About This Webinar
New to teaching computer science with CodeHop? Join us for this 45-minute webinar covering how to choose your CodeHop course, set up your class sections, preview a Ready-to-Teach lesson, and get an overview of the teacher tools and resources available to support you all year. To get your FREE CodeHop license before the webinar, go to https://codehs.com/idahocodehop.
Prepare for the school year with CodeHS in this comprehensive Idaho webinar overview, featuring student platform previews, K-5 curriculum roadmaps, section setup guidance, and essential teacher tools.
Full Transcript
Read the complete transcript of this webinar
All right, good afternoon everyone. Welcome to the CodeHS webinar. Today we are going to talk about getting ready for back to school with CodeHS, specifically for our Idaho teachers. So we'll go ahead and jump right in. A little bit about me: I am Allison Drake, a PD specialist here on the team. My background is in elementary education; I started as an elementary classroom teacher and then became an elementary instructional coach in computer science. So I'm excited to be here and present for you all today. I'm also joined by TJ, and I'll let him introduce himself quickly.
Hello, my name is TJ. My background is in high school computer science, and I've been with CodeHS for three and a half years. I'm so excited to talk about CodeHS and get us all set up for the school year.
Awesome. Thank you, TJ.
We're going to go ahead and jump into our workshop norms so that you have an understanding of what we're going to cover in this workshop. TJ will show you what the student view looks like, and you'll have the opportunity to look at a couple of lessons there. We will explore courses, specifically the Idaho computer science courses. We will talk about how you can create sections and look at the teacher tools that exist to help you in your classrooms. Then, as we wrap up towards the end, we will review some best practices and teaching strategies, and investigate available resources.
A little bit about CodeHS for those of you who may not be familiar: Our mission is to empower all students to meaningfully impact the future. We provide elementary lessons designed to introduce K-5 students to computer science. We also have interdisciplinary lessons that reinforce concepts in subjects like ELA, science, math, and social studies. CodeHS is a comprehensive, web-based platform with lots of teacher tools and resources to help educators from all backgrounds and experience levels deliver computer science and coding to their students.
Next, let's touch on some of the benefits of early coding. You have the opportunity to work with students from a very young age and introduce them to computer science. Early coding boosts problem-solving skills by pushing students to think critically and break complex issues into manageable steps through decomposition. It improves computational thinking, which is the foundation of computer science. Introducing coding early also encourages persistence and grit, gives students a creative outlet through technology, and teaches digital literacy skills essential for a technology-driven world. Finally, starting early promotes equitable access to computer science so students can decide later on if it's a path they want to pursue.
Regarding our curriculum specifically, CodeHS is ready to teach for educators of all experience levels. We have pre-built lessons that minimize prep time and engage students, offering both interdisciplinary instruction and dedicated computer science instruction. For example, we have a dedicated Idaho computer science pathway as well as opportunities to integrate lessons into core subjects like ELA, math, science, or social studies. Our curriculum is vertically aligned, meaning concepts build sequentially from kindergarten through fifth grade without unnecessary repetition. We also offer workshops and support to ensure you are set up for success in your classroom.
The CodeHS platform utilizes Scratch and ScratchJr block-based coding. CodeHS Elementary (Jr) is geared towards K-2 students and pre-readers, featuring minimal text so students don't need to read to build programs and algorithms. For third through fifth-grade students, we transition to standard CodeHS blocks. These are still block-based, but code runs top-to-bottom, incorporating more text and complex block types. Both environments are highly accessible for their target age groups.
Now you're going to put on your student hat as we preview a few lessons from the student perspective. Feel free to pause the video as we go through this to dive deeper into the lessons.
There are several ways students can log in to CodeHS. One way is by sharing a URL containing a unique class code and student names. When a student clicks that link, they select their course name, find their name, and log in. For younger students who aren't reading yet, an animal icon can be associated with their name so they can simply click their icon to log in.
