Bitsbox

Students will:

• Be able to write a computer program to create a game that may be shared and played by others.

Vocabulary Words:

1. Parentheses: Parentheses look like this ()
2. Commas: Commas look like this ,
3. Apostrophes: An apostrophe looks like this '
4. Curly brackets: Curly brackets look like this {} 

To prepare for this lesson:

• Read the GrownUp Guide at Bitsbox. It only takes a few minutes!
• Build a few apps in the Bitsbox site you will use with your students at and note how the tutorials will help teach and guide students along the way.
• Check out the Bitsbox Blog for an explanation of some of the coding basics to help you understand the code. This will give you a cheat sheet that explains what each line of code does.
• Take a minute to ensure the website is not blocked by the school filters by loading on your devices at school. If the site is blocked speak to your IT coordinator to get the following sites unblocked:
  1. bitsbox.com
  2. bitsbox.io
  3. firebase.com
  4. firebaseio.com
  5. googleapis.com
  6. gstatic.com
  7. codepops.com

See the Accommodations Page and Charts on the 21things4students website in the Teacher Resources. 

Directions for this activity:

1. Introduce Bitsbox and explain that this site will teach them how to create their own apps that others can play.

2. Model the first few steps of the Hour of Code activity pointing out that the tutorial helps to guide them, and that syntax must be exact. In other words, if they type in capitals or lowercase, the students must do the same. If they use parentheses, so must the students.

3. Warn students that parentheses and brackets must be used in pairs and that this is a common mistake.

4. Students begin the Hour of Code activity.

Different options for assessing the students:

• Observations
• Check for understanding
• Students may turn in the link or QR code for their app or simply take a screenshot of the completed project.