Lesson 1: Learn to Drag and Drop

35 minutes

Overview Objectives
This skill-building lesson will give students an idea of what Students will be able to:
to expect when they head to the computer lab. It begins
with a brief discussion introducing them to computer lab Construct a precise sequence of
manners, then they will progress into using a computer to instructions for dragging and
complete online puzzles. dropping.
Explain best practices for logging
into a computer and logging out
Purpose when done.
The main goal of this lesson is to build students' experience Recognize what is expected when
with computers. By covering the most basic computer students transition into the
functions such as clicking, dragging, and dropping, we are computer lab.
creating a more equal playing field in the class for future Use appropriate terminology when
puzzles. This lesson also provides a great opportunity to referring to a computer mouse,
introduce basic computer hardware terminology, trackpad, or touchscreen.
potentially including "mouse", "trackpad" or "touchscreen",
depending on your devices.
Preparation
Standards Full Course Alignment Watch the *How to Make a Class
Section on Code.org - Teacher
CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017) Video. Create your own class
AP - Algorithms & Programming section on Code.org and make sure
CS - Computing Systems every student has a card with their
passcode on it.
IC - Impacts of Computing
Make sure students will be able to
NI - Networks & the Internet access Lesson 2 from their devices.
Consider whether you want to hide
future lessons to prevent students
Agenda from moving ahead too quickly.
Warm Up (10 minutes) Have the school IT person add a
Introduction quick link for your class section to
the computer desktop.
Main Activity (20 minutes) Review the Common Sense
Learn to Drag and Drop Education website for more online
Wrap Up (5 minutes) safety content.
Reflection

Extended Learning Links

Cross-Curricular Opportunity
Heads Up! Please make a copy of
any documents you plan to share
with students.
 For the teachers

20/20/20 Rule - Video

CSF - Pre-Express - Slides 2024-
2025 - Slides (Download)
 Make a Copy
Getting Started - Creating a Class
Section - Video
Wiggles-Go Noodle - Video

For the students

Pair Programming - Student Video

Vocabulary
Algorithm - A list of steps to finish
a task.
Drag - Click your mouse button and
hold as you move the mouse
pointer to a new location
Drop - Release your mouse button
to "let go" of an item that you are
dragging

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (10 minutes)

Introduction

Behaving in the Computer Lab

Goal: This discussion will teach students what to expect and how to behave when they enter the computer
lab.

 Teaching Tip 

Use calm bodies in the lab

Remember not to chew gum or candy
Sanitize your hands
Keep your log in information and password private
Sit with your partner at one computer
Make sure that the first "driver" can reach the mouse
When you get frustrated, don't hit or shake the computer or monitor
Follow the *20/20/20 Rule - How to Prevent Eye Strain
How to deal with the *Wiggles every 20-30 minutes (requires a free login on GoNoodle).
Ask your partner before you ask the teacher
Work respectfully and responsibly with others online.
Keep volume down so everyone else can hear their partners
 Use your journal for keeping track of feelings and solutions
Remember to log out when you're done using the computer

Discuss:

Have a good discussion around the computer lab expectations to make sure that students understand the
rules. Some topics of discussion might include:

Is running in the computer lab okay?

How loudly should we talk when we are in the computer lab?
When you're ready to start using the computer, should you show your log in information to everyone?
What should you do if you get stuck on a puzzle?
If you get frustrated, will it help to hit the computer?
What should you remember to do when you're done using the computer?
When we're about to go to the computer lab, how should we get ready?

 Teaching Tip 

You may choose to go into a more detailed discussion of securing personal internet accounts. Consider
asking students:

What would happen if everyone's password was easy to guess?

Why is it important to log out of shared devices when we finish using them?

Preview

Project a puzzle from the lesson. Show the class how to click on the picture and place it in the correct spot
by dragging and dropping. Purposely make mistakes such as clicking the background or dropping the
image before it's at the right spot. Ask for help from volunteers in the class when you run into these
problems.

Main Activity (20 minutes)

Learn to Drag and Drop

Goal: This will teach students how to use Code.org to complete online puzzles.

This stage was designed to give students the opportunity to practice hand-eye coordination, clicking, and
drag & drop skills. Students will also play with sequence.

Take some time to explicitly teach how to click, drag, and drop. Take time to introduce the language
around the devices students will be using when they work on the puzzles. If you have tablets, students will
be using a touch screen. If you have laptops, they will likely be using a trackpad. Desktop computers like
you might find in a lab will rely on the use of the mouse.

 Teaching Tip 

Consider having students break down the steps of dragging and dropping and record them on the
board. For example:

1. Move the arrow to the block.

2. Click and hold the mouse button.
 3. Move the mouse.
4. Let go of the button.

Doing this will give students practice with creating an algorithm, which is a concept that will be explored
in upcoming lessons.

Teachers play a vital role in computer science education and supporting a collaborative and vibrant
classroom environment. During online puzzles, the role of the teacher is primarily one of encouragement
and support. Online puzzles are meant to be student-centered, so teachers should avoid stepping in when
students get stuck. Some ideas on how to do this are:

 Teaching Tip 

Show the students the right way to help classmates:

Don’t sit in the classmate’s chair

Don’t use the classmate’s keyboard
Don’t touch the classmate’s mouse
Make sure the classmate can describe the solution to you out loud before you walk away

Utilize pair programming whenever possible during the activity.

Encourage students with questions/challenges to start by asking their partner.
Unanswered questions can be escalated to a nearby group, who might already know the solution.
Remind students to use the debugging process before you approach.
Have students describe the problem that they’re seeing. What is it supposed to do? What does it do?
What does that tell you?
Remind frustrated students that frustration is a step on the path to learning, and that persistence will
pay off.
If a student is still stuck after all of this, ask leading questions to get the student to spot an error on
their own.

 Display: Show “Decompose it!” slide

Remind students to break each puzzle down into smaller steps.

 Display: "Level 1-12: Skill Building" slide

 1-12 Skill Building

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Wrap Up (5 minutes)
Reflection

Having students write about what they learned, why it’s useful, and how they feel about it can help solidify
any knowledge they obtained today and build a review sheet for them to look to in the future.

Prompts:

Can you draw a sequence for getting ready to go to the computer lab?
Draw a computer lab "Do" and a "Don't"
 Draw and label the name of the computer part you used when clicking and dragging during the
puzzles. (mouse button, touch screen, trackpad)

 Teaching Tip 

Reflection prompts like these can be completed in a variety of styles. Journaling or discussion (with
groups or partners) are great options!

Extended Learning
Use these activities to enhance student learning. They can be used as outside of class activities or other
enrichment.

If students complete the puzzles early, have them spend some time trying to come up with their own
puzzles in their journal.

Cross-Curricular Opportunity

Rhyme With That - (20-30 minutes)

Computer Science + English Language Arts + Math

Rhyme With That. Rhyme With That is an optional activity aligned to Common Core ELA and Math
standards, written by our teacher community. Students will use the computer mouse to drag and drop a
letter to form CVC words, match rhyming words and count.

Standards Addressed:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.A: Recognize and produce rhyming words.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.D: Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds
(phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.1 (This does not include
CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.B.5: Count to answer "how many?" questions about as many as 20 things
arranged in a line, a rectangular array, or a circle, or as many as 10 things in a scattered configuration;
given a number from 1-20, count out that many objects.

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