When a student logs in, they see a simple interface called "My Playground." Thumbnails with a present icon indicate lessons assigned by a teacher that haven't been opened yet. Once a student opens the starter code, the present icon opens to signal it has been accessed. Students can also open a thumbnail to create their own sandbox project using CodeHS, CodeHS Jr, or the Karel IDE. Teachers can customize settings to hide specific interfaces (like Karel or CodeHS Jr) depending on grade level. In the playground, students can rename, share, copy, delete, or reset their personal projects.
The first lesson we'll explore using CodeHS Jr is a first-grade computer science lesson on loops called "Catching Butterflies." The objective is for students to use show, hide, and loop blocks to create a butterfly-catching game.
From the teacher side, clicking into a lesson opens "Ready to Go" slides that can be presented directly to the class by clicking play. Teachers can preview the lesson beforehand to access lesson plans, starter code, solution references, prerequisites, Spanish slides, assessment rubrics, and state standards alignment. Additional resources include interactive activities, differentiation sheets, printable instructions, and video overviews.
During a teacher-led lesson, you can present integrated Google Slides containing objectives, computational thinking connections (like pattern recognition), review videos, and interactive activities. The "Push to Students" feature allows teachers to send specific activities or programming environments directly to student screens instantly, eliminating setup delays. Teachers can model coding directly inside the slides while students follow along on their devices. The lesson progresses through guided practice, independent practice, extension activities, a gallery walk showcase, and closure. In the final butterfly game project, multiple butterflies move in loops, hiding when clicked and reappearing automatically.
Next, let's look at a self-paced lesson. To enable this, teachers toggle on "Allow self-paced activities for students" in section settings. For this example, we'll look at a fourth-grade lesson on loops called "Catch the Ball," where students use two types of loops to build a game. When students open a self-paced lesson, they can choose between "Explore the Video Lesson" or "Work on My Project." Selecting the video lesson opens interactive slides with embedded videos and checks for understanding. Students can complete assignments directly within the slide view or open them in a separate tab, with their work saving automatically.
A few layout features to note: students can expand or minimize their coding canvas, and if they accidentally delete a sprite, they can recover it using the "Restore Sprite" option under the Edit menu.
Now let me pass it back to Allison to walk through the teacher perspective.
To follow along, log in to your teacher account. Upon logging in, your homepage will display options to explore courses. Navigating to the "Courses" tab on the left menu allows you to search for specific curricula, such as typing "Idaho" to view the Idaho computer science courses for grades K-5.
Clicking into a course like Kindergarten provides an overview showing 36 contact hours designed for weekly instruction across 45 lessons and 9 modules. Selecting "View Lessons" gives a detailed breakdown of the curriculum. From here, you can open the syllabus to review course goals, structure, time estimates, and module descriptions.
You can also view the "Roadmap," which displays the full vertical alignment across grades K-5. The roadmap shows how units progress, starting with optional review modules, standard 30-45 minute lessons, unplugged activities (learning CS concepts off-screen), multi-day projects, and formative check-for-understanding quizzes. Every lesson on the roadmap is clickable for direct access to lesson materials.
To set up a class, navigate to "Sections" and click "Create New Section." Select your subject area (such as dedicated computer science), select the grade level, choose the corresponding curriculum, and enter a section name (e.g., "First Block"). Once created, you can invite co-teachers by email and add students manually, in bulk, or via CSV import without requiring student email addresses.
Teachers have flexible login options for students, including class login URLs, general QR codes, individual QR codes, picture logins, or single sign-on (SSO). In section settings, you can customize playground access, adjust language toggles between English and Spanish, enable self-paced learning, and allow assignment submissions for teacher feedback. You can also turn on voiceover support for quizzes or toggle the student microphone feature on and off.
In the "Lessons" tab for a section, teachers can manage content visibility. Clicking the three dots next to any lesson allows you to show or hide it, or assign it to specific students for differentiation.
To view student work, navigate to your section roster and click the home icon next to a student's name to enter their individual playground and inspect their project progress.
