Loti-Bot and the Hour of Code

It’s almost time to celebrate the Hour of Code in my early childhood Gifted and Talented classroom! The Hour of Code is the perfect time for students to learn about the foundations of coding, practice programming skills, and explore robotics.

What is the Hour of Code?

The second week of December is dedicated to the “Hour of Code,” during which students around the world spend a full hour practicing programming in a variety of ways. This may be through unplugged coding activities, coding apps or websites, or coding with robots.

Coding Read Alouds

To introduce the concept of coding to my students, I use two read alouds every year. How to Code a Sandcastle by Josh Funk is a smart and creative way to introduce students to the basics of coding. The author compares introductory coding methods – sequencing, conditions, and loops – to the steps of building a sandcastle in a simple, kid-friendly way that is appropriate for even the youngest learners. After reading this book to my students, even my Kindergartners are able to understand basic coding terms as we apply them to apps and websites. How to Code a Rollercoaster features the same characters with a similar storyline, and it’s perfect for second grade and up. This read aloud introduces the coding concept of variables in addition to sequencing, conditions, and loops.

Hop Scotch Coding

After reading this book, my students play Hop Scotch Coding to interactively experience sequencing, conditions, and loops. They work in teams to create different sequences of unplugged code on the floor, and then take turns walking through the code and acting out the conditions.

Unplugged Coding

Students can also practice unplugged coding with partners with my FREE Gingerbread Coding activity. One student creates a coding map, then the other student writes the matching sequence of code to help the gingerbread man navigate to the gingerbread house. This activity is a big hit with my youngest learners, and they love taking turns creating maps and writing code. I place the coding sheets inside dry erase pockets so that students can reuse them over and over.

Coding Apps and Websites

After some unplugged coding, students are ready to dive into some coding apps and websites! These are few of my faves:

Coding with Loti-Bot

Loti-Bot is a robot that provides the perfect bridge from early coding with Bee-Bot to more advanced programming. Students bring Loti-Bot to life with student-friendly block-based coding in the Loti-Bot app, with a visual format that is similar to Scratch. Loti-Bot can be shared by 2-3 students, and even works with existing Bee-Bot grid mats and supplements.

Here are just a few of Loti-Bot’s features: