ReedALOUD: How to Code a Sandcastle

My second graders and I recently read How to Code a Sandcastle by Josh Funk and illustrated by Sara Palacios. This is the first picture book in the Girls Who Code library. 

In How to Code a Sandcastle, Pearl and Pascal, her rust-proof (thank goodness) robot, hope to build a sandcastle before summer vacation is over. With summer on the horizon, it was perfect timing for this introduction to coding. My second graders were quickly engaged and eager to share their ideas and solutions. 

In this thoroughly-fun story of trial and error sandcastle building, Josh Funk introduces computer coding language and concepts as Pearl learns how to give her robot instructions that he will understand. 

Josh Funk effectively imparts both the vocabulary and the process, showing readers how bigger problems need to be broken down into smaller ones such as: find a place to build the sandcastle; gather up the sand; and, shape and decorate the castle. 

This engaging and informative book introduce ideas and concepts around coding in such a relatable way that if one has not been to a beach, any sandbox castle building will suffice as background experience.

It's not surprising that Josh Funk has been able to create an accessible and fun book about coding due to the fact that he writes code as a software engineer by day while penning humorous stories by night.

After reading the book, the students shared ideas for processes for which they could write a code (or set of instructions). It was initially hard for them to think about smaller steps (or problems) within bigger ones, for instance a student wanted to write the code for going to school in the morning, yet each of her steps could actually be broken down into its own set of instructions. 

To help get them started, I wrote out the steps for brushing teeth and gave each student a step in the process. They had to try to get themselves in the right order. When they thought they had the right order, I acted out their steps. After a few shifts in position - edits to our code - they had me successfully brushing my teeth! It was so cool to watch them problem solve.

I also purposely left out one step. We ran through it again to see if they noticed, which of course they did. We had put the toothpaste away without replacing the cap. We inserted this important instruction and had one successful code for brushing teeth.

(If you try this, be prepared for a bit of noisy fun. We tried to do it silently, but that was too hard. It helped to place the beginning and end of the code first. It was easier when I had two other adults in the library than with the class when I was on my own with the 25 students managing the process.)

The students then had a chance to go off and try their hands at writing a code of their choice. It was hard but fun work. I read codes for dunking a basketball, tying shoes, making pancakes, fishing, and many other cool things. Here are a few examples:

Good news for my students and other fans of this book, I happened to notice that under the books section of Josh's website the title, "How to Code a Roller Coaster." Sounds like another great way to get children thinking about coding, but we'll have to wait until 2019!