In their recent Computer Science unit, Grade 8 students learned how to create and share content on their own webpages. After deciding what content they wanted to share with the world, students learned how to structure and style their pages using HTML and CSS, and practiced valuable programming skills such as debugging, using resources, and teamwork.
Making the entire website, with 5 different webpages, was a long process. We would like to describe for you the stages our Grade 8 students went through to get their websites ready.
Students were introduced to HTML, a computer language used to communicate both the content and structure of a website to a computer. The unit began with a brief HTML code activity demonstrating the challenges of effectively communicating the structure of a web page.
Students were then introduced to CSS as a way to style elements on HTML webpages. Students learned the basic syntax for CSS rule-sets and then explored properties that impact HTML text elements. They then worked on some HTML webpages, adding their own styles to several provided webpages.
Students worked together to set group norms and brainstorm what features they would like their websites to have. The class started by thinking of some popular teams in different contexts, then reflected on what makes teams successful. They then got into their own teams and made a plan for how they would interact and reach success in their own projects. Afterwards, the teams begin to brainstorm ideas for their website project.
Students were divided into teams of two. The teams spent a considerable amount of time during several lessons to create their NGO and its sustainable development goals. Using the project guide, the students worked both in their teams and individually to plan their NGO website; they even designed their NGO logos! After this work was completed, they were finally able to code their pages, eventually combining all of their work into a single website.
Finally, students presented their websites to their peers, explaining what type of NGO website they had designed and how it worked. They reflected on what they were proud of and what they wished for feedback on. The teams then interacted with each other to get that feedback through a structured process involving criteria outlined in a project rubric. Afterwards, students decided how they would like to respond to the feedback and put the finishing touches on their sites. After a final review of the rubric, they reflected on their process from beginning to end. To cap off the unit, they again shared their projects along with an overview of the process they took to get to their final design.