Hours and Hours of Code

Throughout December and into January my goal was to introduce coding to primary grades. Being that I am a full-time 5th grade teacher I was challenged to figure a way to make this work. I began with my students. An introduction to the "Hour of Code" on Code.org sparked the initial idea. Students loved trying out all the different coding activities the website provided. Students were engaged and willing to help others problem solve their way through the activities. After watching this active engagement and students helping one another I asked if they would like to teach younger kids how to code. They were up for the challenge. I invited one of our kindergarten classes in and the 5th graders took charge. It was an AMAZING experience! My students were true leaders and the kinders learned to code. Since this was such a positive experience we invited more primary classes in to expose them to the world of coding. Never have I seen 50+ students in a room completely engaged and sad when the time is up before this experience. I believe in the ripple effect so I shared my experience with the other 5th grade teachers and encouraged them to have their classes work with primary classes as well. They shared positive experiences as well. Now to follow up with the primary classes to see what next adventure we can take on.