Although Hour of Code* is set for Thursday the 12th, this entire week is also dedicated to Computer Science Education! Here’s just a very small sample of what you might want to do to celebrate the day, the week and beyond.
Code.org – Is this your first Hour of Code? Code.org has so many opportunities and resources it could be overwhelming at first for both students and teachers. You may want to start off with their Computer Science Connections landing page for project ideas that incorporate multiple subject areas. Most of these projects take an estimated hour to two hours to complete, but students can work on projects at their own pace. Jump in to the Hour of Code activity page for many more options.
Flappy Coding – Flappy Bird may be gone, but students can use the simple coding for this game to create hours of play. Check out Flappy Coding through the Code.org site with a step by step tutorial (and game play) on creating your own Flappy game!
Your Voice is Power – Looking for something competitive and musically driven? Your Voice is Power 2022 is a collaborative effort between Amazon Future Engineer and Georgia Tech to combine “computer science, social justice and entrepreneurship by remixing songs from Pharrell’s Entrepreneur, Alicia Keys’s Underdog and Khalid’s New Normal on Georgia Tech’s EarSketch platform.” Round 1 opened on December 1st and runs until February 7th. Get in on the next round beginning February 8th and closing June 19th. There are teacher and student resources, a curriculum and also workshops. This week you and your students can pop in on webinars and class chats. Register at https://bit.ly/YVIPHOC.
Codelicious – Codelicious has various offerings for multiple grade and skill levels on their Free Resources page. For an additional research and writing component, you can have students create a My CS Hero poster or jump into lessons by filling out a short info form.
CS Education Week Ignite Experience – Get interactive and have a Google volunteer meet with your class or classes to discuss the role computer science and computational thinking played in shaping or furthering their education and career. Volunteers may be able to facilitate an activity or learning experience with your class as well. Fill out the form to be connected with your volunteer and plan your virtual visit.
Scratch – Scratch has updated its offerings with featured activities specifically for Hour of Code this year. Go through the tutorial and/or learn how to use code to feature speech as well as movement. There are more tutorials using Scratch so don’t limit yourself to the featured page!
Code with the Grinch Game – Multiple lessons with a Grinch-y theme give students various Whoville tasks that increase in difficulty the further they go. Can you program the Drone to pick up the presents that need to be returned to Whoville? Can you avoid the trees and other obstacles? Steer and jump that sleigh? Find out with Illumination’s Code with Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch.
Happy Coding!!!
*The “Hour of Code/Hora del Codigo is a global initiative by Computer Science Education Week [csedweek.org] and Code.org [code.org] to introduce millions of students to one hour of computer science and computer programming.
