Virginia Computer Science: 4th Grade
- Level Elementary School
- Number of Lessons 32
- Grade 4th
This course is designed to provide computer science and technology instruction for Virginia 4th Grade students. Students learn programming and technology concepts, including: computing systems, networks and the Internet, data analysis, algorithms and programming, and impacts of computing.
See the full syllabus for all topics and activities, or explore the course to try it out.
UNITS - 8 (32 lessons)
Reviews core CS vocabulary and coordinate-plane animation basics.
Introduces computing systems, file management and data storage, and computational thinking through designing a school.
Builds skills in events, algorithms, and loops through games like catching a ball and maze debugging, plus a sports careers connection.
Teaches conditionals and game-effect operators through a maze-navigation program and the Scout's Quest conditionals lesson.
Introduces variables and lists to track scores and model forces, using projects like a pong game and a spelling bee.
Introduces clones and functions with boolean inputs through animation and a snake game.
Applies design thinking to build capstone projects including an accessibility redesign, a culture-based choose-your-own-path game, a custom music player, and a data bar graph investigation.
Covers attribution, data analysis, cybersecurity, how networks and packets move information, the impact of computing, and comparing human vs. computer performance.
Explore a sample lesson from this course!
4th grade students build programs using events, algorithms, loops, conditionals, operators, variables, lists, clones, and functions, with projects like a maze game, a forces simulation, a pong game, a spelling bee game, and a snake game. They also redesign a game for accessibility, create a choose-your-own-path game about culture, make music with code, and complete a data bar graph project. Students learn how information travels across the Internet, practice cybersecurity, credit sources, and compare how humans and machines solve problems.
The course includes 36 lessons, each about 45 minutes long, providing a full year of instruction when taught once a week. Every lesson is built in a ready-to-teach format, with step-by-step videos that walk students through the lesson. Lessons are designed to be teacher-led using an "I do, we do, you do" format, and a self-paced option is also available. Optional review lessons at the start of the course are not counted in the 36 lessons.
No. There are no prerequisites, and the course is designed to support all learners regardless of prior computer science experience. Optional review lessons at the start of the course help students who are new to CodeHop learn the basics before moving into grade-level content.
Virginia Computer Science: 4th Grade is aligned to the Virginia Computer Science Standards of Learning. Lessons required to fully meet the standards are labeled in the course syllabus with the standards they address, and all Digital Literacy lessons are required because they cover essential non-programming computer science concepts.
