Curricular Area(s): Science/Applied Design, Skills, and Technology
Core Competencies: Critical and Creative Thinking & Communication
Grade(s): K-6
Tool Access: https://code.org
Resource Description
Code.org is a website containing activities related to coding for ages 4-10. The activities aim to teach and build computer science skills, all with minimal resources and no electronics needed! This approach to teaching coding is engaging and mentally stimulating for students, which creates the possibility for great lessons and units in Applied Design, Skills and Technology, or science. This resource can provide new ways of thinking about coding and technology, and introduce students to the fundamentals of what “coding” is all about. Activities include: “programming” friends to move like robots, creating algorithms, writing songs, and many more. With an abundance of lesson plans and video instructions for a variety of student ability-levels, educators can rely on this tool for challenging their exceptional students or introducing new concepts to the entire group.
This website also provides courses for teachers specific to their grade-level so they can become certified in teaching coding and computer science. Furthermore, the website provides not only lesson plans for teachers to incorporate into their teaching but also activities that students can do at home or on their own time. Lastly, the tools that this site provides are all free and include detailed lesson plans with extensions for follow-up teaching.
From a curricular stand point, this resource links effectively with the core competencies of critical and creative thinking as well as communication. Through these activities, students are challenged to overcome problems through collaboration and engaging in different mental processes such as analyzing, evaluating, and implementing ideas. Additionally, the activities can be transformative learning tools as they expose students to new digital literacy and STEM skills which are valuable skill for success in the future and supporting students to become producers in the digital technology world.
