Programming Unit Final Project - Holiday Coding Projects For Everyone!

This is your chance to turn your coding experience into a holiday project.  Follow the links below to the different activities today.  Enjoy!  - Mr. S

Dancing Yeti Project: Make the Yeti Dance, a digital animation project from Made with Code!


Holiday Emoji Project:  You’re about to design a custom holiday emoji that you can share digitally or IRL.

Holiday Card Project:  Codecademy is the easiest way to learn how to code. It's interactive, fun, and you can do it with your friends. Check out this tutorial that will help you create a Holiday Card Web Page. 

Twelve Days of Christmas Code:  Nice, simple implementation of the Twelve Days of Christmas. As jhixson puts it, “Pretty straightforward … in JS with a few ES6 bits.” Run it today, there are still a couple of days left! That is of course, assuming the twelfth day of Christmas is actually Christmas, which I believe is out of scope of this blog article.

Snowstorm Project:  A fancy, customizable JavaScript-driven snow effect which you can easily add to your homepage to eat up the user’s CPU! Also included, if you are feeling a bit Clark Griswoldy, is an experimental Christmas Lights script, which you can find at the top of the page.

Java Christmas Lights:  Great idea and execution, Anvaka! As noted on the README.md, “The tree is built of two spirals. These 11 lines of code render one line on spiral. It includes 3d projection and background shadow.”

Hannakuh CSS Menorah:  Here is a Menorah written entirely in CSS. Neat!

DO NOT GO TO SANTA TRACKER UNTIL YOU HAVE COMPLETED AT LEAST TWO OF THE PROJECTS ABOVE!

SANTA TRACKER by  GOOGLE:  Leave it to Google to outdo everyone on the list. Enter stage north, the Santa Tracker. As Google puts it, the Santa Tracker is, “an educational and entertaining tradition for the December holiday period.” While this project appears quite jolly on the surface, Santa actually is currently involved in litigation with Google over this tracking system. Expert witness, Rudolph. Either way, enjoy!

Original Post by SourceToad.com at https://www.sourcetoad.com/code/5-holiday-code-ideas/

BONUS SITE:  Christmas Experiments

CSEd Week (Post-Script) - More and More Code for Everyone! freeCodeCamp.com

We have already used many of the Blockley-Style Programming tutorials found on Code.Org.  Now, without creating an account, try some of the tutorials on other programming languages found on freeCodeCamp.com.  Here is some basic information (taken directly from their About Us page) to get you started.  Good Luck!

What is freeCodeCamp?

We’re a community that helps you learn to code, then get experience by contributing to open source projects used by nonprofits.

How can you help me learn to code?

You'll learn to code by completing coding challenges and building projects. You'll also earn verified certificates along the way. We also encourage you to join a study group in your city so you can code in-person with other people.

Is freeCodeCamp really free?

Yes. Every aspect of freeCodeCamp is 100% free.

Can freeCodeCamp help me get a job as a software developer?

Yes. Every year, thousands of people who join the freeCodeCamp community get their first software developer job.

How can I get a job?

Most people get jobs through friends and hiring managers they know from coding events. There are also services that can help you get interviews.

How long will it take me to finish each of freeCodeCamp's certificates?

Each certificate takes around 400 hours of dedicated learning. Some people may take longer. These certificates are completely self-paced, so take as long as you need.

Is freeCodeCamp a replacement for a 4-year degree?

No. Please don’t drop out of college just to pursue freeCodeCamp. You can pursue both concurrently. Even though you don’t need a 4-year degree to work as a software developer, it still helps a lot.

Should I complete all of the coding challenges in order?

We’ve put a lot of thought into how we introduce concepts. But you’re free to jump around.

Where can I get technical support for using the freeCodeCamp.org platform?

Here are answers to common technical support questions.

Click The Link Below To Start:
https://www.freecodecamp.org/challenges/learn-how-freecodecamp-works

You can also try www.W3Schools.com tutorials for many different programming languages.  There are also coding resources on hocphilly.strikingly.com

If you are super-advanced, and really want a challenge, 
TRY THESE LINKS:

The definitive JavaScript handbook for your next developer interview (14 minute read): https://fcc.im/2jwgTmL

Here are 450 free online programming and computer science courses you can start in December 
(browsable list): https://fcc.im/2A1x6Gs
Google Doc Link To Resources:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BpCZpDOjez7kCgoCCihnfAWyhJ7ro8saaGWt-R07OLk/edit?usp=sharing

Bonus: Learn how to build an API using Node.js with this free in-depth YouTube tutorial (33 minute watch): 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsCjFHuMXj0

CS Education Week 2017 Is Finally Here!

Information as of 12/1/17 at 10am

Here it is!  So close to the holiday season, and we are now in the middle of Computer Science Education Week.  Please visit csedweek.org, code.org, and hourofcode.com to find a wide array of projects for you to complete in class, and at home.  Make sure you are spending some time at home showing your parents (and other family members) how cool is is to learn how to be a programmer!

There is a wealth of information about careers, opportunities, and other ways to learn to code!  Use the information found at code.org/promote to help learn about what your states are doing to increase learning opportunities for students who want to learn about computer science.

Watch The Video Below To Get Started!

Once you have looked at some of the resources above, and we have discussed them as a class, you have a choice to work on the following items for credit this week:

Project 1:  Try the Celebrity Challenge:  Go to code.org/challenge and create an app, game, or design with Code.org and tag #HourOfCode and one of our special guests for a chance to win a video chat for your classroom!  SHARE a link to your project with Mr. S (hscribner@ccs.us) for credit.

Project 2:  Go to the KANO, Anyone Can Make website and complete the Street Artist Hour of Code tutorial.  You must SHARE your project by creating an account, and emailing a link to your project to Mr. S (hscribner@ccs.us) for credit.

Project 3:  Use your creativity and imagination to bring the Google logo to life using code. Make the letters dance, tell a story or create a game. With Scratch and CS First, anyone can become a designer and programmer for the day!  Go to the GOOGLE LOGO Link to get started.  You must take a screen shot (or video if necessary) of your Google Logo Design and email it to Mr. S (hscribner@ccs.us) for credit.

Project 4:  Choose any other tutorial found on hourofcode.com, get a project pre-approved by Mr. S, and Share it for credit!  You can also use freecodecamp.org or w3schools.com, or any other online tutorial that you show Mr. S prior to starting.  Make sure your content is appropriate for school!  You get extra credit for sharing a new source, tutorial, or application I have not seen yet!

Have a great week and ENJOY this time learning to code in our class!

- MR. S