Summer Coding Club is a weeklong program for students in third through fifth grade. During the week, students explore and use different coding platforms such as Scratch, Code.org, Tynker or Microsoft’s Makecode. The first few days are dedicated to learning the coding basics while the middle days are spent creating playable games and building programmable robots. Lastly, students get the opportunity to dive deeper into a topic of their choice in the passion project.
Aside from gaining knowledge in coding concepts, students build friendships, confidence in computational thinking (a problem solving technique), communication and critical thinking skills.
Day 1- Coding Foundations
- What is Coding- Scratch Garden Video
- Scratch Garden Coding (song lyrics and pintables can be downloaded for free from here)
- Unplugged Coding Relay Races
- Code.org Minecraft Adventure Hour of Code
- Hello Ruby- Book Website ( We read chapters 1 and 2 today)
- Free Downloadable activities here
- Scratch Homepage
- Please reach out to Miss Mikayla if you or your child needs their login username or password
- All About Me Collage Walkthrough
- Vocab:
- Code: Giving instructions to a computer or robot in a language it understands
- Algorithm: Step by step instructions in order to complete a task or a goal
- Sequence: The order something happens in
- Computational Thinking: A problem solving technique involving decomposition, patterns, abstraction (removing the details of a solution to make it work for other problems) and algorithms
- 3-5 Summer 2023 Day PDF
Day 2- Coding Foundations and Game Design
- Decomposition Video- Scratch Garden
- Scratch Garden Coding (song lyrics and pintables can be downloaded for free from here)
- Draw a Face Unplugged Activity PDF
- Tynker- Dragon Blast Hour of Code
- Hello Ruby (Chapters 3 and 4)
- Free Downloadable activities here
- Microsoft’s Makecode
- Scroll down to find tutorials. Then press the arrow on the right side of the screen and find the Galga tutorial
- In order to save their progress, they will need to login with Microsoft or Google (Gmail)
- Miss Mikayla’s Completed Galga Game
- Click “see code” at the top to see the code.
- Miss Mikayla’s Galga Notes/Walkthrough PDF
- Makecode Coordinates Video
- Vocab:
- Decomposition: Breaking big problems down into smaller problems
- Functions: Blocks within a code that allow a programmers to use the same code again without having to rewrite it
- Conditionals: A line of code that allows the computer or robot to make decisions. Usually phrased as an “If/Then” statement. Example: IF the robot comes to a red square, THEN it should stop. Example: IF it is raining, THEN bring an umbrella
- 3-5 Summer Coding Club Day 2 Handout PDF
Day 3- Robotics
- Debugging- Scratch Garden Video
- Scratch Garden Coding (song lyrics and pintables can be downloaded for free from here)
- Unplugged Activity
- Treasure Hunt- Kodable Activity 3
- In our book, Ruby goes on a scavenger hunt to look for gems
- Sphero Bolt
- Hello Ruby (Chapters 5 and 6)
- Free Downloadable activities here
- Vocab:
- Debugging: Finding and correcting mistakes (bugs) in code
- Bugs: Mistakes or errors in code
- Events: Starts lines of code (when the green flag is pressed, when run is pressed, when spacebar is pressed, etc.)
- 3-5 Summer Coding Club Day 3 Handout PDF
Day 4- Robotics
- Loops- Scratch Garden Video
- Scratch Garden Coding (song lyrics and pintables can be downloaded for free from here)
- Riley Rover Building Instructions PDF
- Hello Ruby (Chapters 7 and 8)
- Free Downloadable activities here
- Vocab:
- Loops: A part of code that repeats a certain number of times, until something else happens or forever
- Patterns Recognition: Finding similarities and patterns in order to solve complex problems more efficiently
- 3-5 Summer Coding Club Day 4 Handout PDF
Day 5- Passion Project
- You Can Do It- Scratch Garden Video
- Scratch Garden Coding (song lyrics and pintables can be downloaded for free from here)
- Hello Ruby (Chapters 9 and 10)
- Free Downloadable activities here
- Hello Ruby Board Game
- Hello Ruby: Cupcake Hunt Game Directions and Playing Cards PDF
- Vocab:
- Confidence: Believing in yourself!
- 3-5 Summer 2023 Day 5 Handout PDF
Other Resources
Our YouTube Channel – We’ve created several free videos to walkthrough some of the puzzles from above and activities in Scratch Jr. from below.
Scratch Jr – Free app for iOS, Android, and ChromeOS – Allows your students to use the ideas learned above in their own creative programming environment. They can add characters and backgrounds to program their own games and animations. Here are some examples of free activities in Scratch Jr: www.scratchjr.org/teach/activities
Tynker – Free app for iOS, Android, and ChromeOS (also a website tynker.com). Limited number of free puzzles similar to the links listed above.
LightBot Code Hour – Free app for iOS and Android. Three-dimensional puzzles similar to the links above.
Additional Coding Resources
Enrollment Now Open
Choose from online and in-person coding courses for young learners, K-6, designed to develop critical thinkers and problem solvers with transferrable skills across all subjects.