Resources for year 6 teachers on coding and programming
Share on Mastodon
I have been introducing some year 6 (UK) teachers to coding by showing them how to lay out a simple web page by writing HTML. I promised I would find some links to resources for them, so here it is:
HTML and JavaScript
My examples of how to write HTML are at github.com/andybalaam/html-examples
There are several web sites that allow you to experiment with writing HTML and JavaScript and seeing the results immediately:
- jsfiddle
- repl.it – this also has a “classroom” mode here: repl.it/site/classrooms
I also made some videos about how to make a snowflake animation in both JavaScript and Scratch here: Snowflake Christmas card.
Raspberry Pi
The Raspberry Pi is a cheap education-focussed computer that looks like a piece of circuit board the size of a credit card.
Their educational resources are at: raspberrypi.org/resources.
There are lots of great videos about how to do different things with the Raspberry Pi, including the ones by The Raspberry Pi Guy.
There are also my (boring, but comprehensive) videos teaching you to write a simple game in Python, from a starting point of no programming experience at all: My First Raspberry Pi Game.
Graphical programming
There are several tools and sites for learning programming by dragging and dropping blocks instead of typing code:
- Scratch – creative, unguided, a bit old-fashined looking but tried-and-trusted
- code.org – fun, attractive guided tasks featuring Disney characters, Minecraft etc.
- blockly – guided tasks with good progression
- codeforlife.education – I’ve not used this, but it looks like it could have potential
Other languages
Update: there is a huge list of similar resources here: Beginner’s Resources to Learn Programming Languages. Thanks to Erica and Sarah for emailing me the link!
Update 2: some more useful links: Learn to code from home and Computer Language for beginners: HTML. Thanks to Sarah for the suggestions, and Stacey for sending them to me!
Update 3: a comprehensive page of links to resources for learning how to code Virtual Reality. Thanks to Katie for the suggestion, and Yazmin for sending it. Keep on being a computer nerd!