Coding

Why teach Coding?

Mitch Resnik, one of the creators of Scratch says in Edutopia's The Future of Coding, "I think the reasons for learning to code are the same as the reasons for learning to write. When we learn to write, we are learning how to organize, express, and share ideas. And when we learn to code, we are learning how to organize, express, and share ideas in new ways, in a new medium."

For K-3 students:

For the youngest students, there are many apps for coding including Kodable and Tynker. If you are interested in doing more with code, there is free curriculum from Code.org for every grade level K-5, which also includes unplugged activities. It is easy to set up a classroom and have your students coding right away. Mrs. Serena's first graders have enjoyed coding the last few weeks!

We also have access to some other content if interested.

There are many items on our makerspace page that can be used to encourage coding. Check out the page here.

Kinders Who Code is a fantastic resource from Kyle Kitchen.

Check out his website here.

For grades 4-8:

Try these guides for getting started with Scratch: https://scratch.mit.edu/tips.

Recently the 6th graders used Scratch to complete a story telling prompt. Here are some of the stories that they created: Scratch studio

Scratch was created by the Lifelong Kindergarten group at MIT Media Labs. Using Blockly code, students can code their own stories, animations and games. You can create your own teacher account using Scratch, and or you can teach Scratch using the materials from Google CS First.

Tynker is another option for curriculum for classrooms. There is coding curriculum for Life Science, Physical Science, Earth Science, Math, Social Studies and English for grades 3-5 or grades 6-8. Any subject area is ready to code with this built-in curriculum. Tynker also offers lessons on programming languages like Javascript and Python. If you want access to this paid curriculum for free, please contact Susan at susan.walterich@lscsd.org.

Code.org also offers a host of free curriculum for upper elementary and middle school students. You can set up a classroom and assign content to students. Check out their different options here. Coding can easily be integrated in any math, science or technology lesson.

Swift Playgrounds is an app that allows students to learn coding while playing games, while they also learn the Swift language used by app builders. Check out more about Swift Playgrounds here.

CoSpaces Edu enables students to create virtually anything. It works on a variety of devices including iPads and Chromebooks. Students can create virtual reality scenes and then code their scenes to make them interactive. Students can experience their creations using VR headsets or an iPad. Blockly programming language is a great entry to coding. Learn more here.

For high school:

There are a number of resources for coding at the high school level, such as Code Academy. If you are interested in learning about resources to incorporate coding into your curriculum, please contact us.

CoSpaces Edu enables students to create virtually anything. It works on a variety of devices including iPads and Chromebooks. Students can create virtual reality scenes and then code their scenes to make them interactive. Students can experience their creations using VR headsets or an iPad. JavaScript or TypeScript programming language allows students to go beyond Blockly and get more in depth with programming languages. Learn more here.

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