Code the Path: Unplugged Coding Mini Unit

What your students do

Your kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd graders take turns pretending to be a robot that can only follow exact directions. They give each other code one step at a time, then guide a little robot to its battery on 20 leveled puzzle mats. Kids learn algorithms, sequencing, and debugging with their whole bodies, and they will ask to play robot again tomorrow.

Why teachers love it

You teach it to the whole class once, and then it becomes a print, laminate, and go coding center your students can use all year. There are no devices, no logins, and no tech setup, so it works for sub plans too. Tape each answer to the back of its mat before you laminate, and the center checks itself.

What's included

• A ready-to-teach lesson plan with 7 activities and the Human Robots floor game
• 7 bright vocabulary posters (code, algorithm, sequence, bug, debug, and direction words)
• 20 leveled center mats in full color and in black and white
• Reusable arrow tiles that fit every mat
• 20 recording pages with big name spaces for little writers
• Exit tickets
• 4 Extra Support mats and 4 Debug It! challenge mats
• 3 leveled assessments with complete answer keys
• Big arrow cards, a robot start marker, a paper battery, and "Left" hand stickers
• A 43-slide PowerPoint of every poster and mat to project

Perfect for

• Computer Science Education Week and Hour of Code
• Math and STEM centers
• Whole-class lessons and small groups
• Early finishers
• Sub plans

Standards

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards 1A-AP-08, 1A-AP-10, 1A-AP-11, 1A-AP-12, and 1A-AP-14. The full wording is in the resource.