Finally, the "Resources" tab offers extensive support tools, including platform navigation videos, family letters in English and Spanish, classroom teaching videos, and knowledge base help articles. It also provides syllabus roadmaps, reflection worksheets, warm-up activities, lesson planning templates, computer science vocabulary lists, classroom posters, and printable CodeHS Jr coding blocks for unplugged classroom activities.
For ongoing support, teachers can access knowledge base articles, use the live blue chat icon on the platform, or email the support team. You can also join the CodeHS Educator Facebook group and register for free professional development workshops. Thank you for your engagement and time!
Hello, my name is TJ. My background is in high school computer science, and I've been with CodeHS for three and a half years. I'm so excited to talk about CodeHS and get us all set up for the school year.
Awesome. Thank you, TJ.
We're going to go ahead and jump into our workshop norms so that you have an understanding of what we're going to cover in this workshop. TJ will show you what the student view looks like, and you'll have the opportunity to look at a couple of lessons there. We will explore courses, specifically the Idaho computer science courses. We will talk about how you can create sections and look at the teacher tools that exist to help you in your classrooms. Then, as we wrap up towards the end, we will review some best practices and teaching strategies, and investigate available resources.
A little bit about CodeHS for those of you who may not be familiar: Our mission is to empower all students to meaningfully impact the future. We provide elementary lessons designed to introduce K-5 students to computer science. We also have interdisciplinary lessons that reinforce concepts in subjects like ELA, science, math, and social studies. CodeHS is a comprehensive, web-based platform with lots of teacher tools and resources to help educators from all backgrounds and experience levels deliver computer science and coding to their students.
Next, let's touch on some of the benefits of early coding. You have the opportunity to work with students from a very young age and introduce them to computer science. Early coding boosts problem-solving skills by pushing students to think critically and break complex issues into manageable steps through decomposition. It improves computational thinking, which is the foundation of computer science. Introducing coding early also encourages persistence and grit, gives students a creative outlet through technology, and teaches digital literacy skills essential for a technology-driven world. Finally, starting early promotes equitable access to computer science so students can decide later on if it's a path they want to pursue.
Regarding our curriculum specifically, CodeHS is ready to teach for educators of all experience levels. We have pre-built lessons that minimize prep time and engage students, offering both interdisciplinary instruction and dedicated computer science instruction. For example, we have a dedicated Idaho computer science pathway as well as opportunities to integrate lessons into core subjects like ELA, math, science, or social studies. Our curriculum is vertically aligned, meaning concepts build sequentially from kindergarten through fifth grade without unnecessary repetition. We also offer workshops and support to ensure you are set up for success in your classroom.
The CodeHS platform utilizes Scratch and ScratchJr block-based coding. CodeHS Elementary (Jr) is geared towards K-2 students and pre-readers, featuring minimal text so students don't need to read to build programs and algorithms. For third through fifth-grade students, we transition to standard CodeHS blocks. These are still block-based, but code runs top-to-bottom, incorporating more text and complex block types. Both environments are highly accessible for their target age groups.
Now you're going to put on your student hat as we preview a few lessons from the student perspective. Feel free to pause the video as we go through this to dive deeper into the lessons.
There are several ways students can log in to CodeHS. One way is by sharing a URL containing a unique class code and student names. When a student clicks that link, they select their course name, find their name, and log in. For younger students who aren't reading yet, an animal icon can be associated with their name so they can simply click their icon to log in.
When a student logs in, they see a simple interface called "My Playground." Thumbnails with a present icon indicate lessons assigned by a teacher that haven't been opened yet. Once a student opens the starter code, the present icon opens to signal it has been accessed. Students can also open a thumbnail to create their own sandbox project using CodeHS, CodeHS Jr, or the Karel IDE. Teachers can customize settings to hide specific interfaces (like Karel or CodeHS Jr) depending on grade level. In the playground, students can rename, share, copy, delete, or reset their personal projects.
The first lesson we'll explore using CodeHS Jr is a first-grade computer science lesson on loops called "Catching Butterflies." The objective is for students to use show, hide, and loop blocks to create a butterfly-catching game.
