Coding Club is a 12 week program for students in kindergarten through second grade. During the semester, students explore and use different coding platforms such as Scratch Jr., Code.org, Tynker, and other options. The first three weeks are dedicated to learning the coding basics while the middle weeks 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. An awards night takes place on the last night of the club.
Aside from gaining knowledge in coding concepts, students build confidence and friendships. Computational thinking (a problem solving technique), communication and critical thinking skills are also enhanced.
Week 1- Intro to Code
- What is Coding Video- Scratch Garden
- Code: Giving instructions to a computer or a robot in a language it understands.
- What is Coding- Song Lyrics and Activity PDF
- Monkey Board- Unplugged Coding
- Students helped give directions to get the monkey to the banana.
- CodeCombat Jr.
- Login Link
- Press login in the upper right hand corner, type in login credentials, press “Play Next Level” on the Jr. box (it has blue and white on it)
- If you would like your student’s login information, please email Miss Mikayla
- An answer key can be requested by emailing Miss Mikayla
- Login Link
- K-2 Week 1 Family Flyer PDF
Week 2- Intro to Code
- Sequence Video
- Sequence: The order something happens in.
- Sequence Song Lyrics and Activity PDF
- CodeSpark (Free website or free downloadable app)
- Login Link
- Press “Schools” in the upper left hand corner.
- Click “students”
- Use Class Code
- Please email or text Ms. Mikayla for the classroom code. The code only last for 2 hours but they will only need it one time per device they login in on. Ms. Mikayla is not limited to how many codes are generated.
- Click their name
- Continue where they left off
- If a section is locked and they are ready to progress to that area, please emai Ms. Mikayla and she can unlock it.
- Login Link
- K-2 Week 2 Family Flyer PDF
Week 3- Intro to Code
- Algorithm Video
- Algorothm: Step by step directions in order to complete a task or a goal
- Unplugged Polar Animals Drawing Algorithms
- Polar Animals Drawing Algorithm
- Free PDF in the “Getting the How to Draw Polar Animal Set” section of the website
- Polar Animals Drawing Algorithm
- Tynker- Candy Quest
- Login Link
- If your student would like to login, please email Ms. Mikayla for login credential
- K-2 Week 3 Family Flyer PDF
Week 4- Robotics
- Decomposition
- Decomposition: Breaking a big problem down into smaller problems and then solving all of the smaller problems to solve the big problem.
- Unplugged Decomposition Acitivty
- We did not do this in class but if you would like to learn more, feel free to explore this free resource.
- Free printable PDF towards the bottom of the website
- What’s Decomposition: A Rock-And-Roll Adventure Book Link
- Sphero Bolt
- Students coded the robots to help “lead” animals who have “escaped” from their barns back to the animal’s assigned barn.
- K-2 Week 4 Family Flyer PDF
Week 5- Robotics
- Debugging Video
- Debugging: Finding and correcting bugs (mistakes) in code.
- K-5 Kodable Unplugged Debugging PDF
- K-5 Kodable Unplugged Debugging KEY
- Lego WeDo- Dog
- K-2 Week 5 Family Flyer PDF
Week 6- Robotics
- Pattern Recognition Video
- Pattern Recognition: Finding similarities between different parts of a problem
- Lego WeDo- Hunting Shark
- K-2 Week 6 Family Flyer PDF
Week 7- Robotics
- Loops Video
- Loops: A repeating sequence of code
- Loops Song Lyrics and Activity Scratch Garden PDF
- Unplugged Loops Activity
- Code N Go Mice
- Students coded their mouse to follow a line or built a maze with wooden blocks for their mouse to go through.
- K-2 Week 7 Family Flyer PDF
Week 8- Game Design
- Abstraction Video
- Abstraction: Removing details to make a solution work for other problems
- Ideas To Practice Computational Thinking At Home– Article
- Unplugged Abstraction Activity- Guess What
- Take turns drawing and guessing. One person will pick a card from the pile (or make up your own) and then draw the item listed on the card. The other person will try to guess what the item is.
- Guess What Examples and Information PDF
- Guess What Cards PDF
- Scratch Jr.
- K-2 Week 8 Family Flyer PDF
Week 9- Game Design
- Conditionals Video
- Conditionals: Lines of code that make a decision, usually phrased in an IF/THEN Statement
- Conditionals Song Lyrics and Activity- Scratch Garden PDF
- Conditionals Blog Post- Scratch Garden
- Code.org Unplugged Conditionals with Cards Game
- Check the sidebar on the right for ideas and printables
- Scratch Jr. Home Page (check out the different tabs for more ideas on what to create)
- Information on how to download for Apple and Android
- Information to download on Windows and Mac
- K-2 Week 9 Family Flyer PDF
Week 10- Passion Project
- Computational Thinking Video
- Computational Thinking: A problem solving tool that uses abstraction, decomposition, pattern recognition, and algorithms.
- Abstraction: Removing details to make a solution work for other problems
- Decomposition: Breaking big problems down into smaller, more managle problems
- Pattern Recognition: Finding similarities between different parts of a problem
- Algorithms: Step by step directions in order to complete a task.
- Ways to Build Computational Thinking Skills- Article for Families
- Computational Thinking: A problem solving tool that uses abstraction, decomposition, pattern recognition, and algorithms.
- Passion Project
- Passion Project is a time for the students to choose thier own coding platform. They can choose to build a robot with the Lego WeDo sets or design a game/animation on Scratch Jr.
- Students will present their passion project on April 17th from 6:10-6:30 pm
- K-2 Week 10 Family Flyer PDF
Week 11- Passion Project
- Growth Mindset Video
- Growth Mindset: The idea one can develop new skills with effort, time, and dedication.
- The Power Of Yet Article For Families
- Passion Project
- Passion Project is a time for the students to choose thier own coding platform. They can choose to build a robot with the Lego WeDo sets or design a game/animation on Scratch Jr.
- Students will present their passion project on April 17th from 6:10-6:30 pm
- K-2 Week 11 Family Flyer PDF
Week 12- Passion Project
- Confidence Video
- Confidence: Believing in oneself and abilities
- Passion Project
- Passion Project is a time for the students to choose thier own coding platform. They can choose to build a robot with the Lego WeDo sets or design a game/animation on Scratch Jr.
- Students will present their passion project on April 17th from 6:10-6:30 pm
- K-2 Week 12 Family Flyer 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.