Just as learning to use a new language is more than memorizing verb conjugations and vocabulary, being computationally literate is more than ordering the keywords of a programming language with the correct syntax. It’s about being an active participant in computational communities -- creating, reading, and using code depending on the context and purpose. For this poster, we describe a co-created unit between a teacher and a researcher which integrates computer science into an English as a New Language classroom, in which the teacher doesn’t speak the home languages of her students. This unit approaches computational literacies by considering how language-learning, and in particular, learning literacies with and through language, may provide clues for supporting students’ participation in computing. Our approach is rooted in the philosophy of literate programming (that code is meant to be understood by machines and people) and a lens from bilingual education called translanguaging (bilinguals selecting varied linguistic, semiotic, and social features from unique language repertoires as they communicate and learn). We view code as a resource people use in constellation with other languaging practices to communicate with and for computers and other humans. Examples from classroom practice include an activity that guided students to narrate personal narratives orally that would transfer from a PowerPoint presentation to interactive projects in Scratch. These activities drew on a range of students’ meaning-making practices, guiding them to put code in their own words and voices to participate in broader conversations.
