Celebrate CSEdWeek 2019 with A New Hour of Code Activity

Celebrating CSEdWeek 2019 with Google

Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) is held every year in recognition of the birthday of Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper (December 9, 1906). Hopper was a naval officer and pioneer in computer programming and software development. She worked on compilers and making machines understand instructions more similar to plain Engilsh, which led to the development of programming languages like COBOL. Hopper was the first woman to receive the National Medal of Technology as an individual, the nation's highest technology award.

CSEdWeek is celebrated in lots of different ways, but since 2014, K-12 educators have mainly done so by introducing just one hour of coding activities into their classroom during the week. With CSEdWeek just around the corner — December 9 through 15 —  countless classrooms across the country will dip their toes in the exciting world of computer science with an Hour of Code™.

Activity: Coding Without A Computer

CSEdWeek 2019 and a New Hour of Code

This year’s Hour of Code theme is all about using our coding powers for good. That’s why to celebrate CSEdWeek 2019, the CS First team at Google has created a new activity where students can use their imagination to turn a real life hero, like their grandmother or friend or pet, into a superhero using code. "Code Your Hero” is a fun, interactive activity that honors the everyday heroes in our students’ lives who use their powers to better their communities. 

The activity can be completed in 30 minutes to an hour. Students will use Scratch, a block-based coding language, to animate and bring a story or game to life with movement, dialogue and more. Using the CS First tutorial videos available in both English and Spanish, anyone can become programmers for the day. Anyone can teach CS First activities like “Code Your Hero,” and no computer science background is required. You can find and review our digital lesson plans and other materials for educators here. CS First can also be integrated into other subjects such as English Language Arts (ELA), Math, and Science. 

To learn more about the new free activity and how to get started bringing it to your classroom, join our one-hour online webinar on Tuesday, December 3rd. Our resident instructional designer will be joined by a classroom teacher to go over all aspects of the activity, including learning objectives, preparation materials, and best practices for running a smooth Hour of Code event with your students. Register here. 

Be sure to show us what your students create using CS First's “Code your Hero” activity for Hour of Code. During CS Education Week this year, post a picture or video of your students’ Scratch project(s) on Twitter for a chance to be featured on the official Google blog! Include a caption (200 characters or less) describing “The best part of teaching CS First for Hour of Code”, then tag @GoogleforEdu and use #csfirst and #codeyourhero to be entered. Make sure that you and your students are signed in to CS First to save their work! (No purchase necessary to enter or win. Void where prohibited. Valid in the 50 United States and the District of Columbia only. Winner will be contacted the week of December 16th. See Official Rules).

We’re excited to celebrate CSEdWeek 2019 with you, and we can’t wait to see the exciting projects that your students create to celebrate heroes like Grace Hopper or those in their communities!

By Hai Hong CS & Digital Skills Education Outreach Lead

Hai Hong leads Google's Computer Science and Digital Skills Outreach Team, whose mission is to support educators across the country and expand equitable access to CS and digital skills learning opportunities to youth and adults. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Computer Science Teachers Association.

• Discover more ways to code with Google here
• Explore Share My Lesson's curated collection equipped with free resources and activities for digital literacy and computer science.