Hour of Code and Computer Programming

Did you and your class participate in the HOUR OF CODE last week?
It. Was. AWESOME!

The Hour of Code aimed to get 10 millions students learning how to code. More than 19 millions students participated!


This video is wonderful. A parent in my classroom sent it to me and I was instantly on board. 


Our entire school participated and now that I have a better understanding of what my kids were learning and how much they can do I'm jumping in full force and trying it myself. 

My first graders worked on Tynker during their hour of code and worked through several lessons. You can sign up your entire class for free. Each lesson has interactive animation and students drag and drop their commands to see if they can meet their goals. For example, one student was trying to make a dog jump over a pair of shoes. The informational video is short and worth looking at. Tynker has grade level specific lesson plans and uses a watch-learn-do approach with teaching. My kiddos couldn't get enough. I've requested information for the Premium Membership so I don't know how pricey it will be. 

Our school hosted a Scratch marathon too. The library was PACKED with students from all grade levels. Scratch is free and I just worked through the introductory lesson this morning. It was pretty fun making the cat change color and dance. (I'm such a kid at heart)

I showed my students the app Hopscotch too. It's a coding app that is free and also uses drag and drop commands to teach computer programming.

Another free computer programming app is Daisy the Dinosaur
Drag and drop commands to program Daisy.

The best thing about these Tynker and these apps is that EVERY one of your students can participate and be successful. Even if you don't think of yourself as a techy person or a tech-saavy teacher go try a Scratch or Tynker lesson while we are on break! Your class will be so excited and impressed if you show them how to program!


4 comments:

  1. I will be adding these all. We didn't participate but I've read so much about it that I am thinking of adding a "coding" center to my math work stations. Thanks for the recommendations!

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  2. Our whole school did it too! We also got a grant for participating of $10,000!!! Thanks to our librarian! We were the only school on the island to get it! We got more mac books and ipads for our library! Can't wait to use them!

    Tonya
    Tonya’s Treats for Teachers

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    Replies
    1. Holy Smokes! A $10,000 grant?! That's awesome!

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  3. Happy New Year, Jennifer!
    Glad to see you're enjoying my "joy" blinkie :) I forgot to make some more this year! What was I thinking?
    Take care.
    Grade ONEderful
    Ruby Slippers Blog Designs

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