Nebraska Technology: 1st Grade
- Level Elementary School
- Number of Lessons 41
- Grade 1st
This course is designed to provide computer science and technology instruction for Nebraska 1st Grade students. Students learn programming and technology concepts, including: computing systems, networks and the Internet, data analysis, algorithms and programming, and impacts of computing.
See the full syllabus for all topics and activities, or explore the course to try it out.
UNITS - 11 (41 lessons)
This optional review module has students revisit the story-driven Scout Adventures series to review navigating the interface, adding characters and backgrounds, and building motion sequences.
Students explore what a computer is and how to troubleshoot it, learn to use technology safely and responsibly, and apply computational thinking to sequence their evening routines.
Students deepen their sequencing and event skills through a hide-and-seek game, motion and size-changing blocks, wait blocks, and debugging practice, while also learning to collect basic data and behave responsibly online.
This optional unplugged module has students practice sequencing loop instructions together through card games that guide Scout through a maze.
Students learn to use repeat and forever loops to run code multiple times, applying them to a butterfly-catching game and a repeating dance animation.
Students learn to use message events to coordinate communication between characters through a relay race and a Simon Says game, and apply speed blocks to control character movement in an original story.
Students use pages to build multi-scene programs, including a tapping game, a mini golf game, and a digital greeting card that combines events and loops.
Students use the grid feature to precisely position characters, designing and solving mazes, programming a race with an end block, and creating an arctic-themed animation.
Students plan and build a culminating "About Me" program that describes their own characteristics and interests.
Students build digital literacy by conducting guided research, learning how computers store data as files, modeling how the internet communicates messages, and exploring how AI assistants help people.
Students compare types of software and practice using word processing and presentation tools to create documents and presentations about their favorites.
Explore a sample lesson from this course!
It's a one-year computer science course for 1st grade that introduces foundational programming concepts through a block-based programming language. Students build on early coding skills to develop computational thinking and problem-solving while creating interactive projects, animations, and games, with an emphasis on creativity and collaboration.
The course totals 36 contact hours, with each lesson running about 30-45 minutes. Teaching one lesson per week covers a full school year. It is teacher-led, using ready-to-use lesson plans that follow a consistent Introduction, Guided Practice, Independent Practice, Extension, and Reflection structure.
Students use the same block-based programming interface as kindergarten, writing and running programs saved in their own accounts. The environment supports interactive, hands-on programming and debugging in a user-friendly interface, with an optional Scout Adventures review series for students who need extra practice before diving into new content.
Students build on prior skills with sequences, events, and debugging, then advance into new concepts like message events (making characters communicate with each other), loops, and grids for precise character movement, culminating in a personalized "About Me" project. Alongside coding, they deepen digital literacy skills such as online safety and responsibility, guided research, data storage, networks, and how AI helps solve problems.
Yes. Students practice with hands-on, screen-free activities like guiding a character through a maze using coding cards to reinforce sequencing and looping. They also build hands-on digital projects, including an animated relay race, a Simon Says-style message game, a mini golf game, a digital greeting card, an Arctic-themed grid animation, and a final personalized "About Me" program.
