Pardes Students Participate in “Hour of Code”
December 7- On December 7th, Pardes joined educational institutions worldwide in celebration of An Hour of Code. Sponsored by code.org, the annual December event is a hands-on experience centered around computer science in education. During this hour, students in every grade level immerse themselves in age appropriate coding activities with the objective of give them a taste of coding’s exciting applications and possibilities.
Coding improves important skills like academic performance, focus, adaptability and organization. From developing computer programs to maximize businesses efficiency, designing websites and automating one’s home, the possibilities are limitless.
This is the second year Pardes Jewish Day School participated in the event. Last year, over one hundred million students speaking forty five languages, took part. This year’s goal is six hundred million!
Pardes students couldn’t get enough of the experience as they marveled their way through various experiences. In Kindergarten and First Grade, students used Kodable to learn to code with the fuzzFamily and explore the Technomazes of Smeeborg as they dragged and dropped specific commands. Second Graders enjoyed CodeMonkey, learning to help the monkey get bananas back by using text-based coding through CoffeeScript. Third Graders made their own Flappy Birds using blocks of code. Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Graders experimented with Dance Party where they learned to code a dance party by choosing music and writing the code for the dancers’ moves. Seventh and Eighth Grade students and PTechs were on hand in our Lower School classes to assist and help their younger classmates to maximize the experience.
In addition to coding in MakerSpace, Pardes offers CodaKid as part of our after school enrichment program. “Some kids really love the world of code and begin pursuing programs outside of school as well,” says Pardes’ Technology Integration Specialist, Lezlie Strolle. “There’s no telling where this can go!”