![Cpalms [Logo]](/images/cpalms_color.png)
Word (.docx)
Acrobat (.pdf)
Create CMAP
Course Standards
General Course Information and Notes
Version Description
PURPOSE
Computing is so fundamental to understanding and participating in society that it is valuable for every student to learn as part of a modern education. Computer science can be viewed as a liberal art, a subject that provides students with a critical lens for interpreting the world around them. Computer science prepares all students to be active and informed contributors to our increasingly technological society whether they pursue careers in technology or not. Computer science can be life-changing, not just skill training.
Students learn best when they are intrinsically motivated. This course prioritizes learning experiences that are active, relevant to students' lives, and provide students authentic choice. Students are encouraged to be curious, solve personally relevant problems and to express themselves through creation. Learning is an inherently social activity, so the course is designed to interweave lessons with discussions, presentations, peer feedback, and shared reflections. As students proceed through the pathway, the structures increasingly shift responsibility to students to formulate their own questions, develop their own solutions, and critique their work.
It is also critical to diversify the technology workforce. Addressing inequities within the field of computer science is critical to bringing computer science to all students. The tools and strategies in this course will help teachers understand and address well-known equity gaps within the field. All students can succeed in computer science when given the right supports and opportunities, regardless of prior knowledge.
OVERVIEW AND GOALS
Computer Science Discoveries 1 introduces students to computer science as a vehicle for problem solving, communication, and personal expression. The course focuses on the visible aspects of computing and computer science and encourages students to see where computer science exists around them and how they can engage with it as a tool for exploration and expression.
Additional Notes - Pedagogical Approach to Learning: Teacher as Lead Learner
What is the Lead Learner approach?
As the lead learner, the teacher role shifts from being the source of knowledge to that of a leader in seeking knowledge. The lead learner's mantra is: "I may not know the answer, but I know that together we can figure it out."
The philosophy of the lead learner strategy is that students can benefit from having a model to demonstrate the learning process. Being a lead learner doesn't discount the need for a teacher to develop computer science content expertise, but it does allow for an environment of openness with students about the teacher learning process. Modeling and teaching how to learn are the most important factors to consider in order to be successful with this style of teaching and learning.
The lead learner technique represents good teaching practice in general. One important role of the teacher in the Computer Science Discoveries classroom is to model excitement about investigating how things work by asking motivating questions about why things work they way they do or are the way they are. With teacher guidance, students will learn how to hypothesize; ask questions of peers; test, evaluate, and refine solutions collaboratively; seek out resources; analyze data; and write clear and cogent code.
Florida’s Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) Standards
This course includes Florida’s B.E.S.T. ELA Expectations (EE) and Mathematical Thinking and Reasoning Standards (MTRs) for students. Florida educators should intentionally embed these standards within the content and their instruction as applicable. For guidance on the implementation of the EEs and MTRs, please visit and select the appropriate B.E.S.T. Standards package.
English Language Development (ELD) Standards Special Notes Section:
Teachers are required to provide listening, speaking, reading and writing instruction that allows English language learners (ELL) to communicate for social and instructional purposes within the school setting. For the given level of English language proficiency and with visual, graphic, or interactive support, students will interact with grade level words, expressions, sentences and discourse to process or produce language necessary for academic success. The ELD standard should specify a relevant content area concept or topic of study chosen by curriculum developers and teachers which maximizes an ELL’s need for communication and social skills. To access an ELL supporting document which delineates performance definitions and descriptors, please click on the following link: {{AzureStorageLink}}/uploads/docs/standards/eld/si.pdf.
Accommodations
Federal and state legislation requires the provision of accommodations for students with disabilities as identified on the secondary student's Individual Educational Plan (IEP) or 504 plan or postsecondary student's accommodations' plan to meet individual needs and ensure equal access. Accommodations change the way the student is instructed. Students with disabilities may need accommodations in such areas as instructional methods and materials, assignments and assessments, time demands and schedules, learning environment, assistive technology and special communication systems. Documentation of the accommodations requested and provided should be maintained in a confidential file.
In addition to accommodations, some secondary students with disabilities (students with an IEP served in Exceptional Student Education (ESE) will need modifications to meet their needs. Modifications change the outcomes and or what the student is expected to learn, e.g., modifying the curriculum of a secondary career and technical education course.
Additional Resources
Additional resources and a free curriculum that may be utilized for this course can be found at https://curriculum.code.org/csd-18/ and https://codehs.com/info/states/florida.
Qualifications
As well as any certification requirements listed on the course description, the following qualifications may also be acceptable for the course:
Any field when certification reflects a bachelor or higher degree.
In order for this course to be taught with fidelity teachers without a computer science certification or related postsecondary coursework should, at a minimum, have completed a course in computer science such as those offered through a MOOC from a reputable institution or by attending training such as those offered by code.org.
General Information
Educator Certifications
Student Resources
Original Student Tutorials
Read more from the fantasy novel The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald in Part Two of this three-part series. By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to compare and contrast the archetypes of two characters in the novel.
Make sure to complete all three parts of this series!
Click to view "Archetypes -- Part One: Examining an Archetype in The Princess and the Goblin."
Click HERE to view "Archetypes -- Part Three: Comparing and Contrasting Archetypes in Two Fantasy Stories."
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to determine the key traits of a main character named Princess Irene in excerpts from the fantasy novel The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald. In this interactive tutorial, you’ll also identify her archetype and explain how textual details about her character support her archetype.
Make sure to complete all three parts of this series!
Click to view "Archetypes -- Part Two: Examining Archetypes in The Princess and the Goblin."
