Browse Resources

Browse a selection of curated resources that represent the variety of materials you will find when the full, searchable collection launches in fall 2018.

Resources

Check out these suggested computational thinking (CT) activities, tools, and materials—from games to websites to lesson plans—reviewed, curated, and created by library staff.

• The Seattle Public Library's World’s Slowest Computer is a lesson plan to teach kids about how computers actually function and how much work is happening behind the "screen."
• CS First provides one-time activities up to full 8-week multisession classes that are theme-based to provide foundational computer science skills to ages 9-14 in a way that is connected to their interests.
• Family Creative Learning is a model for multi-generational hands-on family engagement designed to support science and literacy development among children and families.
• If youth are going online to learn to code, help them and their families do it safely and make smart decisions with Be Internet Awesome which teaches the fundamentals of digital citizenship for young learners.
• Homer (AK) Public Library's Tube & Straw and Quiet Block Building Challenges are fun ways to engage children and families in the library while supporting CT literacies.
• Secret Coders is a graphic novel series by Gene Luen Yang that combines logic puzzles and basic programming instruction with a mystery-centered plot.
• Waseca Public Library's Sphero Dance Party Event Plan an easy-to-read, step-by-step guide to a robotics lesson for teens.
• Seattle Public Library staff taught game design with the If/Then Adventure Stories lesson in Applied Digital Skills, a video-based curriculum that can be instructor-led or self-paced.
• Normal Public Library staff created their own website about their Partners in Technology program which includes a wealth of practical implementation info about running a mentorship and technology program for youth.
• Kenton County Public Library's Job Description focuses on how to recruit someone with expertise in CT and coding to run programs at your library.
• Waseca Public Library's complete five-day lesson plan—Little Coders—includes tech and techless activities and covers a variety of activities that are active, sitting, "unplugged" (tech-free), and robot-based.
• This article by the National Association for Education of Young People (NAEYC) article, The T in STEM: Creating Play- Based Experiences That Support Children's Learning of Coding and Higher Order Thinking, focuses on what CT is, how it relates to coding, and how educators can support CT literacies in formal and informal learning environments for young children.

Strategy Briefs

Learn about the practical strategies library staff use to build successful CT activities and address potential challenges along the way.

• Leveraging existing library programs and family structures for early literacy to introduce computational thinking
• Letting go of traditional classroom models to engage students in learning
• Connecting to youth interests helps encourage underrepresented young people to consider STEM careers
• Bringing youth from diverse backgrounds together in collaborative learning experiences
• Making the case to your community that libraries are Ready to Code
• Recruiting and supporting community volunteers to lead youth computational thinking activities
• Gaining comfort with library-supported computational thinking activities

Inspiration from the field

See what Ready to Code looks like in action at real libraries around the country.

• Ready to Code library teaches Hacker Club CS and mentoring skills
• Ready to Code Middle school students give back to their community through coding
• Ready to Code library prioritizes community engagement
• Ready to Code school library brings music, coding to students with learning disabilities