They may have been taking part in the Hour of Code initiative, but students at Wantagh Elementary School have been doing way more than an hour of computer programming. STEAM teacher Kaitlin Humphrey said students in kindergarten through fifth grade are doing coding activities throughout January and February.

In kindergarten and first grade, children have been working with Bee-Bots, small robots that move around on a mat and are programmed by pushing a sequence of directional buttons. Students in grades 2-5 are doing various coding activities through the Code.org website based on their interests.

Fourth and fifth graders are also using Bitsbox to program and actually get to write coding text. This is a natural next step to enhance their skills, Ms. Humphrey said, after doing drag-and-drop coding in the younger grades. 

To enhance their knowledge of computer programming, students are also introduced to coding vocabulary.