3 Ways to Continue Coding Past the Hour of Code

#ContinueCoding throughout the School Year

Hour of Code may be over (Dec. 4-10, 2017), but your students don’t have to end their exploration of computer science just because the calendar has moved on! We have some ways for you to #ContinueCoding into the new year.

Idea #1 — Puzzlets for Dash: Just last week during #HourofCode we launched Puzzlets for Dash, aimed at PreK and kindergarten students. The Puzzlets Play Tray connects to Dash through Bluetooth. Then, students use the 22 icon-based tiles to control Dash’s movements, lights, and sounds. Puzzlets for Dash is a great way to introduce coding and robotics to pre-readers, all without a screen!

Idea #2 — K-5 Learn to Code Challenge Card Box Set: Launched last June at ISTE, our K-5 Learn to Code Curriculum has helped the everyday teacher introduce physical coding and applied robotics to their students. The 36 complementary lesson plans for educators are free, and each points to three of the 72 student-facing Challenge Cards as independent practice. These Challenge Cards, aligned to Code.org’s CS Fundamentals series (levels A-F), encourage students to work through mini-challenges at their own pace. Teachers unfamiliar with coding have told us that they love their “parallel learning” experience; they look over the students’ shoulders and learn alongside them.

Idea #3 — Wonder League Robotics Competition: It’s our third year of running this free and virtual competition for teams of kids ages 6–12. Last year, we had more than 5,300 teams from 52 countries, with a neighborhood duo in India winning for ages 6–8 and an all-girls team from Michigan winning for ages 9–12. This year, our goal is to have 10,000 teams participate from across the globe! The virtual teams work through a series of story-based collaborative “missions” or coding challenges. Besides the coding and robotics experience, coaches tell us that they love how the #WonderLeague encourages kids to collaborate, iterate, persist, and get creative! Team registration open only for THREE MORE WEEKS —all teams must be registered by Dec 31st to access resources and compete for the two $5000 STEM grant grand prizes.

And don’t forget that this year’s #HourofCode activities for PreK-8 are still available online at www.makewonder.com/hourofcode. Have fun and #ContinueCoding!