FLINT, MI – Third-grade students maneuvered through mazes in the popular "Angry Birds" video game Tuesday, Dec. 10, at Brownell/Holmes Elementary.
"You have to think about either to move forward or turn left or turn right," said Tamia Gray, 8. "It gets harder to make every time you move up a level."
Students used the game to blend fun with learning, coinciding with Code.org and Microsoft's "Hour of Code" – an initiative that teaches the basics of computer programming and video game development as a part of Computer Science Education Week, originally conceived by the Computing in the Core coalition.
Anna Johnson, a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) facilitator at the school, said the idea to bring the program to students started during Flint Mayor Dayne Walling's visit to Washington, D.C. Walling sent an e-mail to the school district's superintendent, asking how the district can implement the free program offered to schools nationwide, Johnson said.
"We want our children in Flint to have the world of opportunities open to them," he said. "Right now, there's no better way for them to do that than to get their education and consider computer science for their career."
Walling said the exercise was important,, as it taught connections between computer science and the outside world.
Mekhi Moore, 8, said he learned for the first time that games can be made using math and science.
"Coding is fun, you get to make games," Moore said. "Sometimes, it will be hard, sometimes, it is easy. You can build games and play the games that you built."
Olga May-Henley, third grade teacher at Brownell/Holmes Elementary, said it taught problem solving skills to her 30 students.
"Our kids are visual; they have to hear and see it," May-Henley said. "Some kids are struggling with reading, so a book is not going to excite them."
May-Henley said her students can learn course material by plugging into an iPad and listening to a story and answering corresponding questions.
Johnson said the approach accommodates all students.
"Our children sometimes are very impulsive," Johnson said. "When we give them opportunities to stop and think and plan ahead, it teaches them how to use it in their everyday life."
To Johnson, the material in the program is packaged in a fun way.
"All of this connects with math," Johnson said. "The geometry, the science behind it, is just wrapped in a fun package."
The school has STEM labs for grades three through six and two computer labs. A current class tasks students with building a model car to restrain a clay figure, examining impact and force.
"It's a relationship to real-world studies so there's a real connection instead of just 'My teacher told me to do this,' " Johnson said.
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling presented certificates honoring the students' participation in Microsoft's "Hour of Code."
"You're a part of National Computer Science Education Week and all of you now know what it's like to do computer programming," Walling said. "It's been a successful morning for you, so congratulations."
Eddie Turner, 9, said he had fun learning computer coding for the first time.
"You can teach other people how to do (coding)," Turner said, when asked how important he thought the exercise was.
Johnson said the exercise can reveal students' capabilities and future career paths.
"I always tell my kids it's important to know what you can be before you choose what you want to do," Johnson said. "By sharing this with them, they are learning about a career that they may or may not choose to pursue, but at least they know about it and have options."