Teaching coding literacy has become mandatory in many classrooms across the country.
Teachers are stepping up to the new challenge and incorporating these new skills into their teaching repertoire. Here are some tips for introducing coding into your classroom if you are new to the concept:
First it is important to know some of the many learning outcomes that are achieved when you introduce coding into the classroom:
1. Early Math Skills If math involves fun projects when students are young, it won't be nearly as daunting when they reach older grades.
2. Creative Thinking Coding involves planning ahead and understanding next steps. Children will begin to think about the future in a creative, constructive way.
3. Complex Thinking The younger children are when they are introduced to programmatic ideas, the better they will understand complex processes in the future.
4. Understanding the World Around Them Children will grow up understanding how coding affects nearly every aspect of our lives, from phones to video games.
Choosing Your Coding Tools
Each grade level will learn best with robots that are suited to their age and ability. Scholar's Choice is constantly researching and seeking out the best coding and robotics resources and tools for all ages, so we always have many to choose from. Here are some helpful suggestions on how to incorporate them into your room.
Bee Bot (Ages 3+)
Bee-Bot’s simple and child friendly layout is a perfect starting point for teaching control, directional language and programming. We love that Bee Bot is rechargeable so classrooms don't have to worry about batteries, and can come as a class set.
Future Coders Robot Races lets children become a robot as they race around a 5'x5' track to solve challenges! Children will dance, spin, and jump their way to the finish line as they learn early coding logic ideas by mapping a path from point A to point B. Robot Races is great for kinesthetic learners.
Jack the robot mouse follows commands to teach hands-on coding concepts. Students can create a step-by-step path for Jack using the 30 double-sided coding cards to provide the perfect introduction to coding concepts. The challenge cards provide great beginner, intermediate, and advanced challenges as students build their skills.
Botley the Coding Robot is an adorable toy that introduces coding fundamentals in a hands-on way. Botley can detect objects and be programmed to go around objects with if/then logic. He can also follow looping commands, take on obstacle courses, follow black lines, and has hidden features to unlock! Botley's advanced features allow teachers to share him among grade levels.
Snapino is a great introduction for older children to the open-source Arduino hardware/software coding environment. Snap Circuits snap together easily and make prototyping circuit designs simple. There are many Snap Circuits sets that can be added together to make larger circuits and more complex systems. This kit includes 20 projects that gradually introduce students to Arduino coding with sketches (programs) already written for operating the 14 included parts.