Indiana Computer Science: 3rd Grade
- Level Elementary School
- Number of Lessons 29
- Grade 3rd
This course is designed to provide computer science instruction for Indiana 3rd Grade students, and it is aligned to Indiana 3-5 Computer Science Standards.
See the full syllabus for all topics and activities, or explore the course to try it out.
UNITS - 9 (29 lessons)
Students get introduced to the CodeHop interface, learn the parts of a computing system, and apply computational thinking to design and problem-solving challenges.
Students follow a story-driven adventure to learn core programming skills, including motion, looks, events, and loops to animate sprites.
Students deepen their understanding of sequences and events by animating scenes, using parallel programming, remixing projects, and coordinating sprites with broadcast messages.
Students explore how loops repeat instructions and practice debugging programs that combine loops and events.
Students learn to use conditionals to make decisions in their programs, progressing from basic if/then logic to more complex if/then/else game mechanics.
Students use variables and lists to store, compare, and track data, applying them to build interactive scoring games and activities.
Students learn to define and reuse custom functions to organize and simplify their code.
Students combine events, conditionals, variables, and broadcasts to design original interactive projects, including a data-driven inquiry project.
Students explore digital identity, how data moves through networks, and foundational cybersecurity concepts to stay safe online.
Explore a sample lesson from this course!
The course builds on foundational programming through a block-based language, guiding students from sequences and loops into conditionals, variables, lists, and functions. Students create interactive games, animations, and data projects while building digital literacy and cybersecurity awareness.
The course is aligned to the Indiana 3-5 Computer Science Standards. Each lesson lists the specific standards it addresses, and full standards coverage is achieved across the course as a whole.
No. The course has no prerequisites and is designed to support all 3rd grade learners regardless of prior computer science experience.
The course includes 36 lessons of about 45 minutes each, providing a full year of instruction when taught once per week. Each lesson follows a consistent Introduction, Guided Practice, Independent Practice, Extension, and Reflection structure, and works well in either a teacher-led classroom or a self-paced setting.
Beyond sequences, loops, and events, students progress into conditionals, variables, lists, comparison operators, and functions, giving them a foundation in core programming logic used in more advanced coursework.
