Coding with Code & Go® Robot Mouse

Students learn to program the Code & Go Robot Mouse, a child-friendly floor robot, by entering sequences of movement commands, planning routes, and debugging their programs. They apply these skills to early math topics such as counting, patterns, comparing length, shapes, and making ten, and to science topics such as seasons, weather, the needs of living things, pushes and pulls, and changing environments. The course ends with a STEM project where students design a device that helps Robot Mouse clean up trash in a park.

Students program Robot Mouse directly on the robot by pressing the direction buttons on its back, so no computer or tablet is needed for students. You will need Code & Go Robot Mouse robots, and many activities have students move the mouse across a grid to reach targets such as numbers, shapes, or picture cards. CodeHS provides the lesson plans, slides, and rubrics.

Coding with Code & Go Robot Mouse is designed for kindergarten students, and no prior coding experience is needed. The course begins with Robot Mouse's basic movements, and later lessons build on the sequencing skills students learn in those first lessons.

The course includes 13 student lessons, totaling about 8 hours of instruction. Most lessons take about 30 minutes, the patterns lesson takes about 45 minutes, and the Park Cleanup STEM project takes about 90 minutes. A teacher resource guide is also included for designing additional Robot Mouse lessons, and every student lesson includes slides in both English and Spanish.

Coding with Code & Go Robot Mouse lessons are aligned to many state computer science standards, and they also connect to Common Core Math and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).