6-8 Hour of Code Resources
Celebrate CSEd Week with an Hour of Code!
What is Hour of Code?
What will YOU create?
Creativity is the theme for the 2018 Hour of Code!
Post to social media with this format:
Creativity is _______ What will you create? #HourOfCode #CS4Aldine #AISDHoC #Allin4Aldine
How do I host an Hour of Code?
- First, Code.org has wonderful resources for you at https://hourofcode.com/us/how-to so be sure to check them out!
- You can also use the Hour of Code planning guide or our AISDCS planning template.
Or, you can follow the steps outlined in the video below:
We picked out a few unplugged (or offline) and online activities we really like for PreK - 2 grade students and shared them below. You can also use MakeyMakeys, BeeBots, Dash and Dots, OzoBots, or Osmo if you already have them in your classroom or school.
Unplugged Activities
WRITING AND INTERPRETING EVENTS
Unplugged Activity
Students will explore events, a concept that allows programs to respond to specific stimuli. Events are determined in bits of code called event handlers, which listen for specific events and contain instructions on how to respond. Students will learn key vocabulary and write text for event handlers in a Mad Libs-style exercise in which they create and act out event handlers of their own.
ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS
Unplugged Activity
This "unplugged" activity helps students learn how modeling and simulation works by having a group of students play different versions of the Rock / Paper / Scissors game, and see the results as different modeling experiments.
Compression Code Puzzles
Unplugged Activity
Data on computers is stored as long sequences of characters – ultimately as binary 1s and 0s. The idea with compression is that we use an algorithm to change the way the information is represented so that fewer characters are needed to store exactly the same information.
Online (Plugged) Activities
BUILD CRAZY APPS WITH BITSBOX
Self-led Tutorial
Follow the prompts to code five fun mini-apps using real, typed Javascript. From blowing up pie in 'Food Fight' to flushing a notebook down a black hole in 'So Long, Homework!', each app is designed to delight kids while illustrating variables, methods, and more. These apps are also completely open-ended; kids can use them as a starting point for their own app creations. Beginners welcome!
LEARN HOW TO CODE WITH KAREL THE ROBOT
Self-led Tutorial
Learn to code and solve problems by guiding Karel the Robot through jungles, mountains, and deserts. Karel follows your instructions, just like a real robot. Start programming with simple commands such as go, get, and put. Next you will learn how to build repeat loops and conditions into your programs. Finally define custom commands for Karel. You can create your own games with NCLab's app! Have fun while learning skills that you can use in any programming language.
ROBO-RESTAURANT PUZZLER
Self-led Tutorial
Join Ross at the Food Avengers restaurant. Use your computational thinking skills to help Ross solve problems and serve dinner to 8 excited kids.
Thanks to our friends at Google, 2nd–9th grade public school teachers who engage their students in the new CS First Hour of Code coding activity, An Unusual Discovery, can earn a $100 DonorsChoose.org gift code.
CS First has launched a new activity to celebrate the Hour of Code, a nationwide initiative from Code.org to introduce millions of students to computer science and computer programming, happening on December 3-9. (You can complete your Hour of Code activity anytime, though.)
The new activity, An Unusual Discovery, uses video-based lessons for students with digital lesson plans for teachers - no computer science background required!
Here’s how it works: Classroom rewards for Google’s CS First activity, Hour of Code
- Review the activity overview and teaching materials for An Unusual Discovery here.
- When you’re ready to teach the Hour of Code activity, send your students to g.co/csfirst/discovery to complete the activity. For the Spanish version, head to g.co/csfirst/descubrimiento. (Please note that the Spanish site won’t be live until November 15.)
- The activity takes 20-60 minutes to complete. It starts with an introduction video, and then your students will watch additional videos to learn basic coding principles. They’ll use these skills to tell their own stories about two characters discovering an interesting object.
- Help at least twenty students complete the activity to qualify for the classroom rewards.
- While your students are working, snap a photo that shows your whole class engaged in the activity, but that does not include identifiable student faces. We recommend taking a picture from the back of the class.
- When all your students are done, fill out this teacher feedback survey to let us know. As part of the form, you’ll be asked to upload your photo of the class doing the activity, so be sure to have that image handy.
- Once you’ve filled out the survey, the DonorsChoose.org team will email you a $100 gift code within 2 weeks, while funds last. We’ll update this page if we’re ever running low. For the best chance of receiving a gift code, complete the activity by December 31st, 2018.
Find a Local Computer Science Volunteer
Spread the Word Before, DURING CSEW and Celebrate AFTER your Hour of Code!
Questions? Contact Us!
Hour of Code is a wonderful way to build excitement and provide students and educators opportunities to code! Please contact Shaina Glass if you're interested in incorporating Computer Science and coding into your classroom, school or learning community.
If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to Shaina (snglass@aldineisd.org) or your campus' Digital Learning Specialist for more information.
Email: snglass@aldineisd.org
Website: https://cs4aldine.blogspot.com/
Location: 9999 Veterans Memorial Drive, Houston, TX, USA
Phone: 713-539-8620
Twitter: @aldinestem