unplugged-coding-activities

Unplugged Coding Activities for Remote Teaching

Unplugged Coding Activities for Remote Teaching

unplugged-coding-activities

Unplugged Coding activities can work great for synchronous learning during remote teaching. Whether you are celebrating the Hour of Code or introducing coding to your class, check out these suggestions for your next unit.

If you are interested in what other activities you can do during the Hour of Code, check out my blog post here. 

 

This video originally aired LIVE on my Facebook Page; Naomi Meredith: The STEMTech Co. 

Come and join in on the fun on Facebook, or watch the recording of this episode.

 

Unplugged Coding Activities  | Watch the recording down below:

 

Here are the key takeaways from this episode:

Unplugged Coding Activities | What are they?

Unplugged coding activity that can be done without the computer. Students still practice computational thinking and ordering tasks sequentially with these device-free tasks. These types of activities work well for stations, when device access is limited, or even for sub plans.

Code.org have a great variety of unplugged coding activities to choose from. Of course, I'll be suggesting some of my favorites as well down below.

Unplugged Coding Activities | Human Robot Station

STEM Stations are a great way to encourage creativity, collaboration and critical thinking. With the tools that I created for you, it should save you time with prep and give you more time to provide an awesome experience for your kids.
For this station, students practice being the programmer and the robot with this hands-on, get-your-body moving STEM lesson. When first getting started, I'll model this as a whole class; the teacher is the programmer and the students are the little robots.
unplugged-coding-activities
unplugged-coding-activities
Hold up each different type of card and model what the action looks like. For example, when the forward arrow is shown, step forward. After students are comfortable with each movement, gradually add on more cards to create a line of code.
Once the kids understand the process, choose a student to be the programmer while the rest of the class (including the teacher) are the robots. Wheel of Names is a great name picking tool, which you can read more about that in my blog post here. 
Students can write the directions on a piece of paper and hold up the camera, say the commands, or even use the virtual whiteboard within the meeting, like Zoom has. Eventually, split students up into virtual breakout rooms. Explain that each student will eventually have the role of being the programmer or the robots.
Within this resources, digital & printable files are also included to learn more about robots and how they work. Click here to grab this easy-to-prep station for your class! 

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Unplugged Coding Activities | Google CS First

I've used Google CS First's coding curriculum a lot during my after-school clubs. It's a wonderful resource! They have also come out with a coding unplugged resource which is a great asset as well.

There are lesson ideas to try and printable. Some of the printable activities I can envision being shared within a platform like Seesaw.

What I like about their resource is how all the lessons walk through the learner each step sequentially. Definitely check this free resource out.  

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Unplugged Coding Activities | Cup Coding

This activity I've done as a station during in-person, Hour of Code. 3rd-5th graders were the most successful with this task since there are a lot of steps. All students need are 10 (plastic) cups which most students have. If students don't have cups at home, they can cut out 10 small pieces of paper that can be stacked flat on the table instead.

The teacher will help create the common vocabulary for this lesson and where to place cups in their proper location. I've had students draw a grid in the past to help visually see each step. For example, box 1 is step 1, the line is step 2, box 2 is step 3 and so on.

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Also, the arrow vocabulary is introduced. Right, left, up, down. So, if a student wants to move a cup to the second box, their code would be: up arrow, right arrow, right arrow.

Next, the picture of how the cups should be stacked is shown. Students can use their own cups as a guide to help them write the code.

There are a lot of variations of this and if done whole group, can be something that could be done a couple of class sessions.  The full detailed lesson plan can be found here. 

 

Other blog posts you might enjoy:

 

unplugged-coding-activities

What questions do you have about these activities? Have any other ideas to share? Feel free to direct message me on Instagram, @naomimeredith_ and I would love to chat with you!