Coding for Kids
by Kevin Elgan
As Tynker’s Director of School Programs, Kevin works with educators and districts, helping them successfully integrate computer programming into the K-12 school curriculum.
*This is the first of a three-part educator series on teaching computer programming skills in the classroom.*
It’s been two months since the Hour of Code and the interest in coding keeps growing. So, we put together a handy multi-part educator series of resources to streamline “Getting Started with Tynker”, “Integrating Coding into your Curriculum”, “Diving Deeper with Coding”.
Teaching your students computer programming with Tynker is incredibly easy. In fact thousands of teachers have followed the steps below to include coding in the curriculum in meaningful ways. They use Tynker to support standards and reinforce classroom learning across all subjects. In the following resources, you’ll learn more about Tynker, how to create a free account, how to set up your classroom and experience your first lesson. And you’ll do this all in 15 minutes!
Table of Contents
STEP 1: (1 min) Tynker Overview
The following video provides an overview of Tynker and examples of the types of projects that students will learn to create.
STEP 2: (2 min) Create a Free Tynker Account
Now that you have a nice overview of Tynker, it’s time to create your free account which you can do by clicking the button below. After you’ve successfully created your account, make sure to go to the next step.
STEP 3: (7 min) Set up your Classroom
This short video will take you through the simple steps needed to create your virtual classroom with student accounts. Afterwards, you’ll learn how to preview lessons and go through the student experience.
STEP 4: (< 1 min) Assign a Lesson
Learn how to assign your first lesson to ensure you are all set for introducing your students to Tynker. Afterwards, we recommend assigning the lesson titled “Astronaut Training.” Go to your classroom and assign the lesson.
STEP 5: (4 min) Experience a Lesson
Go back to the lesson that you just assigned. To experience it from a students point of view, click the ‘Student View’ button.
Great job! You’ve successfully set up your classroom, experienced your first Tynker lesson and are now ready to unleash your students on Tynker.
Stay tuned for part two of this series where we’ll cover ‘Tips and Tricks’ from Teachers for introducing coding to your classroom.
