One of our all-time favorite weeks of the school year is quickly approaching us, the celebration of Computer Science Week with “Hour of Code” will be December 4th - 8th. In the past 5 years of celebrating the "Hour of Code" the quality and quantity of activities have more than doubled. Check out the Hour of Code Activities to locate the best one(s) for you and your class or group.
Never participated, no worries we have you covered. Feel free to use the links listed below to help you get started.
Show one or all of these videos below to inspire students:
What Most Schools Don't Teach ( 5 min ) - http://viewpure.com/nKIu9yen5nc?ref=bkmk
2014 Message from the President (1:17) - http://safeshare.tv/w/
BrainPOP Video:
BrainPop on Computer Programming - https://www.brainpop.com/
Beginner Coding Games:
Code Breakers - http://pbskids.org/oddsquad/
Frozen Anna & Elsa - https://learn.code.org/s/
Angry Birds - http://learn.code.org/hoc/1
Certificates for participating - https://code.org/
Games of All Levels - https://hourofcode.com/us/learn
Also, Khan Academy celebrates Hour of Code - Computer Science Week.
Hour of Drawing with Code: Students will learn to program using JavaScript, one of the world's most popular programming languages via two great options:
- Drag-and-drop: block-based coding for younger students with less typing experience and students on tablet devices (ages 8+).
- Typing: keyboard-based coding for older students (ages 10+).
Hour of Webpages: Students will learn to make their own webpages using the basics of HTML and CSS (ages 10+).
Hour of Databases: Students will learn the fundamentals of databases using SQL to create tables, insert data into them, and do basic querying (ages 12+).
You may ask, "Why try computer programming?".
According to Code. org:
*It is estimated that over the next 10 years there will be over 1.4 million (yes million) jobs/careers in Computer Science and only 400,000 grads that will be qualified. That is a shortage of a million people.
*Programming helps one understand computers. A computer is only a tool. If you (and/or your students) learn how to write simple programs, you (and/or your students) will gain more knowledge about how a computer works.
*Writing a few simple programs increases your (and/or your students’) confidence level. Many people find great personal satisfaction in creating a set of instructions that solve a problem.
*Learning programming lets you (and/or your students) find out quickly whether if you (and/or your students) like programming and whether if you (and/or your students) have the analytical turn of mind programmers need. Even if you (and/or your students) decide that programming is not for you (and/or your students), understanding the process certainly will increase your (and/or your students’) appreciation of what programmers and computers can do.
Please keep in mind, you can code/ computer program all year long. It doesn't just have to take place the week of the celebration of "Hour of Code".
Happy Coding!
