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There are tons of resources available on the internet for coding. These are the apps I am suggesting to the teachers at my school this year. I would stress that coding should be done in pairs, this gives students opportunities to work on their communication, collaboration, and critical thinking skills as a team. This is probably the most valuable lesson they will get out of the Hour of Code.
In my class, we stop after each level, and if someone is stuck, another student will give them hints/advice so that the class as a whole is successful in completing the Hour of Code.
Having students stop after completing certain levels, and try to "code" (give commands) to their partner to navigate a space in the classroom will really help some learners to solidify the concepts they are learning onscreen.
Another great option, if you can make time for it, is to have chart paper handy in the room where you can add new coding blocks with short definitions as the class progresses. This will help everyone to absorb all the new learning that is taking place.
Here are the apps/websites we are using:
Kodable is a great option for younger students. It is available on iPads, and on a Chromebook/computer on the internet.
This is where teachers can sign up their class: https://www.kodable.com/
This is where students go to play:
Lightbot has great resources that are available on iPads/Android and Chromebooks/computers as well. The Lightbot Hour of Code apps are free in the App Store/Play Store. Click here for a resource that explains how Lightbot teaches students programming skills: https://lightbot.com/hoclearn.html
To access on the internet, click the image below:
Code.org has a great deal of options for Hour of Code, and a lot of other great resources as well. Two new Hour of Code options this year are the Minecraft Hour of Code (easier), and the Star Wars Hour of Code (more challenging). The neat thing about the Star Wars tutorial is that their is a separate option to do it in Javascript this year! Great for more advanced classes.
Click the images to access Code.org's HOC Tutorials:
Hopscotch:
Hopscotch is an iPad app that has excellent tutorials that will give students step by step instructions on how to create a game that they can play. This is very motivating for students, and the best part is when they start to modify the games to create new ones.
I would suggest having students work in pairs taking turns, play the tutorial for the class on a projector, pausing frequently as they program the game.
Here are the tutorials for Treasure Dive (easy), and Geometry Dash (harder):
CS-First (Scratch):
If your students have already done the Code.org and Hopscotch tutorials then they might be ready to try Scratch programming. Scratch is an excellent online coding app provided by MIT, and it works on Chromebooks/computers. Google has created some excellent tutorials that are available here: http://www.cs-first.com/create
These tutorials are designed for an afterschool coding club, but are accessible to everyone. I would suggest trying the Hour of Code activity here:
Want more?
There are a ton of options available at the TDSB Hour of Code website:
https://sites.google.com/a/tdsb.on.ca/hour-of-code-starter-kit/elementary
Questions?
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