It's sports day and time for your team to hit the field. Experienced coders will use an online coding platform to create an interactive game using Python. Using the skills developed in our Coding: Beginner Python (Level 2) Creating Animations & Games course, students will spend 8 weeks designing a game and strengthening their coding skills. 

Each week we build upon our upon their project.  Class starts with a brief welcome and share, before we jump into vocabulary review and debugging. Following these activities, students will be given instructions on what to include in their game. The instructions are a guide as we want to limit simply "copy and paste" coding. Students will have to use their understanding of python terminology to implement the project instructions and create a game that is unique. 

Students will build patience as they are challenged with completing repetitive tasks, embracing creative thinking, and practice using proper capitalization and punctuation in their programs.


This class was created to support coders who have completed Coding: Beginner Python (Level 2) Creating Animations & Games.

**** This class honors a "no lazy coding" philosophy. Many young coders tend to want to skip proper punctuation and capitalization. The instructor will continue to remind all students to honor basic grammar rules. This makes their projects more enjoyable by others, allows kids to reinforce their writing skills, and is helpful when learning other languages.****

Class Overview:
•	Welcome & Share
•	Vocab Game (Kahoot! or Nearpod)
•	Daily Debugging Exercise
•	Instructions on what to include in the project
•	Student coding time (teacher answers questions from students as needed)

Students must meet the following Prerequisites. To ensure student satisfaction with this course, we are unable to make any exceptions to the list of prerequisites. 

***Please note:
In order to best use instruction time, students should have basic computer literacy skills and be able to engage in class without parental assistance. Parents who need to sit and assist their child in class, are welcome to visit our flex course.

Choreography by Rae's Coding Python Curriculum:
•	(Level 1)    Creating Games & Animations- building a coding foundation
•	(Level 2) Creating Games & Animations- practice foundational skills 
•	(Level 3)    Creating Games & Animations- working with user input 
•	(Level 4) Creating Games & Animations- designing a game with user input
•	(Week 5)   Creating Games & Animations-  unpredictable input
•	(Level 6) Creating Games & Animations- designing a game with unpredictable input 
•	(Level 7)    Creating Games & Animations-  storing values
•	(Level 8) Creating Games & Animations- designing a game with conditionals 
•	(Level 9)    Coding Python Advance Beginner

F.A.Q.

Student Pacing:
It is not uncommon for students to progress at a different pace. Students who are comfortable taking the instructions provided and implementing them with minimal support, are encouraged to do so.  It is a group class. If your child has trouble making decisions or gets very anxious when asked to make a decision, please discuss with them beforehand how they can manage their emotions ahead of time. 

*What is the Student engagement expectation?
As this is an 8 week course, it is important to the instructor that participants enrolled are willing to contribute to nurturing a social environment. At times we invite students to share their projects, comment on their peers projects, make coding recommendations, help read out loud class slides, or even play a quick warm up game. Students who want to just come to class, turn off their camera, and wait to be given some code, will not enjoy this class. We don't waste time or goof around, but we all of our social engagement activities help support each child's ability to work with others, accept feedback, and be willing to grow as a programmer. Our motto, "Social Media, wasn't built by one person. It took a lot of people, a lot of tries, a lot of mistakes, and a lot of collaboration. All of our favorite games and websites are examples of team work."

Can we skip Level 2 if my kid has already taken tons of Scratch?
No. Scratch is a block coding program that becomes more challenging based on how students assemble the coding blocks and the number of actions they add to their program. Our platform helps kids code without using blocks. We have found that many advance Scratch students require some time to adjust their approach to coding. Even if Level 1 feels like a review of things they "already know" the platform still requires creativity and imagination to create unique projects. It is your child's chance to learn something knew and to practice what they know.

What if my child has used Replit or OnlineDB?
Those who have used Replit or OnlineDB will be using the same Python coding language.  The terminology and concepts are the same, but lines of code will vary based on the coding library being used (instead of a say command, the coding library may require a print or text command). Unlike many coding programs designed for kids, we are not solely relying on a prewritten series of code from the instructor or a YouTube video; students will use be asked to write out the code, explain what the code does, and creating their own designs.

How does this differ from MadLibs?
While students can create text based game such as MadLibs in our coding platform, the coding library that we use allows students to develop coding skills while coding projects that include images. 

How does this differ from Scratch?
Scratch is  a block coding program that allows students to use blocks of code that have preset instructions to create games. Unlike block coding in Scratch this class encourages students to focus more on creating functions and understanding the relationship between those functions. This class teaches students how to code without relying on blocks. Students who have used block coding will welcome the challenge of being able to have more control over their program. 

Do I need to sit with my child during class?
No. We ask that parents do not join the class. Students who are too young to read independently or to use a computer independently are better off taking a Scratch course as they can focus on drag and drop skills. In some instances the teacher may message a parent asking for the parent to be available and assist in all future classes (teacher notices that the student appears to be struggling with the keyboard or understanding instructions). We fully expect learners over the age of 8 to be able to participate without parental assistance. If your child feels better having a parent or guardian in class, please take our flex course instead. It will allow you and your child to work together and prevent your child from receiving conflicting instructions during the live class setting.