By: Tasha Vango

Hour of Code

This site provides a variety of self-guided lessons in both a text, video, and even an “unplugged” lesson on developing and creating code using Scratch. Teachers can use the site to assign a lesson and monitor student progress.

Projects are student-interest centered providing students with the option of choice for example, “Pitch Your Passion, time1—2 hours. Students will build a project about an idea, activity, item, or cause they feel strongly about.”

CS First also offers multi-day units which contain 8 lessons across a wide variety of subjects including music and science. Projects are grouped from introductory, to intermediate, to advanced.

CS First also provides teachers resources on distance learning and teaching, how to teach CS First, printable material, and potential Professional Development workshops in the area.

The projects provide clear instructions, examples, and materials and as such are easy lesson plans for teachers who may not be experienced with teaching code. However, a limitation of the site is the number of lesson plans, there are currently only around 15 developed lesson plans. Further, lessons generally seem generated for the Elementary and Intermediate level. Teachers who will be teaching coding throughout the year will likely need to draw on other resources in order to supplement their teaching.

Resource Information:

URL link to resource: https://csfirst.withgoogle.com/s/en/home