From the teacher side, clicking into a lesson opens "Ready to Go" slides that can be presented directly to the class by clicking play. Teachers can preview the lesson beforehand to access lesson plans, starter code, solution references, prerequisites, Spanish slides, assessment rubrics, and state standards alignment. Additional resources include interactive activities, differentiation sheets, printable instructions, and video overviews.
During a teacher-led lesson, you can present integrated Google Slides containing objectives, computational thinking connections (like pattern recognition), review videos, and interactive activities. The "Push to Students" feature allows teachers to send specific activities or programming environments directly to student screens instantly, eliminating setup delays. Teachers can model coding directly inside the slides while students follow along on their devices. The lesson progresses through guided practice, independent practice, extension activities, a gallery walk showcase, and closure. In the final butterfly game project, multiple butterflies move in loops, hiding when clicked and reappearing automatically.
Next, let's look at a self-paced lesson. To enable this, teachers toggle on "Allow self-paced activities for students" in section settings. For this example, we'll look at a fourth-grade lesson on loops called "Catch the Ball," where students use two types of loops to build a game. When students open a self-paced lesson, they can choose between "Explore the Video Lesson" or "Work on My Project." Selecting the video lesson opens interactive slides with embedded videos and checks for understanding. Students can complete assignments directly within the slide view or open them in a separate tab, with their work saving automatically.
A few layout features to note: students can expand or minimize their coding canvas, and if they accidentally delete a sprite, they can recover it using the "Restore Sprite" option under the Edit menu.
Now let me pass it back to Allison to walk through the teacher perspective.
To follow along, log in to your teacher account. Upon logging in, your homepage will display options to explore courses. Navigating to the "Courses" tab on the left menu allows you to search for specific curricula, such as typing "Idaho" to view the Idaho computer science courses for grades K-5.
Clicking into a course like Kindergarten provides an overview showing 36 contact hours designed for weekly instruction across 45 lessons and 9 modules. Selecting "View Lessons" gives a detailed breakdown of the curriculum. From here, you can open the syllabus to review course goals, structure, time estimates, and module descriptions.
You can also view the "Roadmap," which displays the full vertical alignment across grades K-5. The roadmap shows how units progress, starting with optional review modules, standard 30-45 minute lessons, unplugged activities (learning CS concepts off-screen), multi-day projects, and formative check-for-understanding quizzes. Every lesson on the roadmap is clickable for direct access to lesson materials.
To set up a class, navigate to "Sections" and click "Create New Section." Select your subject area (such as dedicated computer science), select the grade level, choose the corresponding curriculum, and enter a section name (e.g., "First Block"). Once created, you can invite co-teachers by email and add students manually, in bulk, or via CSV import without requiring student email addresses.
Teachers have flexible login options for students, including class login URLs, general QR codes, individual QR codes, picture logins, or single sign-on (SSO). In section settings, you can customize playground access, adjust language toggles between English and Spanish, enable self-paced learning, and allow assignment submissions for teacher feedback. You can also turn on voiceover support for quizzes or toggle the student microphone feature on and off.
In the "Lessons" tab for a section, teachers can manage content visibility. Clicking the three dots next to any lesson allows you to show or hide it, or assign it to specific students for differentiation.
To view student work, navigate to your section roster and click the home icon next to a student's name to enter their individual playground and inspect their project progress.
Finally, the "Resources" tab offers extensive support tools, including platform navigation videos, family letters in English and Spanish, classroom teaching videos, and knowledge base help articles. It also provides syllabus roadmaps, reflection worksheets, warm-up activities, lesson planning templates, computer science vocabulary lists, classroom posters, and printable CodeHS Jr coding blocks for unplugged classroom activities.
For ongoing support, teachers can access knowledge base articles, use the live blue chat icon on the platform, or email the support team. You can also join the CodeHS Educator Facebook group and register for free professional development workshops. Thank you for your engagement and time!
