Hour of Code is something my school has implemented for several years and something my students have really enjoyed.

After reading the articles and playing around on Hour of Code, I could immediately see how the coding games met many of the criteria of computational thinking, a skill we know is crucial in the success of our students. As stated in the article by Eli Sheldon, decomposition and pattern recognition are 2 of the 4 essential skills to computational thinking (Sheldon, E. (2017, March 30). Computational Thinking Across the Curriculum. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/computational-thinking-across-the-curriculum-eli-sheldon). These skills are exactly what coding entails! In order to get things, or people, to move in your coding game, you have to constantly repeat patterns (such as move forward) and also break down steps (decomposition) in order to move around. An example is in order to move a “person” to destroy a wall in Minecraft coding, you need to break down the steps and have them “move forward” several times and then “destroy block”.

I fully understand how coding helps students with computational thinking but after reading Mary Moen’s article, I also see lots of ways coding can aid in literacy skills as well. Problem-solving isn’t just about math, authors also need to problem solve when writing. The problems a character faces and how they solve it are essential parts of gaining reader interests and completing a story. Moen states, “When you code, you set the scene, build tension, create climax, include falling action, and come to a resolution” (Moen, M. (2016, September 30). Computer Coding and Literacy: Librarians Lead The Connection. Literacy Now. https://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog/literacy-now/2016/09/30/computer-coding-and-literacy-librarians-lead-the-connection). Moen referenced a coding with Scratch workshop and how the librarians used Scratch to incorporate coding with a language arts activity and language arts skills. I thought this was an excellent example but I can also see other ways to incorporate coding in language arts. One idea is having students complete the coding activity “Make A Flappy Game”. After creating the game, they can write a sequence paragraph or create a fictional story based on how they chose their game to conclude. The possibilities really are endless and I’m excited to try many ideas in the fall with my class.