
By Teachers, For Teachers
This December, we will again recognize the Hour of Code, a one-hour introduction to technology in the classroom programming designed to demystify the subject and show that anyone can be a maker, a creator, and an innovator. Last year, 285,005,569 students (age 4-104) participated from more than 180 countries and wrote 19,887,143,743 lines of code. The 200,000+ teachers involved came away believing that, of all their technology in the classroom tools, coding was the best at teaching children to think. It's easy to see why when you look at fundamental technology in the classroom programming concepts:
If you're planning to participate in Hour of Code, here are a series of activities -- broken down by grade -- that will kickstart your effort. They can be done individually or in small groups.
How do I program a series of activities — and why?
I can break activities down into their most basic steps.
About 75 minutes -- 15 minutes prep and 60 for the coding activity that is part of Hour of Code.
Introduce each of these activities by watching "I Like Programming," a video that discusses why the great programmers of our time fell in love with this activity.
**Grade-levels below are guidelines. Feel free to use whichever project fits your students.
Start young programmers by teaching sequencing. Show images of stages in, say, their morning preparations. Ask them to organize the list in the order completed as they get ready for school. Call it "Sequencing" and expect them to use this domain-specific word.
Next, pick an activity from the sequence — say, walking into the classroom and sitting down. Use yourself as a model of how to perform that activity and ask students for specific directions on how you would complete this task. For example:
Only do what they tell you. For example, if they say, "Walk to the chair," look confused. They haven't provided enough direction. They must "Debug" the "Script" and try again.
Using activities offered on websites like Code.org, Kodable, or Tynker is the easiest way to get involved as the site does the planning for you. Before starting, review the digital citizenship associated with visiting an online site (such as privacy, staying on the assigned website, and not talking to strangers).
Instead of following a pre-planned activity, try one of these sites that introduce age-appropriate programming:
If you use iPads, here are some great options:
For more suggestions, here’s a list of coding websites. Scroll to the section for first grade.
Use a free program like Pivot Stick Figure Animator or Stickman to program a stick figure. Both are simple to use, but offer different options. Preview them first to pick the one best suited to your student group.
If you use iPads, try Stick Nodes, Stickman, or Scribble Movie.
Pixel Art is the blocky drawing that is most famous for appearing in Minecraft. For this project, students will use a spreadsheet program.
Open the spreadsheet program you use in your school (Google Sheets, Excel, or another). Show students how to turn the cells into squares rather than rectangles by doing the following (or watch this video):
Students now write directions for which color is poured into what squares to create their drawing. For example:
Blue: A1, B1, C1, D1, G1, H1, I1, J1, A2, B2, I2, J2, A3, J3, A5, A6, A7, A8, A9, A10.
When done, students have a neighbor test the directions to see if they can create the intended drawing.
By 4th grade, students appreciate technology for how it can speed up their classwork and will seek out ways to use it for that purpose. Creating a shortkey is a quick and easy way to complete repetitive activities and will become a favorite with students. If necessary, adapt the following Windows/iPad directions to the device used in your school:
On iPads, these are called "Hotkeys":
Popular shortkeys are to open programs, activate tools, and take screenshots using the digital device's native tool.
Creating macros gives students an easy way to add a standards-based heading or any other repetitive task required for their schoolwork without having to retype it each time. Adapt these MS Word directions to your digital device:
Click for a video on how to create macros.
6th Grade -- Build an App
If necessary, explain to students what an "App" is and why they want to build one. For this project, follow the videos and directions included in MIT’s App Inventor and create one (or all) beginning level apps such as:
Here are three alternative popular app-creation sites:
Don't expect students to complete this project during the Hour of Code. Expect only that they get started.
Widgets are free, personalized mini-apps that do almost anything the user can program, from calculating the calories in a recipe to solving complex problems. Students can browse Wolfram/Alpha's gallery for a widget that fits their need and embed the code into their personal website, or build their own widget from scratch using Wolfram Alpha's Builder tool. The level of difficulty will determine how long it takes.
Alice is a free, downloadable programming tool for 8th grade and above that shows students how to create interactive stories, animations, and games. Besides Math Standards, Alice supports these Common Core writing skills:
Divide the class into groups. Have each group pick one of the following resources, preview it, and be prepared to share their thoughts and take questions from classmates:
Next, groups open Alice and go through the tutorial by clicking "Start Tutorial" in the Welcome to Alice dialogue box. When done, create an animated avatar as follows:
If students get stuck, they can go through Alice online documentation, Help files, or ask for assistance from classmates. Remind them not to give up. Keep making changes. It will work.
If you have time: In groups, students watch movie trailer of “Despicable Me” (or similar). Analyze how avatars move their limbs, mouths, and how they walk. Compare this to humans. For example, which leg moves first? How do joints move? How do arms and legs move in relation to each other? Does the body bob up-down or side-to-side as avatar moves? List the movements and then construct a walking avatar in Alice world.
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What are you doing for Hour of Code? Share your projects in the comments.
Lesson plan bundle for Hour of Code
Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-8 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, CSG Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, CAEP reviewer, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, and a weekly contributor to TeachHUB. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.