Coding and Grammar? Yes!

The Hour of Code is always a huge success in my classroom, and I spend the rest of the year trying to find meaningful ways to add coding skills to the curriculum. Since the Hour of Code stresses that activities can be online or offline, I created an offline coding activity to give my students a break from their screens while also using the critical thinking skills required for coding.

The result is the Noun and Adjective Hidden Image. Students use a 10 x 10 grid to create an image or pattern. There is a key at the bottom of the page that specifies the colors needed for the studied parts of speech. They then "write the code" by writing a list of 100 words that correspond to their image.

We typically start with a pre-made list that students use to color in the hidden image before they make their own so that they can understand the process. They get very creative with their images as they are practicing identifying parts of speech while also using those 21st Century Skills.

The "coded" image. 

The word list -- the code!