Third-Grade Coding with Cole

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous' started by colepuncher, Dec 10, 2014.

  1. Yes, That's right, THIRD GRADERS CAN CODE!!!
    As I am in the third grade, this is the week called "hour of
    coding week" where schools teach kids to code with this thing called blockly.
    With studio.code.org kids can code games etc.

    I want to show you the simple games I make on there.

    First One:
    I call it, FLAPPY SANTA AROUND THE WORLD.

    Go ahead and try it! I will make more in the future!
  2. Dragging and dropping blocks to make them snap together is hardly coding. I do appreciate things like Scratch etc. for being around though, since I never would have even attempted learning more complex languages if it weren't for that. I just wish they didn't define themselves as being coding.

    Noice anyways though.
  3. it is coding (And reply but is not working) just it does not use text ;p
  4. Nah, it's not. :p It's dragging and dropping blocks. :p
  5. I would have to agree with SoulPunisher. I don't try to be Mr. Negative XD it's just the stuff I look at.

    I have done code.org at my school as well last year, and I'd have to agree that it's not really coding. I'd think of it as a concept bridge to get kids interested in actual coding, being using actual text and creating vars, algorithms, scripts and the like. At least the one that I tried out, it was the one where you drag the bubbles into an order box and it'll do stuff in the order you told it to or react based upon the user's input. Creating applications from scratch is honestly really different, you have to make graphics and align them yourself. You have to do repetitive tasks, create scripts and call them where as code.org does most of the tedious work for you and simples it down to 'jump' or 'game over', if I recall correctly.

    It's still kind of cool, but I also wish they wouldn't call it coding but rather a 'hook' to get you into coding by displaying you the fun part to get you interested so that you can hopefully do the entire thing yourself one day. But when it comes to this, I'm afraid it's a drag-and-drop sort of thing and I wouldn't call it coding personally.

    Nonetheless, good job :)
  6. TBH, I think you can call this coding. Like Scratch, this is likely to be officially defined as a programming language. It's a similar concept to the Metro design language, it is simply a defined group of words, phrases, images or whatever which can be interpreted and produce a product of some sort.

    This is definitely not conventional programming or coding, but it works in the same way as any other programming language and makes it very easy for someone to learn the very basic fundamentals of any programming language (like conditional statements, loops, variables etc.).

    It might not be full on application development, but its something and everyone has to start somewhere.
    607, SoulPunisher and Pab10S like this.
  7. Whether you use text or a graphic representation of something, you are still combining symbols to make a computer do tasks. At one extreme you choose each individual statement and at the other you are using blocks of code which may symbolize thousands of lines of code. Either way that is programming.

    If using blocks of code disqualify a person from being considered a coder, then most people out there are not coders. Something as simple as form.Show(); relies on a library, which may in turn rely on other libraries. We symbolize that block of code with "Show" instead of a picture. Even people who program with assembly language use libraries(if they are smart) especially if they are doing anything substantial.
    SoulPunisher and mba2012 like this.
  8. I completely hate the Hour of Code. I did that in my English class, and it taught me so little that I practically lost information.
    golddigger221 and xHaro_Der like this.
  9. Actually you can even go further back than that... Alice uses the fundamentals of java - but with drag and drop functions | so you can place things in a time line - type information needed - add sprites as needed (and audio) ...and run it...

    After that you can use the fundamentals to learn - not just java... but javascript, c#, c++, vb.net, python, or even bash and dos...

    If you know how conditional statements, ordering, variables, loops, arrays, etc work | and what certain things are called, and how they function, you may learn any form of coding...

    java and c++ - even using ide's might be harder to grasp at first, if you have no visuals to go off of, or knowledge of what any of the aspects nor terminology within that language mean.

    javascript and python - possibly a little easier to grasp than java and c++

    c# and vb.net - might seem easier as there are visual aspects, but when you get in depth with the coding portion, you need to know just as much coding as with java (it all depends what you're trying to make, though)

    alice - and other visual-only programs, I wouldn't really call coding (depends who you ask) but it is a guiding program to help teach you tutorials and learn aspects 'about' coding...
    Deadmaster98 likes this.
  10. I still like the fact that he has taken the interest of programming into himself at that age because when I was in 3rd grade; All we had was MS Paint and Minesweeper on a primitive version of windows. There wasn't applications like there is now. Instead of bashing, lets congratulate that the younger generations haven't completely lost hope.
  11. What exactly is hour of code? :p

    I keep logging into Scratch occasionally because people are still replying to messages I've written that are over 4 years old, and yesterday was one such day. I saw that 'Hour of Code' thing there and then in a few other places that use drag and drop interfaces to code. I have since learned that they do it in Middle Schools (I think...) in America. I have never seen it over in England and this is the first time I've ever heard of it .-.
  12. I've noticed a few ads, more and more recently, that show a lot of schools in America teaching kids how to make minecraft plugins, to learn how to use java.

    No one when I was young, tried teaching students how to code...but I started learning the concept of html, css, and javascript around age 7-8 on the old websites: like blogspot, freewebs, etc... when I was around 11, I started learning about them more in depth, but the teaching of coding still wasn't prevalent.

    I didn't learn java until I was around 15 (I signed up for it, was taught it in 10th grade; I was the second set of students to be taught it)... the terminology wasn't difficult, but remembering the concepts and how to do certain things didn't sink in as if they would have If I started younger....

    Them starting kids, moreover, in middle school or even elementary, on the fundamentals, may benefit him/her in the long run; for it to seem more fluent than if he/she waited later on in life.
    607 likes this.
  13. This is a good way to find students who may be interested enough to study more complicated coding options. Teaching simple logic conditions is far too boring without the rapid gratification of tools for making games. Great work!
    colepuncher, sonicol1 and mba2012 like this.
  14. Why all the negative comments? I doubt any of you could have made something like this in third grade! This guy made a game! Quit complaining and maybe say "good job!"
  15. Well, each to his own of course but I don't think those were really negative at all. In fact, I think its a good thing to point out the difference so that the OP doesn't risk running into (possible) awkward situations.

    In all honesty; if I was told that someone coded a web application (or web game in this case) then my first question / reaction would also likely be something in the likes of "Cool, what environment/framework did you use? PHP, ASP or such?". Can't hurt to point it out.

    And to bring yet another approach into the thread; I'm more inclined to call the process scripting.

    But I think we can all agree that whatever we call it, it doesn't take away the cool results!

    Nice work Colepuncher!
    colepuncher, JackBiggin and 607 like this.
  16. I think its great, that coding or whatever you want to call it, is introduce at such a young age. I'm in my late 50's and trying to learn coding. I'm starting with HTML, which would been easier if I started out younger. But, its been a long time passion I'm going to fulfill. Good job, Colepuncher!!
    colepuncher likes this.
  17. What's 3rd grade?
    I recommend GameMaker, it's very easy to get started with (also has the possibility of drag & drop) but you can actually make things with it yourself. (What I mean is, this looks like a very inflexible platform that you can't do too much with, although I might be wrong)
  18. The grade levels in America
    first preschool- your just a 3-4 year old
    Second kindergarten bit older
    1st grade
    2nd grade
    Etc up to 12th grade or senior in high school
    607 likes this.
  19. 3rd graders are like 8-9
    colepuncher and 607 like this.