Coding Apps/Sites for all grade levels
Why Code with students? In the past, teachers have focused on only reading and writing literacy. In today’s digital world, computer science has become imperative and the new literacy we need to teach our students.
Code.org sums up the situation nicely:
“Computer science drives innovation in the U.S. economy and society. Despite growing demand for jobs in the field, it remains marginalized throughout the U.S. K-12 education system.”
Not only is coding the new literacy, but teaches 21st century skills including: logical thinking, problem solving, persistence, collaboration & communication.
Primary sites (K-2)
- Scratch Jr. App (Free) -
- App version only
- Kodable.com(free) -
- upgrade available
- Lightbot Jr 4+ Coding Puzzles ($3) -
- App version only
Intermediate (3-5)
- Hopscotch App (Free) -
- Students make their own games
- App version only
- Code.org (free) -
- Hour of Code event in December
- Don’t need to be signed up unless you want to track kids
- Frozen is a great one
- Tynker (free) -
- App available
Middle School (6-8)
- Khan Academy (free) -
- All subjects – All grade levels
- Computer Science: Intro to Java Script
- Code.org (free) -
- Hour of Code event in December
- Don’t need to be signed up unless you want to track kids
- Frozen is a great one
**There are many other sites and apps. You chose which one you want to use! Just get to know it yourself.
K-8 Hour of Code Suggestions by Grade Level:
A great place to start teaching code is by doing“unplugged” activities. Here are a few places with great activities for kids to understand how we communicate with a computer:
Coding & Common Core Standards
Mathematics
MP.1: *K-8
- In programming activities, students must persevere in problem solving.
NBT.1: *2-5
- Use wait blocks and movement blocks in programs like Scratch and Tynker to differentiate between .01, .1, 1, and 10 seconds.
4.OA.5
- Have students create drawings in programs that repeat a pattern. This can be done with the "repeat" (a.k.a. "loop") block. Students can demonstrate their understanding of multiplicative procedures and patterns that follow a specific rule.
4.MD.5 and 4.MD.6
- Usestudio.code.orgor theirFrozen-themed puzzles to teach students about angle measurements.
5.G.1, 5.G.2, and 6.G.3
- InScratch, choose "Backdrop" and, under "Categories," click "Other." The last backdrop in "Other" is an XY grid. Students can use this grid to graph points and draw shapes within the coordinate system.
6.NS.5, 6.NS.6, and 6.NS.7
- Have students build programs where actors (or sprites) move to specific points on a coordinate plane, based on an action (a conditional).
English Language Arts
RI.3: *K-5
- Have students describe what would happen if the blocks in a program went in a specific order.
- Identify cause-and-effect relationships by using "if this, then. . ." blocks.
RI.5: *2-4
- Locate answers to a question using keywords, sidebars, and glossaries. (Programming tools use menus and categories to organize blocks.)
SL.5: *2-5
- Create digital stories in programming platforms such as Scratch andTynker, changing the scene (background) between events.
- Create tutorials on how to advance through a programming level.
W.2 and WHST.2: *K-8
- Compose a tutorial on how to advance through a level/stage, or how to animate a character.
- Write a comparative analysis, analyzing two different coding platforms or languages.
RST.3 and RST.4: *6-8
- Complete JavaScript tutorials inKhan Academy.
**The eight practices of science and engineering that the Framework identifies as essential for all students to learn and describes in detail are listed below:
1. Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)
7. Engaging in argument from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information