Students work through a progression of levels to build an understanding of how to use Design Mode to layout an app. The final level has students setting up the screen of an app by attempting to copy an image of an a
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

This is the first in a series of lessons where students will make progress on building their own functional app. In this lesson, students brainstorm app ideas and sketch out user interfaces in preparation for the next lesson where they will return to App Lab.
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

Students continue working on the unit projects in this lesson that is primarily designed to be work time. Students continue to follow the app development process outlined in their App Development Guide by transferring their user interfaces designs from their planning guides over to App Lab
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

In this lesson students explore the challenges of clearly communicating instructions. They build a small arrangement of blocks (LEGO® pieces or paper cutouts) and then create text instructions a classmate could follow to construct the same arrangement. Groups then trade instructions to see if they were clear enough to allow reconstruction of the original arrangement. The wrap-up discussion is used to highlight the inherent ambiguities of human language and call out the need for the creation of a programming language which leaves no room for interpretation.
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

Students use and modify a series of simple apps to get familiar with a small set of programming commands. They observe the way the code runs by slowing down the code and compare programs that run all at once to those that respond to user actions like buttons clicks. At the end of the lesson students discuss what they observed and are introduced to some key vocabulary for describing the running of programs.
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

In this lesson students practice using the different programming concepts that they were introduced to in the last lesson. To begin, however, they are introduced to the concept of debugging and are encouraged to use and reflect on this practice throughout the lesson. At the end of the lesson students share their experiences debugging as well as an new realizations about programming.
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

Student learn about Pair Programming by watching a video and then practicing it themselves while working on their project apps. At this stage, students are adding their first lines of code to their app using debugging skills from the previous lesson.
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

Students continue working on their apps. Halfway through class the focus of the lesson shifts to getting feedback. Students watch other groups test their apps and collect feedback that will be used to make updates.
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

In this lesson students spend most of their time practicing using the skills and processes they have learned about functions. At the conclusion of the lesson students discuss remaining questions in anticipation of their Make project in the following lesson.
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

Using Programming Patterns and a step-by-step approach students make their own version of a Quote Maker app. At the beginning of the lesson students are able to explore a working version of the app. They are then given the design elements of the app but begin with a blank screen. Students use an Activity Guide to go through the high level steps they should use to develop their app but leaves it to them to decide how to write the code. At the end students submit their apps which can be assessed using a provided rubric.
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

Using a Project Planning Guide, students work through the stages of creating an app from scratch. This is the first day of a three-day project. This lesson is devoted to the planning phase.
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

Students translate the plans they documented in Part 1 of the Practice PT to a working program in App Lab through a series of steps.
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

The final lesson in the Practice PT progression is devoted to feedback and improvements to the Decision Maker App. Students work with classmates to review and update the functionality of their apps before submitting the final project.
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

To begin the lesson students explore sample apps similar to the ones they'll be able to build by the end of the unit. Then students complete an unplugged activity with plastic baggies and sticky notes to build a mental model of how variables are used to move and store information. The lesson ends with a synthesizing discussion and students adding key vocabulary to their journal.
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

In this lesson students work with partners to investigate several versions of the "Thermostat App" to understand how variables store and update information. To begin, students examine a version of the app where the temperature displayed changes each time a button is clicked. The next two versions of the app demonstrate how variables can store strings. Students learn about the patterns they are observing, specifically "Counter Pattern with Event" and "Variables with String Concatenation Pattern". To conclude the lesson, students review and discuss the programming patterns that they will make use of in the programs they write.
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

In this lesson students spend most of their time practicing using the skills and processes they have learned about variables. At the conclusion of the lesson students discuss the main things they realized and still have questions about at the conclusion of this lesson.
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

Using Programming Patterns and a step-by-step approach students make their own version of a Photo Liker app. At the beginning of the lesson students are able to explore a working version of the app. They are then given the design elements of the app but begin with a blank screen. A progression of levels guides students on the high level steps they should use to develop their app but leaves it to them to decide how to write the code. At the end students submit their apps which can be assessed using a provided rubric.
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

Students learn the basics of conditionals through an unplugged activity using the sticky notes and plastic baggies from the Variables Explore lesson. Flowcharts are introduced as a way to understand how computers make decisions using Boolean expressions.
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

In this lesson students work with partners to investigate three versions of the "Lemon Squeeze" app to understand how boolean expressions and conditional statements allow programs to make decisions. In each guided investigation students first watch a short video on a concept, then use a working app to predict how new features work, then investigate the code to see how those features are implemented, and finally modify the code to add expanded features. To conclude the lesson, students review and discuss common programming patterns with conditionals.
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.

In this lesson students spend most of their time practicing using the skills and processes they have learned about conditionals. At the conclusion of the lesson students discuss the main things they realized and still have questions about at the conclusion of this lesson.
This lesson is aligned to CSTA standards.