This term, the children learn to program their own games and control them with the keyboard.
Category: Primary
Drawing with Scratch
At Coding Club this term, the childrens’ programs generated some fabulous creations. Here are just a few of them.
Sharing at Coding Club
At Coding Club we encourage the children to learn about sharing and collaboration. They all take turns to ‘show and tell’. It was great to see everyone sharing their creations and explaining the mechanics of their games.
Creating games with Hopscotch
Years 1 & 2 enjoyed creating their own games with Hopscotch. The app is intended for 8+ year olds but it can also be used with younger children that are confident using ScratchJr. In our case, most of the children had been creating games with ScratchJr and Hopscotch was the perfect follow up.
Hopscotch is a drag and drop code block programming application, which enabled children to create their own interactive games and stories.
The children learnt how to use the iPad’s features like touch and orientation and use these in their creations. They also learned about coordinates, pixels and how to use emoji’s as characters for their projects as well as the logic needed to animate their characters. Check this project out.
Hopscotch it a great app for learning coding, but it can be a bit challenging for some children if they haven’t grasped the basics. If that is the case, then the ScratchJr app might be more suitable.
ScratchJr for Year1 and Year2
As I entered the school ‘ICT suite’ to deliver the first session on ScratchJr to get the iPads ready, I stared at the vintage PC’s and felt really pleased about our new learning environment. The children are in Year 1 and Year 2 (6/7 years old) and were very eager to see what we were going to do with the shiny new iPads. Continue reading “ScratchJr for Year1 and Year2”
Why I love Scratch
I have been teaching Scratch to primary school children for two years now.
Scratch was developed by MIT to enable children to create their own stories and games while learning to code. There is a terrific community of ‘scratchers’ where projects are shared and remixed. Thousands of projects have been made – from very simple animations to complex programs. Continue reading “Why I love Scratch”
Making games with Scratch
Before the Easter break, I taught Scratch to twelve enthusiastic children at my local primary school. This time, I was pleased to have two girls in the group. As the children had enjoyed making games, I decided to introduce new programming concepts while building more games and stories. Half of children were new to Scratch, which meant I had to have teaching material for two levels. As soon as the children got into the swing of things, they had the confidence to help each other, which was good to see. Continue reading “Making games with Scratch”
Six weeks of coding at primary school
I’m really chuffed that my first whole term of coding with primary school children has proved more successful than I had dared imagine. I’m feeling proud of the time I dedicated into getting the materials ready to use in class; it totally paid off. I’m particularly impressed with the children, who’s enthusiasm was infectious. Continue reading “Six weeks of coding at primary school”
Is coding just for boys?
It has been a good start to 2014. I started an after school coding club for primary school children at my local school. I’m very pleased with the way it’s going, and to see the enthusiasm of the children. We are using Scratch and so far the children have produced some great work. Continue reading “Is coding just for boys?”
Code Club for girls
Today is the last day of the school term and I’m very much looking forward to running a Code Club during half term.
I believe that primary-age children should be learning how to make things for the web and learn the principles of coding. They are so comfortable playing with their laptops and mobile devices – but mainly as consumers. It’s time they look at computers and their iPods in a different way. As devices they can manipulate and make them do things they want. Continue reading “Code Club for girls”