This week was my first ever experience actually coding myself. I have witnessed it one time last year while I was an EA, as EYES came into the classroom and helped the students make their own little video game. I tried Pirate Plunder on Hour of Code. I thought it was super cool and a fun little brain teaser. It took me a while to figure out what the “If pirate in front of captain” code, but once I figured it out there was no stopping me from getting that sweet certificate at the end. Here are some screenshots from Pirate Plunder.
I had a blast with this coding game. I think coding is super important and is super fun for the kids. When I saw EYES come into the classroom last year in the grade 3/4 classroom I was in, all of the kids loved it. They didn’t want to put the computers away at the end of it. I honestly am not the best with technology, so I am unsure on when I would use these coding skills from this game into real life, but I think this is an awesome way to teach kids how to problem solve and solve puzzles. I am excited to learn more about coding as it is such a growing thing for youth and learn more ways that I can put it into the classroom. I also really like how the Hour of Code website has lesson plans. I am definitely looking forward to take a browse through those.
Hey! I really liked reading about your journey through the pirate plunder coding game, especially because you mentioned that you’re not very tech savvy and it gives me hope for when I try it. I’ll admit that I was putting it off because this class is very tech demanding and it is all becoming very daunting haha!
I love that EYES comes to classrooms and if/when I have my own classroom will definitely look into bringing them in as an expert in the field into the classroom. I really enjoyed her presentation in class and would love to learn more about it and collaborate with them to also learn how exactly to bring coding into the classroom.
Hey Carson!
Thanks for your thoughts on Hour of Code. I took another Edtech class back in 2018 and was first introduced to coding, but honestly, I haven’t used it much since then. I remember it being a fun little project we had to do. I agree that coding is a great activity for students to do in class. Someone mentioned in class that a coding activity would fit in well with procedural writing, which I had never thought about. I think that it would be fun and unexpected to do it in an ELA class.
Hi Ashley,
I think apps like hour of coding would definitely help with procedural writing. I remember watching videos on social media of paerents having them write instruction for making a PB&J and acting them out. This hour of code would students to be more specific on giving instruction and understanding the order in which actions are done.