The Hour of Code is an event during the week of December 7-13 that encourages students to explore the influence and uses of computer science and coding during a one hour activity.

Much of the concept is really based on teaching students to think critically and respond systematically to problems. As a result, there are plenty of activities for the Hour of Code that do not require the use of computers.

Over the course of the next week, I will be visiting each building across the district and sharing some ideas and resources for setting up an Hour of Code event in your classroom. Code.org is the group that is responsible for much of the official Hour of Code. Their website is a wealth of information and ready-to-use resources, print-outs, step-by-step directions and lessons, etc.

If you are unable to make it to any of the after-school sessions this week, I would recommend starting here:

Click here for the Hour of Code HOW-TO GUIDE

Hour of Code apps/sites

Kodable makes learning to code fun for students. They must drag and drop commands to program their fuzzy character to get through a maze. By doing this, they learn problem solving, computational thinking, sequence, conditions, loops, functions and debugging. These are skills necessary for learning any programming language. 

Lightbot is a fun and easy-to-learn game that teaches real programming using symbols. Get your lightbot to move around the board, lighting up blue squares along the way. The puzzles start off very simple and become more complex as the students learn more about coding.

The Foos is the most fun and kid-friendly
way to learn about computer programming. The Foos is optimized for kids 5-10 years old or Grades K-5 but can be played by anyone with no coding experience.

With ScratchJr, young children (ages 5-7) can program their own interactive stories and games. In the process, they learn to solve problems, design projects, and express themselves creatively on the computer.

Learn the basics of computer programming with Daisy the Dinosaur! This free, fun app has an easy drag and drop interface that kids of all ages can use to animate Daisy to dance across the screen. Kids will intuitively grasp the basics of objects, sequencing, loops and events by solving this app’s challenges. After playing Daisy, kids can choose to download a kit to program their own computer game.

Code.org is the sponsor of the Hour of Code event and coding lessons throughout the year. Students can find coding games related to some of their favorite characters and games — Minecraft, Star Wars, Disney, Angry Birds. There are also many materials already created for teachers, as well as unplugged activities that do not require computers or devices.

With Scratch (designed specifically for ages 8-16), you can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations — and share your creations with others in the online community. Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively — essential skills for life in the 21st century.

If you want to learn to program, you don’t need lessons. You need to write a lot of code and have a great time doing it.

That’s what programming is about. It’s gotta be fun. That’s why CodeCombat is a multiplayer game, not a gamified lesson course. We won’t stop until you can’t stop–but this time, that’s a good thing.

Codecademy is an online interactive platform that offers free coding classes in 9 different programming languages including Python, Java, PHP, jQuery, JavaScript, AngularJS, and Ruby, as well as markup languages HTML and CSS.

Tynker‘s curriculum makes it easy to introduce computer programming in elementary and middle schools. 
Common Core aligned lesson plans foster a progression of skills grade by grade, providing the scaffolding needed to teach 
introductory to advanced programming concepts.

Hour of Code other/unplugged activities

Hour of Code Teacher-Led Lessons (some unplugged, some web-based)

The Foos: Unplugged Activity

Hour of Code activities (listed by grade level/age group)