Coding Group Classes for Grades Thirds to Fifth in Charlottesville
Students are introduced to essential coding principles through CoffeeScript, a user-friendly text-based programming language. To facilitate learning, young coders utilize an appealing graphical interface on instructor-provided Chromebooks. While prior typing experience can be advantageous, it is not a prerequisite. Classes are conducted in semester-long sessions, with each session lasting 55 minutes. We tailor the pace of the classes to accommodate the individual progress of each student.
Unit 1: In the first unit, students discover that coding involves providing precise instructions to a computer and employing strategic planning to develop efficient programs. They explore objects capable of executing multiple actions.
Unit 2: During the second unit, students delve into coding repetitions using loops and variables.
Unit 3: In the third unit, students acquire the skills to write intricate code utilizing variables and arrays. They also learn about indexing to access specific elements within an array.
Unit 4: The fourth unit focuses on coding "for" loops, variables, and indexing.
Unit 5: Unit five introduces students to the world of functions. They practice creating function definitions and experiment with defining functions that call upon one another.
Unit 6:In the sixth unit, students grasp the concept of conditional loops that repeat until a specific condition is met.
Unit 7: During the seventh unit, students delve into conditional statements such as "if" and "if else." They then apply these new statements in conjunction with previously learned concepts, including loops and functions.
Unit 8: Unit eight introduces students to logical operators like "or" and "and," enabling them to code conditional statements with compound conditions.
Unit 9 through the end of the course: Starting from unit nine and continuing until the end of the course, students explore additional topics. These include the "not" logical operator, concepts related to computer games, integer operators, return values from functions, event-driven programming, and more.
