From the series Adventures in Unplugged Coding
Coding with Dinosaurs
Reading Level Grade 4Interest Level Grades 3 – 8Copyright 2024
Reviewed
From the series Adventures in Unplugged Coding
Reading Level Grade 4Interest Level Grades 3 – 8Copyright 2024
ReviewedFrom sequencing to debugging, this title teaches readers important coding skills through fun, dino-centric activities such as drawing a stegosaurus and escaping a T-rex. Each activity includes text on how the activity showcases a coding skill. A follow-up after each activity encourages readers to think about how the activity went, and how it could be improved. Bonus challenges offer even more ways for readers to test their skills. Students will have a blast in the past with the fun activities in this dino-filled title!
Coding and storytelling collide in this fun educational series. Burns defines coding as “…communicating with computers so they can perform tasks,” so the unplugged coding activities suggested in each book use problem-solving coding concepts, such as sequences and debugging sans computer. Different types of coding ideas help kids draw cool creations like a value-variable gnome in Coding with Mythical Creatures and a loop sequence stegosaurus in Coding with Dinosaurs. Coding with Video Games includes an imaginative story activity that uses hieroglyphics and hidden messages to help readers problem solve their way out of the mummy’s tomb. The writing is inviting and engaging, offering an interesting method of teaching coding literacy concepts without the need for any tech. For each experiment, essential equipment is listed on the first page, most of which is readily available to many readers, like paper, pencils, and rubber bands. VERDICT A welcome addition to most libraries.
School Library Journal
