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Are You Ready for The Hour of Code?

The Hour of Code—a worldwide effort to celebrate computer science— is December 4-10, 2017. This week's featured sites and resources will prepare you and your students for a week of exploring, creating, problem solving, and coding. Find coding tools for every grade! 

Grades K-10

Code

If you are participating in the Hour of Code, this site is an excellent starting point. Find lessons for kindergartners to tenth graders. Learn more about the Hour of Code and get involved now.

Grades 6-12

Girls Who Code

Inspire girls to love coding! This site offers three programs for girls to explore coding with peers. The activities are geared to girls in grades 6-12. Learn about after-school clubs and summer opportunities for the girls in your class.

Grades K-12

Coding Resources

Peruse this collection to find ideas for infusing technology (and coding) into all grade levels. Each resource is teacher-reviewed and includes a detailed description plus tips for how to use it in the classroom.

Coding for the Young

Instill a love for the language of coding at a young age with these four fabulous resources for elementary and middle school students!  

Grades K-6

codeCampus

Learn to code in just a few hours. Sign up for free and receive 20 hours of lesson plans, aligned to standards. Administrators or technology specialists receive additional hours of training and lesson plans.

Grades 1-6

E.A.K. (Erase All Kittens)

Learn HTML coding as you play! Short demos and tips throughout the activity guide you on how to add and edit code to build ledges, add boxes, and more. Introduce on your whiteboard and then set your students free to explore!

Grades 1-8

CoderDojo

CoderDojo is an open source movement of free coding clubs for young kids, led by volunteers and found around the world. Click "Organize a Dojo" to become a volunteer organizer and learn more. Read our classroom use section for technology infused ideas.

Grades 3-8

Tynker

Explore these simple coding activities, lesson plans, and more! Find free activities for school, home, and Hour of Code. Build animated characters, create Minecraft mods, skins, and more!

Top Picks for Coding

While there are many coding tools available, these are three of our edtech coaches' top picks from the web!     

Grades 4-12

Microsoft Touch Develop

Microsoft Touch Develop allows you to create apps that work on any device. This tool is perfect for both beginner and advanced coders! The website includes many tutorials to help you learn Touch Develop. See our full review for class ideas.

Grades 1-12

Scratch

Create interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art. The possibilities are endless. Use to draw the different movements of landforms in plate tectonics or to illustrate solutions to math problems. Find more tech integration ideas in our review.

Grades 4-12

TechRocket

Explore these coding and design courses for kids aged 10 to 18. Earn points and badges by completing courses with instruction in Python, iOS, Java, Minecraft, and more. Free membership includes five courses and seven free Hour of Code classes.

This Week at TeachersFirst

Meet our edtech coaches at a local conference! Review the archives of our recent Twitter chat on how to bring coding to the classroom. And, tell us how your class participates in the Hour of Code!