This year for the Hour of Code I have different coding activities planned for the whole month of December, but to kick it off this week, each grade level that I work with 1st-4th is getting a choice of some of the different activities available through HourOfCode.com
On my website that I use with students, I created a page for each grade level so students can easily navigate to the different challenges. Click the images below to go to the direct page!
Also, to introduce Hour of Code to each grade level, I used some of the Code.org videos.
PBS LearningMedia is your destination for direct access to thousands of classroom-ready, curriculum-targeted digital resources. PBS LearningMedia builds on the strength of public media and is designed to improve teacher effectiveness and student achievement. Resources are aligned to Common Core and national standards and include videos and interactives, as well as audio, documents, and in-depth lesson plans. You can browse by standards, grade level, subject area, and special collections. You can also favorite and share resources with your class and colleagues. Best of all, PBS LearningMedia’s basic service is free for PreK-12 educators.
The Work Collector is a Google Script that allows students to scan a QR code and then upload files directly into YOUR Google Drive account! If you are not using Google Classroom, but want students to submit work to you that you can share on your website, etc, this would be an easy way to collect their projects from computers or iPads. Thanks to The Techie Teacher for sharing this great resource!
Also... Don't forget that the Hour of Code is this week! If you want to try it with your students, feel free to join in during tech class, or visit https://hourofcode.com/us and check it out! The kids are loving that the new tutorials this year include Minecraft and Star Wars :-)
If you ever need a reminder of why we do what we do each day, take a look at this:
I captured this amazing moment as students were doing the Hour of Code to celebrate Computer Science Education Week. We have been having SO much fun in the computer lab! :-)
There are many, many resources out there to get kids interested in programming. From apps to games and robotic kits, anyone really can learn!
We started each day with a special message from President Obama:
And then, various grade levels did different programming activities.
1st grade used an app called Kodable last week to get ready for the Hour of Code, and this week transferred that knowledge to Google's Code Lab in Santa's Village. (If you check out Santa's Village, Google posts a new game or activity each day for kids! Today's is a map puzzle if you need a geography idea to use!)
2nd grade used a couple different sites: Tynker's Candy Quest and last year's version of the Hour of Code, which has students program Angry Birds to get to the pig.
3rd and 4th graders did the activities for this year's Hour of Code - with Anna and Elsa from Frozen! Students programmed Anna and Elsa to make snowflakes by moving a certain number of pixels and angles of different degrees to create the patterns.
If you have students who are interested in computer science, like I said, there are SO many awesome resources to help them learn more.
These are all FREE apps (some of which we have on our iPads at school):
This Google Doc has several resources for Coding with Elementary Students (thanks to my friends on the #ElemTechCoach Twitter chat!)
One of my favorites is MadeWithCode.com, which is intended to inspire more females to get interested in Computer Science.
One of the projects they have right now is to "code the holidays" - each tree that is coded will actually light up one of the trees on the White House lawn! 4th graders have been making them as they finish the Hour of Code - maybe make one together with your class on the SmartBoard!
