Creating the Coding Generation in Primary Schools: A Practical Guide for Cross-Curricular Teaching

Creating the Coding Generation in Primary Schools sets out the what, why and how of coding. Written by industry innovators and experts, it shows how you can bring the world of coding to your primary school practice.

It is packed with a range of inspirational ideas for the cross-curricular teaching of coding, from demystifying algebra in maths, to teaching music, to designing digital storytelling, as well as an insight into the global movement of free coding clubs for young people such as CoderDojo and Girls Learning Code.

Key topics explored include:

• what we mean by ‘coding’
• understanding and teaching computational thinking
• building pupils’ passion for and confidence with technologies
• artificial intelligence systems
• how gender impacts on coding
• STEM learning and Computer Science
• using Minecraft to improve pupil engagement
• fun projects using a Raspberry Pi.

Designed to be read from cover to cover or dipped into for ideas and advice, Creating the Coding Generation in Primary Schools offers all teachers a deeper knowledge and understanding of coding that will help them support and inspire the coding generation. It is cool to code!

Table of Contents

PART I: Teaching coding
Chapter 1: What is coding?
Chapter 2: Teaching Computational Thinking
Chapter 3: Thirteen considerations for teaching coding to children
Chapter 4: Coding cleverness: a beginner’s guide to artificial intelligence
Chapter 5: Bits and bytes in blue, programming in pink: gender bias or reality?

PART II: The subject of coding
Chapter 6: DIY zones for Scratch design in class and club
Chapter 7: A journey from order to disorder: coding snippets in mathematics
Chapter 8: Computer science: the silent ‘C’ in ‘STEM’
Chapter 9: Sonic Pi: live coding in education – engaging a new generation of coders
Chapter 10: Minecraft as a framework for engagement
Chapter 11: SOLE coding: towards a practitioner-led development framework for the teaching of computational thinking

PART III: Coding and the wider curriculum
Chapter 12: Possible: the Raspberry Pi – a world of opportunities
Chapter 13: Kids, coding and computational tinkering
Chapter 14: Collaborative coder poets

Appendix 1: glossary
Appendix 2: coding resources
Appendix 3: coding art