Click HERE to view "Archetypes -- Part Three: Comparing and Contrasting Archetypes in Two Fantasy Stories."
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to identify aspects of setting and character as you analyze several excerpts from “The Yellow Wallpaper," a chilling short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman that explores the impact on its narrator of being confined to mostly one room. You'll also determine how the narrator’s descriptions of the story’s setting better reveal her emotional and mental state.
This interactive tutorial is Part One in a two-part series. By the end of Part Two, you should be able to explain how the narrator changes through her interaction with the setting. Click below to launch Part Two.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Continue to examine several excerpts from the chilling short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, which explores the impact on its narrator of being confined to mostly one room. In Part Two of this tutorial series, you'll determine how the narrator’s descriptions of the story’s setting reveal its impact on her emotional and mental state. By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to explain how the narrator changes through her interaction with the setting.
Make sure to complete Part One before beginning Part Two. Click to launch "The Power to Cure or Impair: The Importance of Setting in 'The Yellow Wallpaper' -- Part One."
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the mysterious poem “The House on the Hill” by Edwin Arlington Robinson in this interactive tutorial. As you explore the poem's message about the past, you’ll identify the features of a villanelle in the poem. By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to explain how the form of a villanelle contributes to the poem's meaning.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Continue to explore the significance of the famous poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, lines from which are engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
In Part Two of this two-part series, you’ll identify the features of a sonnet in the poem "The New Colossus." By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to explain how the form of a sonnet contributes to the poem's meaning.
Make sure to complete Part One before beginning Part Two.
Click to launch "A Giant of Size and Power -- Part One: Exploring the Significance of 'The New Colossus.'"
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Continue to explore excerpts from the beginning of the historical fiction novel The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez in Part Two of this two-part series. In Part Two, you'll examine how setting influences characters.
Make sure to complete Part One first. Click to launch "Analyzing the Beginning of The Red Umbrella -- Part One: How Setting Influences Events."
Type: Original Student Tutorial
In Part One, explore the significance of the famous poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, lines from which are engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
This famous poem also happens to be in the form of a sonnet. In Part Two of this two-part series, you’ll identify the features of a sonnet in the poem. By the end of this tutorial series, you should be able to explain how the form of a sonnet contributes to the poem's meaning. Make sure to complete both parts!
Click HERE to launch "A Giant of Size and Power -- Part Two: How the Form of a Sonnet Contributes to Meaning in 'The New Colossus.'"
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore excerpts from the beginning of the historical fiction novel The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez in this two-part series. In Part One, you'll examine how setting influences events. In Part Two, you'll examine how setting influences characters.
Make sure to complete both parts! Click to launch Part Two.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how to write a great "CER" paragraph that includes a claim, evidence, and reasoning with this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the poem “The Twelfth Song of Thunder” from the Navajo Mountain Chant. In this interactive tutorial, you'll examine how a refrain in the poem better develops a theme of the poem.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the poem “The Railway Train” by Emily Dickinson in this interactive tutorial. Learn about personification and vivid descriptions and determine how they contribute to the meaning of a poem.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore Robert Frost's poem "Mending Wall" and examine words, phrases, and lines with multiple meanings. In this interactive tutorial, you'll analyze how these multiple meanings can affect a reader’s interpretation of the poem.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Examine the topics of transformation and perfection as you read excerpts from the “Myth of Pygmalion” by Ovid and the short story “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. By the end of this two-part, interactive tutorial series, you should be able to explain how the short story draws on and transforms source material from the original myth.
This tutorial is the second in a two-part series.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Examine the topics of transformation and perfection as you read excerpts from the “Myth of Pygmalion” by Ovid and the short story “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. By the end of this two-part, interactive tutorial series, you should be able to explain how the short story draws on and transforms source material from the original myth.
This tutorial is the first in a two-part series. .
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn more about that dreaded word--plagiarism--in this interactive tutorial that's all about citing your sources, creating a Works Cited page, and avoiding academic dishonesty!
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore computer coding on the farm by using IF statements and repeat loops to evaluate mathematical expressions. In this interactive tutorial, you'll also solve problems involving inequalities.
Click below to check out the other tutorials in the series.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore computer coding on the farm by using relational operators and IF statements to evaluate expressions. In this interactive tutorial, you'll also solve problems involving inequalities.
Click below to check out the other tutorials in the series.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn more about that dreaded word--plagiarism--in this interactive tutorial that's all about citing your sources and avoiding academic dishonesty!
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore computer coding on the farm by using condition and IF statements in this interactive tutorial. You'll also get a chance to apply the order of operations as you using coding to solve problems.
Click below to check out the other tutorials in the series.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore computer coding on the farm by declaring and initializing variables in this interactive tutorial. You'll also get a chance to practice your long division skills.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Cite text evidence and make inferences about the "real" history of Halloween in this spooky interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn more about that dreaded word--plagiarism--in this interactive tutorial that's all about citing your sources and avoiding academic dishonesty!
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how to define and identify claims being made within a text. This tutorial will also show you how evidence can be used effectively to support the claim being made. Lastly, this tutorial will help you write strong, convincing claims of your own.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Join Baby Bear to answer questions about key details in his favorite stories with this interactive tutorial. Learn about characters, setting, and events as you answer who, where, and what questions.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
In this tutorial, you will practice identifying relevant evidence within a text as you read excerpts from Jack London's short story, "To Build a Fire." Then, you'll practice your writing skills as you draft a short response using examples of relevant evidence from the story.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Congratulations
