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This You Can Say That Again! – Text Compression lesson plan also includes:
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Compression, the process computers use to store information, is the focus of a resource that presents two different stories that describe the concept of compression by eliminating repeated letters and replacing them with a pointer. The lesson concludes with an explanation of why compression is important for computer skills and coding.
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NGSS:
Adaptable
Concepts
Additional Tags
Instructional Ideas
- Start the lesson by projecting a sentence that has blanks for repeating letters; ask the class to try to decode the sentence
- Play a game of secret message in which one classmate creates a message using text compression and another has to decode it
- Have the pupils use whiteout tape to mark out the letters on their worksheets
Classroom Considerations
- The text lines in the passages to be compressed are close to each other and may be difficult to cover
Pros
- Provides an easy-to-understand explanation of compression
- Can be used for a variety of grade levels
Cons
- Slightly dated material and explanations, such as reference to a wristwatch that would be able to store a lot of data
- More complicated activities do not have an answer key