Preparation

-personal run-through of MAKE worksheets to get familiar with PC parts

-play games to identify potential struggle areas

Week One:

• Make 0
  • Have students draw and label what they think the inside of a computer looks like
  • Discussion questions:
    • Laptop vs Desktop?
    • Ask students about their drawings, ask questions about components
      • Try to get them to give reasons for different aspects of the design
  • Have several (or all - based on time) present their ideas to the class and allow other students to ask questions
• Make 1
  • Have students pick computers and peripherals
  • Give them time to get set-up and label their parts with their name (and their computer’s name if they choose to do so)
  • Let the students explore how things are connected before handing out Make 1
  • Instruct them to start the worksheet
  • Discussion questions:
    • How do you think the letter ‘M’ is sent from the keyboard to the computer?
    • What form is that signal? What is the computer getting from the keyboard?
    • This is about them theorizing their own understanding so I was not worried about correct answers, just that they are coming up with reasons to support their hypotheses. Ask a lot of why and how questions.
  • Let them discuss with each other, ask for one or two different answers per question in final discussion
  • Guide students to correct answer in the final discussion, with answers based on their level of experience
• Make 2
  • Let students clean their computers and components with compressed air or another type of blower
  • While they are waiting for their turn, they should work on Make 2
  • For the Urban Scholars program, 3 “sabotages” were performed prior to the students arrival. At Loudonville Elementary, the students collected the computer disassembled. I believe the second is the best way to go because the students become familiar with all of the computer parts.
  • Have the students make sure they have all internal components (i.e. hard drive, cd drive, power supply, etc.)
  • Before assembling, the students should identify the components and label where they think they should go in the Make
  • Discussion questions:
    • Focus on the purpose of the parts - why do you think this one does this?
    • Ask about identifying marks on the pieces, where would this plug fit? What could these symbols mean?

Week Two:

• Finish Make 2
  • Students do not need to have the correct identifications in this Make
• Make 3
  • Use Make 3 to correct/reinforce the ideas in Make 2
  • The students should read the descriptions of the parts and identify them in the figures
  • Discussion questions:
    • Lots of why questions to guide the student to the correct answer
  • Go over the sheet as a group, making sure every student has the correct answers and they understand the purpose of the components
• Make 4
  • Let the students begin the build process
  • For sabotage - have them turn their computers on. When they don’t work, they should use the questions to guide their fixes.
  • For complete rebuild - they should use the figures in Make 3 and the other identifying marks on components and the case to figure out where a piece goes. When they finish, they should turn it on and use the questions in Make 4 guide them through what to do if it doesn’t work
  • This is a great spot to find out if the student has been retaining the component names and purposes. Ask questions about what they do, where they should be connected to, and what does every component need?
  • **Every piece needs data and power**

Week Three:

• Continue Make 4
  • This Make takes every student a different amount of time. When they finish, and the computer turns on, they can continue to Make 5.
• Make 5
  • This is an exploratory activity and does not require much discussion. However, make sure the student is not rushing and can find something again if needed.
• By the end of this week, they should start Make 6 so the hard drive wipe will be finished by the next meeting
  • Give the student their DBan disk.
  • Let them boot the program and wipe the drive.
  • When they have started the process, they can move on to the activity of their choice from the following:
    • Taken Charge - a computer game that explores computer parts, their integration and the software needed to run the computer
    • Code Academy - HTML tutorial to build a website or the Command Line tutorial
    • Vim Adventures - a game that also teaches you how to use a text editor
    • Vim Golf

Week Four:

• We chose to skip Make 7 in our program
• Make 8
  • Give the students their Ubuntu install CD
  • Have them go through Make 8 and install the OS
  • Let them choose usernames and passwords as they see fit
  • When they finished, I let them choose a desktop wallpaper as well
• When they finished, they could play any of the games mentioned in the last week

Week Five:

• Make 9
  • This is a pretty independent activity. Mentors were more hands off and the students worked together
  • Make sure the students are on task
  • For the slide, instead of doing their school, I had the students do an all about me slide with their favorite color, food, and animal
  • I also tasked them with making a word document in Libre Office about one computer component, its job and what parts it communicates with. They had to include a picture.
• Following this, they could play any of the games

Week Six:

• Make 10 and Make 11
  • They should be able to complete these on their own but may need minimal guidance from the mentors
  • Mentors should walk around and make sure students are on task
• With any remaining time, they worked on the Code Academy Command Line tutorial (as many had not started)

Week Seven:

• Make 12
  • This Make takes longer and they may need to reference the Code Academy tutorial on HTML for help. I gave them the entire class. When they finished, they could play any of the games.

Week Eight:

• Share their websites with the class and play any of the games.
• Give enough time to pack up the computers to send home!

Notes:

-kids liked hands-on activities and learning parts, suggest disassembling computers to extend build process

-come prepared with activities for more advanced students, like coding challenges