Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Thousands of Teacher-reviewed Resources!

Coding in the Classroom

The benefits of including coding in the classroom are many. It can help students develop problem-solving skills, improve processing skills, learn persistence, and build determination. Consider the resources below to begin coding with students.

Grades 2-12

Minecraft Hour of Code Tutorials

Introduce the basics of coding with two Minecraft activities designed to teach and reinforce coding skills using the familiar and popular game. Read our "In The Classroom" suggestions for ways to involve your school community in a coding event and more.

Grades 6-12

The Code Player

Learn to code HTML, CSS, JavaScript and more from demonstration videos. Project examples include creating an interactive to-do list, text bubbles, blinking holiday lights, and other ideas.

Grades K-12

Flappy Code

Create your own flappy bird game using simple drag-and-drop coding. Follow the 10-step directions to add code to your workspace as you make your bird fly toward a target, give directions for the end of game results, and edit actions and speed of the game.

Grades 4-12

Blockly

Dig into this open source library of drag-and-drop blocks to use for generating codes. You can use the blocks to stack and add information to create code in countless ways. When finished, view and copy the code in JavaScript, Python, and other formats.

Coding for Elementary

Coding doesn't need to be a complex task only for secondary students. There are many coding resources designed for young learners too; below are a few that you can share during Hour of Code and throughout the year.

Grades K-6

OK2Ask: Coding in the Elementary Classroom

View this archive of a recent virtual workshop to learn tech and no-tech strategies for introducing elementary students to the wonder and world of coding, computational thinking, and computer programming.

Grades K-8

Learning with Santa Tracker

Santa has created games for young learners to engage in coding. Scroll through the activities to find Code Lab, Code a Snowflake, and Code Boogie. Games include PDFs, video tutorials, warm-ups, writing prompts, and extension activities.

Grades K-6

codeCampus

Bring your elementary math lessons to life with code, no experience necessary! Your students can learn to code in just a few hours with this standards-aligned curriculum. Sign up for free to get four free lessons for you and your students.

Hour of Code & Beyond

The Hour of Code (the second week of December) challenges students to participate in a one-hour introduction to computer science and programming. This global movement was started by the Computing in the Core coalition and Code.org, and currently includes over 180 countries. Not sure how to participate? Explore these three resources to help you prepare.

Grades 2-6

Disney Hour of Code Digital Toolkit - Moana: Wayfinding with Code

Bring Disney's Moana into your classroom as an engaging introduction to coding. The site includes videos, a printable toolkit, and a hands-on coding adventure designed for elementary students. The toolkit is full of ideas for the Hour of Code.

Grades K-12

Twitter Chat Archive: Getting Ready for the Hour of Code

View this recent Twitter chat to explore strategies for coding across various curricular areas, the benefits of integrating coding into instruction, and tips for ways to participate in the Hour of Code.

Grades K-12

Code.org

Get ready for the Hour of Code with these lessons for kindergartners to high schoolers. The challenges and puzzles use a drag-and-drop process and problem-solving skills. There are even "unplugged tutorials" for classrooms without computers.

This Week at TeachersFirst

We wish you all a relaxing Thanksgiving with family and friends! Before you head off to enjoy the holiday, join our OK2Ask® virtual workshop this Tuesday (11/26) at 7 pm ET. This week's topic is low-tech and no-tech STEM. Read a recent blog post on getting ready for the Hour of Code. And, please take a moment and share your response to our weekly poll.