Colorado Computer Science: 4th Grade
- Level Elementary School
- Number of Lessons 33
- Grade 4th
This course is aligned to the Colorado 4th grade Computer Science standards and is designed to provide computer science and digital literacy instruction for Colorado 4th grade students. It is meant to be taught approximately weekly.
See the full syllabus for all topics and activities, or explore the course to try it out.
UNITS - 6 (33 lessons)
Students review foundational CS vocabulary, drawing tools, and the coordinate plane to prepare for the year's lessons.
Students use computational thinking to design a school and learn about computing systems and common hardware and software issues.
Students design and evaluate algorithms, use loops to build a simple game, and debug maze programs.
Students explore digital literacy topics including digital footprints, the impact of computing on culture, online safety, data analysis, file management, networking, and designing AI chatbots.
Students apply broadcast messages, conditionals, variables, clones, and functions to build programs including a culture-based choose-your-path game and an accessibility-focused game redesign.
Students apply programming to interdisciplinary topics in ELA (storytelling, point of view), science (light reflection), social studies (state facts), and math (unit conversion, area/perimeter, geometry).
Explore a sample lesson from this course!
4th grade students build programs using algorithms, loops, broadcasts, conditionals, variables, clones, and functions, with projects like a cultural choose-your-own-path game and Scout's Quest, and redesign a game for accessibility. They apply coding to cause and effect, a state project, light reflection, storytelling, point of view, unit conversion, area and perimeter, and quadrilaterals. Students also manage their digital footprint, practice online safety, complete a data bar graph project, learn how information travels across the Internet, and use design thinking to explore AI chatbots.
An Interdisciplinary Exploration unit uses coding to teach grade-level content in math, science, English language arts, and social studies, such as cause and effect, a state project, light reflection, creative storytelling, point of view, unit conversion, area and perimeter, and classifying quadrilaterals.
The course includes 36 lessons, each about 45 minutes long, providing a full year of instruction. Every lesson is built in a ready-to-teach format, with step-by-step videos that walk students through the lesson. Lessons are designed to be teacher-led using an "I do, we do, you do" format, and a self-paced option is also available. Many digital literacy lessons include unplugged activities with printable handouts. Concepts spiral across grade levels, so students build on what they learned even if not every lesson is completed in a single year. Optional review lessons at the start of the course are not counted in the 36 lessons.
No. There are no prerequisites, and the course is designed to support all learners regardless of prior computer science experience. Optional review lessons at the start of the course help students who are new to CodeHop learn the basics before moving into grade-level content.
Colorado Computer Science: 4th Grade is aligned to the Colorado Academic Standards for Computer Science, and the course syllabus identifies the standards each lesson addresses to support planning.
