Curriculum Plan for teaching
coding using:
Hopscotch
http://www.hopscotchkits.com/
Hopscotch Overview
Hopscotch is a company that aims to get young children,
particularly girls into coding.
Currently the company has 2 programming tools for children:
1) Daisy the Dinosaur app for the Ipad,
which allows children to make Daisy
dance.
2) A website called Hopscotch kits that allows children to
draw pictures using coding.
Hopscotch Kits
overview
- To begin your drawing on
hopscotch (http://www.hopscotchkits.com/) it is
incredibly easy. All you have to do is click on ‘Puppy
Draw’ and it provides you with a step by step tutorial
on how to draw a puppy using coding.
- Once you are familiar with this, you can then draw
whatever you like using the same format; sharing the
pictures you create on the website and e-mailing
/saving them yourself.
Hopscotch kits curriculum plan
The use of Hopscotch kits would form a large
proportion of a unit of work in ICT on coding and
programming.
The unit would largely be targeted at Yr 4 or
classes where children have had some exposure to
coding, for example playing and designing games
of 2DIY, using Beebots etc. This would therefore
mean that the concept of coding was not a totally
new and foreign task and allow the gap to be
bridged between this and using Scratch in Yr 5/6.
Objectives:
• To refresh children’s knowledge and familiarity
with coding/programming.
• Children to be able to begin to use coding and
programming to create drawings which can then
be used in a cross curricula context.
• To develop children’s thinking with regards to
coding and prepare them for use of Scratch and
more advanced coding in later years/units/
Content:
Hopscotch kits could be used in a number of
ways. I feel it would work best by using it to
allow children to gain familiarity with coding
for a ½ term and then use it as a stimulus for a
further ½ term. This could for example be
done by going into animation and getting
children to create mini movies for their
puppies/animals created using Hopscotch.
Content – Cross Curricula
Hopscotch could also be used in a cross
curricula way, with activities in other subject
areas being run alongside this coding unit of
work in ICT.
Examples
- Literacy: Children to use their puppies/animals are a stimulus
for a creative piece of writing in literacy . This could even be
done in the form of a script which children can then use for a
mini movie animation.
- Art: Children could create 3D versions of their animals using a
range of materials/resources.
- Science: The biology and welfare of animals could be examined
in Science
½ term Coding content using
Hopscotch
Wk1: Refresh children on coding, reminding
them about previous work on Beebots, 2DIY
etc.
Wk2/3: Encourage children to become familiar
with Hopscotch kits, asking them to use the
tutorials to get to grips with creating a puppy.
They should print this out.
½ term Coding content using
Hopscotch
Wk4/5: Ask children to adapt the puppy they have create in
previous week/s. E.g. making it a different colour,
changing the position of its eyes, nose, etc. Children to
print these out and compare with previous weeks puppy.
They can turn it into a new animal if they desire.
Wk6: Children to create a profile about their puppy/animal
using Powerpoint or Word. They can also create
something for their puppy/animal in Hopscotch e.g. a
new friend, a toy, a house etc.
- It may be appropriate to introduce children to ‘Scratch’
here and let them investigate a little to provide them
with exposure to the next stage of coding.
Learning Experiences:
• Refreshing and reinforcing previous coding
experiences
• Gaining familiarity with Hopscotch kits
• Gaining confidence and flexibility in using
Hopscotch
• Using coding creatively and in a cross curricula
context
Result of Unit
In undertaking this unit I would hope that Yr 4
children would go into yr 5 and 6 with more
confidence in their ability to use coding. This
could then feed into their subsequent work on
Scratch and other more complex coding
programmes.
Using ‘Scratch’ in conjunction with
Hopscotch
It is important to note that if children
were ready after the first 6 weeks
worth of work on coding, using
Hopscotch, it may be appropriate to
move onto Scratch immediately.
- This could take the form of using their animal
as a sprite and creating some form of game
using them.