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Hour of Code 2016 is Coming!

By Jessica Winstanley

Computers are everywhere, changing every industry on the planet. It is up to us as educators to help prepare our students to meet the technology challenges of the future. If you've heard about the Hour of Code before, you might know it made history. More than 100 million students have tried an Hour of Code.

The Hour of Code 2016 is happening again this year, during Computer Science Education Week, December 5-11.  What will your class do?

You may be saying to yourself...I don't know anything about computer science, how can I teach my kids this?  Good news?  There are so many wonderful opportunities out there that are student directed, that you do not need to know ANYTHING about computer science in order to give your students this opportunity.  Below are some excellent resources for getting your kids excited about CS!

Hour of Code: The Hour of Code site from Code.org has many wonderful projects to get student started, including Minecraft!

Code.org: Appropriate for Y5 through Middle School students.  Provides four self directed courses, along with many other outstanding activities including Play Lab and Project Studio.

Disney Hour of Code: Get started coding with some of your favorite Disney characters, including the new Moana, Star Wars, Anna and Elsa, and Big Hero 6.

CS First: Appropriate for 4th Grade through Middle School students. Start your own computer science club with the Computer Science First curriculum provided by Google.  Learn more about this awesome opportunity here: http://ppstechtraining.blogspot.com/2015/11/google-computer-science-first-program.html

Khan Academy: Appropriate for our secondary students.  Learn how to program drawings, animations, and games using JavaScript & ProcessingJS, or learn how to create webpages with HTML & CSS. You can share whatever you create, explore what others have created and learn from each other!

Scratch: Developed by MIT, this blockly programming site allows students to create their own programs.  Scratch is a very popular programming site used both by CS First and Project Lead the Way.

Tynker:  Appropriate for K-8th grade students.  Explore the great Hour of Code activities on Tynker.

Do you have a favorite computer science tool to use with students?  Please share!

Get started at http://hourofcode.com/us
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