Computer Science Education Week is coming up in December and I couldn't be more excited to give my students the chance to learn to code, program, debug and more. It's the perfect time to share with them something I enjoy greatly, especially seeing how far we have come since the days when I first created programs using QBasic back in high school. It is so empowering knowing that you can create something out of nothing. I now mostly dabble in HTML and even built a website from scratch when I attended HTML 500 a few years ago but I love block coding, too, especially when it comes to introducing my students to coding. I have mostly used Scratch during Hour of Code or as part of a CS First Coding Club, but I'm hoping to eventually try coding in Minecraft and programming robots such as the Sphero, Ollie, Dash or Cue and Pro-Bot. Eventually I want to work my way towards incorporating micro:bits and, as a newly certified Raspberry Pi Educator, figure out a way to use Python in class. For my younger primary students, however, I have been wanting to try something a little more simplified, such as Scratch Jr, but when I attended Steven Floyd's workshop at OECTA’s Technology Summit: Get Your Head Out of Your Apps conference a couple of years ago, I discovered the perfect solution - the Bee-Bot floor robot.  

Since I teach French, I wanted to have a set of sequence cards that students can manipulate while waiting for their turn to program Bee-Bot. The creator in me just couldn't help but make my own set using Google Drawings. I even drew Bee-Bot, too! Since I first published the French version of the sequence cards, I've had a couple of requests to share some in different languages. Most recently, someone asked for sequence cards in English et voilà!


If you would like to try unplugged programming in French, feel free to download the French version of the sequence cards by clicking on the thumbnail below. 

Even if you don't have a Bee-Bot, you can still use the cards to "program" students as they move throughout the classroom. Our classrooms have tiled floors and each square is the perfect size for a student to stand inside. I designate a starting tile, add a couple of obstacles such as chairs, and a destination. Then students can use the sequence cards and dictate instructions in French. No computers required!

Teach Spanish? I created a Spanish version of the sequence cards which you can download by clicking on the thumbnail below.


Happy coding!