MCISD fifth graders will learn coding through drones, which are small aircrafts that students will be able to control remotely by writing code.