CodeHS Middle School Insider: New Skills, Holiday themed projects, and More!

Jan 21, 2026

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1 min read

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✨ New Year, New Skills

The start of the year is the perfect time for reflection, goal-setting, and fresh momentum! Try this New Year Coding Reset:

If students coded last semester, ask them to write 1 skill they improved.
If students are new, ask them to write 1 thing they’re curious about in coding.
Encourage students to pick one goal for this semester (debugging, comments, collaboration, etc.).

This simple routine helps students see coding as a skill they grow over time, not something you’re either “good at” or not.

💗 Holiday Themed Projects

Bring seasonal energy into your classroom with coding projects. These holiday-themed activities are perfect as enrichment, mini-projects, or creative breaks that still reinforce core CS skills.

Featured Projects:

Valentine Message with Tracy – Students design a personalized animated message while practicing conditionals.
Karel’s Shamrock Adventure – A fun way to reinforce loops and conditionals as Karel searches for shamrocks.

🟦 Blocky Update

We’ve upgraded our Blockly version in both the IDE and Sandbox! Blockly blocks now look slightly different, but all existing functionality remains the same. This upgrade improves accessibility for block-based coding. Blockly is used for Python Turtle and Music programs.

🧠 AI Curriculum

CodeHS has an AI course you can plug into your existing curriculum! By introducing AI in computer science classrooms you can prepare students for a technology driven world and students can learn that what may seem like magic is actually just programs and algorithms!

🧑‍🏫 Upcoming Free Webinar

Equip yourself with strategies to teach students about AI, its workings, limitations, and societal impact. Join the hour long webinar that guides educators on fostering AI literacy, preparing students for a tech-driven future.

Developing AI Literacy

Jan 27, 2026 at 5:30 - 6:30pm CT - RSVP