Divide the class into groups of three. Instruct one member of each group to do a different activity for a few minutes.
Pose a practical problem to the remaining students. The practical problem should have clear limits but can be solved in many ways. For instance, ask them how is it possible to get from point A to point B without stepping on any lines or how to a bucket from the ground to the ceiling with only a woolen mitten, a ruler and a person's two arms.
Give the pairs of students a few minutes to think about the problem. Then instruct each pair to discuss and design, step-by-step, a solution using their imaginations. Research by Constance Kamii and Ann Dominick indicates that students think more algorithmically when they are encouraged to invent.
Instruct one member from each pair to write down the instructions.
Inform the third members of the groups to rejoin their classmates. Have one of the students who wrote the instructions tell the member of the group who was waiting what to do. The third group member should observe how effective the instructions are when executed.
Watch closely as students are executing their instructions. Ask them to tell you what is working and what isn't as an informal form of self-reflection.
Regroup the class. Choose one set of instructions to write on the board in a flow chart format for everyone to see how instructions work as an algorithm. Explain how a problem can be solved in many different ways through a series of executable directions more clearly. Instruct the students raise their hands to share their experiences with the activity as part of the evaluation.