Hour of Code Activities

This week, December 3-9, is Computer Science in Education Week. Students at my schools will will take part in the global Hour of Code event to introduce them to computer science. For those interested in pursuing it further on their own time I’ve put together a list of activities below.

Hour of Code - the original Hour of Code site.

Brain Pop Coding Games

Made w/ Code - Coding activities from Google.

Snap!- Drag and drop programming interface designed to help you learn how to program.

Blockly - Series of educational games that teach programming.

Codester - Create your own dance moves with this coding application.

Crunchzilla - Series of more advanced activities.

Hour of Code Activities and Resources

I originally posted the first half of this to the blog I run for one of my schools but I'm sharing it here too. Below it I've included additional lesson plans and resources for teachers as well.

Next week students at Albert Hill will take part in the global Hour of Code event as part of Computer Science Education Week to introduce them to computer science.

For students interested in pursuing it further on their own time I’ve put together a list of resources below.

Hour of Code - the original Hour of Code site.

Brain Pop Coding Games

Made w/ Code - Coding activities from Google.

Snap!- Drag and drop programming interface designed to help you learn how to program.

Blockly - Series of educational games that teach programming.

Codester - Create your own dance moves with this coding application.

Crunchzilla - Series of more advanced activities.

For teachers: 
(From a handout created by Sara Butcher for the RPS ITRTs.)

Resources and activities for your classroom directly from the source.

Steps to spearhead the Hour of Code for your team or school.

Go beyond the Hour of Code with these activities for teachers and students.

Code.org - List of activities for middle and high school settings.

ISTE - Compilation of different activities teachers can use.

All You Need Is Code - Lesson plans for secondary teachers to use.

Hour of Code Resources

I originally posted this to the blog I run for one of my schools but I'm posted it here as well.

Earlier in the week students at Albert Hill took part in the global Hour of Code event to introduce them to computer science.

For students interested in pursuing it further on their own time I’ve put together a list of resources below:

Hour of Code - the original Hour of Code site used for Monday’s activities.

Snap!- Drag and drop programming interface designed to help you learn how to program.

Code Monkey - Learn how to code through by playing the game.

Code Maven - 59 lessons on coding fundamentals.

Code Monster - 58 short lessons on programming in Javascript.

Game Maven - Learn code and write three simple games.

Blockly - Series of educational games that teach programming.

Also, last summer an Introduction to Computer Science and Coding enrichment course was offered in summer school that will most likely be offered again. I encourage interested students to sign up for it when the summer school applications come out in late spring.

Lastly, I recently attended the Virginia Society for Technology in Education annual conference. While I was there I had a chance to play with The Finch robot that is designed as an even more hands on way to learn programming. It supports not only the drag and drop programming like what is found on the Hour of Code site but also writing code in many of the languages used today. I liked it so much I’m ordering one for my own son to play with.