THE BEST Websites to teach code K-12

Computer Science is growing more and more popular and there is a great push for it in schools. You can read more about President Obama's push for Computer Science For All here. That being said, here are some of my favorite tools to get students involved in Computer Science through coding.

This is one of my favorite videos to show that coding is really a skill that EVERYONE should know! Show this before you code if your students {or yourself} are hesitant about coding.

Elementary
Code.org - code with drag and drop coding; elementary age activities that are easy for students to complete (Star Wars, Minecraft, Frozen, Angry Birds, or Flappy Bird)
**There are also great unplugged lessons to introduce code to younger students without the use of computers or if you don't have computers in your classroom

Scratch - drag and drop blocks and sprite creation (create your name, or operate a "sprite")

Middle School -
Code Combat - Learn how to code through gaming and web/game development

Scratch - see above :)

Code.org - For MS students, there are 20 hour long courses that start with drag and drop blocks and end with students creating their own codes from scratch.

High School -
Code HS offers a variety of different coding courses (pictured below) with the opportunity for students to move past drag and drop coding and into text based coding. There are both Java and Python options. There are checkpoint quizzes for you to see how students are doing, and as a teacher you can see the solutions and give feedback for each problem.

Here's to finding a way to involve Computer Science in your classrooms,
Mrs. Tech

Comments

Build Your Wild Self {Animal Adaptations}

Build Your Wild Self was a site that I just stumbled upon, but was probably one of my students favorite activities that we did all year. Basically, students are able to create themselves by playing with their body, hair, eyes, mouth, clothes. They can then make themselves "wild" by adding headgear, ears, face, arms, bottoms, backsides, and tails that are all body parts of wild animals. This activity isn't all fun though - there is educational value too! Once the students are done creating their "wild self" they will click I'M DONE. This will take them to the next page where it will explain to the students what is "wild" about them. It will tell them where their wild parts came from and why those parts are important to the survival of that particular animal. So there you have it - educational and a ton of fun! Just wait to see what kind of creatures your students come up with! It will be entertaining, I guarantee you that much. Try it ou...

Powtoon {Cartoon Presentation Software}

Powtoon was introduced to me by a friend who was working on a presentation for one of our professional development days. She was talking about how boring PowerPoint could get when it was presenting information to those who were forced to attend meetings. She was going to try something different - and that is where Powtoon came in. Powtoon is a presentation software that allows you to share information using cartoons, speech bubbles, and animations. Basically, you can make cartoons enter and exit your screen at any point, and they can share information while they are there. Think about Saturday morning cartoons that you are creating yourself to share something that is of interest to you! There are some great graphics and you can even add your own images and sound. Let's be real here, who wouldn't like a presentation where cartoons are teaching you about the next latest and greatest in the world of education? Try it out & let me know what you think, Mrs. Tech ...

Easy Teacher Halloween Costumes

As we prep for Halloween, I wanted to share with you some super easy costume ideas that I have found that I think our students would enjoy. I have linked them all to their original source (if I could find it) so you can read any helpful hints they might have posted. Emojis Smarty Pants If You Give A Mouse a Cookie (& friends) Monsters University Winnie the Pooh Crew Cookie Monster Thing 1 & 2 M&Ms What are you dressing up as for Halloween? - Hilary

Mrs. Tech

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