15 More Examples of Meaningful Coding Across the Middle School Curriculum

Back in December during the International Hour of Code, we asked all of our middle school teachers to include a coding activity tied in with their curricular area and share with all teachers what they did by posting to a Schoology Group. Below is a sampling of what was done at both of our middle schools along with some of the photos they submitted. As you can see, there was great variety and creativity involved and teachers tied it to their curriculum, from language arts, music, math, science and more. A big thanks to our participating teachers and to our middle school computer science teachers, Lisa Reed and Michelle Pease, for encouraging colleagues to explore the opportunities for integrating coding into their curriculum. 

1. My 8th grade geometry students used Spheros to calculate polygon interior and exterior angles, and programmed their bots to draw pictures. 
   
   
2. I had my 7th grade Comp Math students work on coding the coordinate plane. Students were able to learn about the coordinate plane and coding through this Codesters activity. They had a great time! 
   
   
3. 8th grade Global Studies students at MME coded flags of the world today! Fun times coding Libya then going for more challenging flags of Ukraine and Germany. Some students designed and coded their own flags.
   
4. Students are currently reading The Cay by Theodore Taylor in 6th grade LA class. The book lent itself well to a connection about WWII, Alan Turing and the Enigma code in spirit of Code Week! They learned what encryption is and how to decrypt messages just like Alan Turing did during WWII in the fight against Nazi Germany. Students attempted to decrypt the attached cryptogram, and some were successful! Those that finished could extend their knowledge of Cryptography with Swift Playgrounds: Cipher. The conversations spurred from this lesson were not all focused on coding, but the life of Alan Turing brought rich conversations about history, persecution, and humanity that brought great value to the class. 
   
   
   
5. My classes are participating in code week this week. Today we did a coding Breakout EDU. Tuesday and Wednesday we are using Spheros and Thursday we are doing Swift Playgrounds. On Friday we are ending the week with a coder speaker.
    
6. In my social skills class we did an hour of code using Breakout Edu. The students had to work in partners to problem solve various puzzles and codes. It was a great way to observe collaboration skills and their ability to persevere through frustration!
   
   
7. I had students code a health super hero that would rescue someone from drug use. My 6th graders were really creative. One student coded a grandma figure that went into schools and talked to kids about how drugs have aged her. And even though she looked old like a grandma, she actually was not as old as she looked because of her drug use. So fun to see their creativity!
   
   
8. 6th Grade LA coded Homophone stories - the requirements were three sets of homophones that were different and a story that made sense! Many kids had a lot of fun with this!!
   
   
9. 7th grade Spanish Immersion LA students created story maps to retell fairy tales. They programmed Ozobots to follow their story maps.
   
   
10. In 7th grade life science, students had the opportunity to explore the Code.org website tutorials. Many a Flappy Bird game were coded this day.
    
    
11. In 8th grade earth science the students played with the different Hour of Code Activities! Some of them created their own games! 
    
    
12. In Band 8, we worked on coding the music of Franz Lizst. A great activity to do right after the concert!!
    
    
13. In Language Arts, students created a PSA with Codester.com. 
    
    
14. In comp math students were coding a snowman with coordinate points. 
    
    
15. In our language arts hour of code, students are coding mini narratives! Students code to establish character and setting in a short story.

To learn more about coding in Minnetonka K-12, please see some of the related posts listed below:

• Using Technology to Think Critically About History & Engage Students' Creativity
• 40+ Ideas for Coding Across the Curriculum in Middle School: Math, Band, Language Arts, Science, Spanish & More
• Photo Recap: 7,300+ Hours of December Coding in Minnetonka Schools
• Minnetonka’s Coding Program for Every K-5 Student Now Assessed on Report Cards
• Why Teach Coding? Same Reasons to Teach Writing Even When Not All Students Will Be Writers
• Behind the Code: Using Spheros in Middle School for Deeper Learning
• Beyond Coding and Computer Science in Schools: The Need for Computer Ethics
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• What Are Minnetonka Teachers Learning About This Summer? A Lot--During Our Professional Development Classes!
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• Computer Coding Starting in Kindergarten
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