3-5 Computer Science Curriculum

SFUSD's creative computing curriculum introduces computer science as a creative, collaborative, and engaging discipline to children in third through fifth grade. Across 15-20 lessons at each grade level, students will learn about algorithms and programming, computing systems, the Internet, and impacts of computing, while developing strong practices and dispositions. Lessons are designed to be implemented in 45 to 60-minute periods approximately once per week.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Full Course, Lesson

Authors: Adapted primarily from Creative Commons licensed resources developed by the ScratchEd team at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Code.org. See also the original ScratchEd Creative Computing curriculum guide., Created by the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Computer Science team: CSinSF.org.

CS in SF AppInventor

AppInventor

Material Type: Full Course

SFUSD Creative Coding 3-5 Curriculum (Blue Level)

SFUSD's creative computing curriculum introduces computer science as a creative, collaborative, and engaging discipline to children in third through fifth grade. Across 5 units and 15-20 lessons, students will learn about algorithms and programming, computing systems, the Internet, and impacts of computing, while developing strong practices and dispositions. Lessons are designed to be implemented in 45 to 60-minute periods approximately once per week.

Material Type: Full Course

SFUSD Creative Coding 3-5 Curriculum (Green Level)

SFUSD's creative computing curriculum introduces computer science as a creative, collaborative, and engaging discipline to children in third through fifth grade. Across 5 units and 15-20 lessons, students will learn about algorithms and programming, computing systems, the Internet, and impacts of computing, while developing strong practices and dispositions. Lessons are designed to be implemented in 45 to 60-minute periods approximately once per week.

Material Type: Full Course

CS Unplugged

CSUnplugged

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Code Club Projects

Code Club is a global network of free coding clubs for 9- to 13-year-olds. Welcome! Here you’ll find step-by-step instructions for our coding projects, which will teach you how to create games, animations and more with code.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Code.org Express Course (Student)

Learn the basics of computer science and internet safety. At the end of the course, create your very own game or story you can share. CS Fundamentals Express combines the best of Courses A-F into a single condensed course (with a simpler option for pre-readers). We recommend Courses A-F for most classrooms, but if your school only offers one computer science course or you want to have your students work through multiple courses in a single year, the Express course is a better choice. By removing the ramp up between years, the express course provides a smoother path and doesn’t repeat concepts for students unnecessarily. This is also our recommended option for students studying computer science on their own, outside of a classroom.

Material Type: Full Course

Google CS First

The activities below introduce students to computer science and the programming language Scratch. Different themes attract and engage students of varying backgrounds and interests. All materials are free and easy to use.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Module

Hour of Code

The goal of Code.org is to bring computer science to every K-12 school in the United States, especially in urban and rural neighborhoods. They provide free workshops, lessons, and videos to help educators to students the basics of coding.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Interactive

Made with Code

Check out some of the amazing things you can do with code.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Scratch 3.0 Creative Computing Curriculum Guide

This guide is a collection of ideas, strategies, and activities for an introductory creative computing experience using the Scratch programming language. The activities are designed to support familiarity and increasing fluency with computational creativity and computational thinking. In particular, the activities encourage exploration of key computational thinking concepts (sequence, loops, parallelism, events, conditionals, operators, data) and key computational thinking practices (experimenting and iterating, testing and debugging, reusing and remixing, abstracting and modularizing). Learn more about computational thinking – what it is and how to assess its development in learners – from resources in the appendix or by visiting http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/ct

Material Type: Full Course

Code.org Course D (Student)

Students develop their understanding of nested loops, while loops, conditionals, and events. Beyond coding, students learn about digital citizenship.

Material Type: Full Course

Code.org Course D (Teacher)

Course D was created for students who read at roughly a third grade level. Angles and mathematical concepts are introduced with helpful videos and hints. The course begins with a review of the concepts found in Courses A, B, and C. This review helps introduce or refresh basic ideas such as repeat loops and events. Students will develop their understanding of algorithms, nested loops, while loops, conditionals, and events. Lessons on digital citizenship are also included. This course is crafted to build a strong foundation of basic concepts before opening up to a wide range of new and exciting topics.

Material Type: Full Course

Code.org Course E (Student)

Start coding with algorithms, loops, conditionals, and events and then you’ll move on functions. In the second part of this course, design and create a capstone project you can share with your friends and family.

Material Type: Full Course

Code.org Course E (Teacher)

Created with fourth grade students in mind, this course begins with a brief review of concepts previously taught in courses C and D. This introduction is intended to inspire beginners and remind the experts of the wonders of computer science. Students will practice coding with algorithms, loops, conditionals, and events before they are introduced to functions. At the end of the course, students will have the opportunity to create a capstone project that they can proudly share with peers and loved ones.

Material Type: Full Course

Code.org Course F (Student)

Learn to use different kinds of loops, events, functions, and conditionals. Investigate different problem-solving techniques and discuss societal impacts of computing and the internet. In the second part of this course, design and create a capstone project you can share with friends and family.

Material Type: Full Course

Code.org Course F (Teacher)

The last course in CS Fundamentals was tailored to the needs of students in the fifth grade. In these lessons, students will create programs with different kinds of loops, events, functions, and conditionals. They will also investigate different problem-solving techniques and discuss societal impacts of computing and the internet. By the end of the curriculum, students create interactive stories and games that they can share with their friends and family.

Material Type: Full Course