December 4, 2017 - Celebrating 50 years of Kids Coding
December 1, 2022 - Gerald "Jerry" Lawson's 82nd Birthday
Coding builds critical computational thinking skills that students need. The four areas of computational thinking skills include:
Pattern Recognition - looking for similarities and trends
Algorithmic Design - creating step-by-step instructions to complete a task
Decomposition - breaking something down into smaller parts
Abstraction - focusing on what is important
Review and share the simple graphics that LEARN put together below to help better understand the four areas and how you (and your peers) can support students in these critical skills...even if your peers aren't able to have their students code.
Uses “block” programming that can introduce students Javascript
A variety of tasks are available to solve
Tasks are progressively more difficult
ScratchJr is an introductory programming language that enables young children (ages 5-7) to create their own interactive stories and games. Children snap together graphical programming blocks to make characters move, jump, dance, and sing.
Host a ScratchJr Family Day
Download ScratchJr for your device from the iOS App Store, Google Play, or the Amazon Appstore
ScratchJr Coding Cards - https://amzn.to/3AMHFyL ($24.95) - deck of 75 activity cards covering fun and exciting projects to do as they learn ScratchJr.
Designed for students ages 8-16
Online programming tool that is simple but can grow to be complex if desired
Drag blocks of program from the left-hand compartments
Plenty of tutorials available for support
Scratch Coding Cards - https://amzn.to/3UfLP9g ($24.95) - deck of 75 activity cards covering fun and exciting projects to do as they learn Scratch.
Use a block-grid board to create and design your characters and backgrounds
Create video games using various blocks
Publish your games in the Bloxels Arcade (or look at others for ideas and inspiration)
Play a game at https://play.bloxels.com/
https://edu.google.com/code-with-google
Core CS concepts for 4-8th graders
CS curriculum
Grasshopper is an easy way to learn to code
With fun, quick lessons on your phone or desktop, Grasshopper teaches adult learners to write real JavaScript.
Currently available for free on Desktop, Android, and iOS.
https://www.raspberrypi.com/for-home/
VERY cheap computer that runs on Linux
REALLY small (credit card size)
TONS of teacher resources and ideas from other educators and students
EXTREMELY versatile
Freemium site to get students (5-14+) started with coding
Learn block coding or text coding (Python)
Consider if you are wanting to teach coding as a class at school
Search Twitter for offline coding activities or search for these hashtags to get ideas, tips, and inspiration!
Look for ideas on Pinterest that relate to coding in the classroom, for afterschool clubs, or as part of STEM projects!
You'll find several collections on Wakelet for offline coding activities. Easily start your own collection to share with your students, peers, and/or parents!