Despite the fact that we live in a world powered by code, many schools, mine included, are struggling to find the time and resources to teach computer programming. I remember learning to program on a TRS-80. I think this was in 5th or 6th grade. We had to draw a picture using basic. We plotted each point in the picture and then printed it out. This took several classess, but the lessons stuck with me. Later we did some programming on an Apple IIe. My computer teacher told us that programming was the language of the future, a language of power.
I walked out of that class with a profile drawing of a minecraft-style sports car and an understanding of syntax. In my last post, I gave a quick profile of 3 apps for learning to code on a tablet for elementary students. The focus of this post is web-based programming platforms for grades 3 and up.
Tynker Grades 3-8 Teachers can request a free Tykner Scholastic account. This is a Browser based programming platform that guides students through making a movie, game, or presentation. Want some inspiration? Check out these projects by 3rd Grade students in Palo Alto.
Scratch While Scratch is primarily designed for 8 to 16 year olds, it is also used by people of all ages, including younger children with their parents. I have collected resources for learning Scratch in a previous post. Scratch can be used to create games, presentations, or other interactive experiences. The object-based programming is a great stepping stone into text-based programming. Once studnets learn syntax and debugging in this environment thay con move into laguages like C++ and Java with more confidence.
Scratch jr, the Scratch JR wiki is a great scaffolded approach to Scratch. With larger buttons, less text and fewer choices of tools Scratch JR is an appropriate tool for fostering design thinking and programming skills in students as young as second grade. Although, this blogger suggests this would be a good fit even for preschool.
Looking for more coding with kids? Upcoming posts include Building for understanding with MineCraft and roblox and Robots, programs in action Lego Robotics, and WeGo.
I walked out of that class with a profile drawing of a minecraft-style sports car and an understanding of syntax. In my last post, I gave a quick profile of 3 apps for learning to code on a tablet for elementary students. The focus of this post is web-based programming platforms for grades 3 and up.Tynker Grades 3-8 Teachers can request a free Tykner Scholastic account. This is a Browser based programming platform that guides students through making a movie, game, or presentation. Want some inspiration? Check out these projects by 3rd Grade students in Palo Alto.
Scratch While Scratch is primarily designed for 8 to 16 year olds, it is also used by people of all ages, including younger children with their parents. I have collected resources for learning Scratch in a previous post. Scratch can be used to create games, presentations, or other interactive experiences. The object-based programming is a great stepping stone into text-based programming. Once studnets learn syntax and debugging in this environment thay con move into laguages like C++ and Java with more confidence.
Scratch jr, the Scratch JR wiki is a great scaffolded approach to Scratch. With larger buttons, less text and fewer choices of tools Scratch JR is an appropriate tool for fostering design thinking and programming skills in students as young as second grade. Although, this blogger suggests this would be a good fit even for preschool.
Looking for more coding with kids? Upcoming posts include Building for understanding with MineCraft and roblox and Robots, programs in action Lego Robotics, and WeGo.
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