Hour Of Code - Working With Kids

This repo has a few TouchDevelop/Hour of Code walk-throughs and also discusses how to plan events with kids

#Planning events with Kids (3rd-10th grade) #

Some advice (in no particular order)

1. Start the event with a physical activity
   1. Program a human robot to make a PB&J This is one of my favorites, especially when you act as a very particular robot. I like to take every direction literally. "Put the peanut butter on the bread" results in me putting the jar of peanut butter on the bag of bread.
   2. A cooperative game
   3. Even just getting up and running through this routine works well: Everyone stand up, now reach really high and wiggle your fingers, now touch your toes, reach really high again, and shake it all out.
2. Take the time to tell your story.
   1. You've gotten into a great school and an awesome program, share how you got to where you are.
   2. Did you struggle at all in school? Did you take a non-typical path? Did you do something cool when you were their age?
   3. What do you wish you knew at their age? You have the opportunity to share that now.
3. When teaching, if you find some people falling behind while others want you to keep moving forward, take a break to get everyone up to the same point. This is also a great opportunity to suggest that the kids who are excelling take the lead and mentor the students who are a bit behind.

##Example Schedules##

Less than 2 hours

Pick one main activity, I suggest TouchDevelop

1. There's an OPTIONAL TouchDevelop workbook in this repo. Turtle draw (exercise one) takes 15-25 min, and Flappy Bird (last exercise) takes 45-75 minutes. There are other activities in the book you're welcome to use
2. I recommend working through them, and practicing talking and explaining the steps while you time yourself. Then double it. This should give you a feel for how long it should take.
3. If you like other games on TouchDevelop, go for it! I recommend having a sheet a paper with at a minimum links to all the content, so that the kids can go home and continue/restart. Having workbooks is even more awesome, but not required.

More than 2 hours

Pick two activities, break the two up with a snack/meal and a physical activity

Possible implementations

1. PB&J, TouchDevelop, AppInventor
2. Stretch, App Studio (workbook in repo), snack & freeze tag, TouchDevelop
3. Stretch, Touch Develop, lunch, a different game in TouchDevelop

Other notes

1. Reliable WiFi is imperative to your success
2. Let the kids keep any handouts, so they can use them for inspiration
3. Girl Scouts who complete the Hour of Code earn the Girl Scout Technology Badge
4. When you want to get the attention of everyone participating, have everyone get up and stretch, so they can't be on their computers