"Ms. Ehll, I went home and coded last night!" This makes me so HAPPY that my students participated in Hour of Code for Computer Science Education Week (December 7th-13th)! My previous post talked about my students visiting sites, such as Code.org, and following self-directed tutorials.
I expected a high degree of engagement and they were more than willing to abide. (It might have helped that I mentioned how President Obama learned a line of code...) They were very focused on trying to understand how to code and even those who struggled would ask for help or ask if I could direct them to a simpler coding program.
Benefits from this week of code:
1. Engagement
2. Exposure to computer science/coding language
3. Perseverance with new concept
4. Collaboration...helping each other and paired programming (two work on same code)
5. Excitement (word spread about what was happening in library)
6. Beyond the classroom extension
The wheels are a churnin' in my head about how this Hour of Code initiative can be expanded upon next year...
My 2nd-5th grade students are taking over the computer lab this week during their library time! Why? For the Hour of Code™! What is the Hour of Code™ you ask?
“The 'Hour of Code™' is a nationwide initiative by Computer Science Education Week and Code.org to introduce millions of students to one hour of computer science and computer programming.”
Students have many options that day. The choices might seem overwhelming, so here is the way I'm breaking it down:
Grade 2 will use Kodable or as some of my students call it the "fuzzy monster game". Very easy to learn. Older students who can't quite get the hang of other coding tutorials can use this on to start their journey.
Grade 3 will use Code.org to choose tutorial of interest: Star Wars, Minecraft, Angry Birds, etc. These are multi-level self-guided lessons.
Grade 4 and 5 will use Code.org, Tynker, or Scratch. Code.org can actually guide your students to the other sites if they scroll down to "Partner Tutorials for Grades K-8".
And to top off my students week, they are all getting a certificate for completing their Hour of Code™.
Next week, the results of Hour of Code™ week at my school.
3. Perseverance with new concept
