Coding is a popular activity and skill. The “Hour of Code” is an international program aimed at sparking interest in computer science and the concept of coding. The “Hour of Code” week is December 7-13 and encourages teachers and students to try coding, with the tagline “an hour of code for every student.”
Here at Heathcote coding isn’t an hour, or a week. We’ve been using coding platforms for the past few weeks, as we did last year, and plan on to continue well beyond the “Hour of Code.” Coding is available, and used, throughout the year.
Since this week is the “Hour of Code” week I wanted to share our approach as well as the resources we have available to students. We have multiple avenues for student coding experiences:
Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade
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each student has a unique “Student ID” log-in
2nd-5th grade
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Tynker
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Students will log in using their @scarsdaleschools.org Google account
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each class has a unique “class code”
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these codes have been given to the teachers/students on an individual class basis and will not be published publically
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Tynker offers guided lessons as well as a platform for original projects
Additional resources:
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ScratchJR – iPad and Android app
We will be using these coding platforms throughout the year, as we have already have been doing. With this week being the official “Hour of Code” week it is a great opportunity to pass along the information about all the great opportunities available to our students.
Happy tech-ing!