Christmas Coding Activities Unplugged

Item description

These Christmas Coding Activities are perfect for the Holiday season to introduce ASCII Binary Coding to your students.

Go beyond block coding with these no-prep activities that are great when you need quick worksheets, vocabulary activities, or even a binary coloring page.

Answer keys are also provided.

Your middle school students will love the fun and engaging decoding activities.

There are 41 pages to allow your students to explore the world of ASCII Binary coding and no computers or robots are needed!

The product is designed with maximum flexibility to allow you to differentiate the entry points of your students and to provide as much scaffolding as needed.

In this package you will get:

A Student Reading Passage:

This is a two-page student handout to introduce students to the world of ASCII binary coding.

This reading passage gives the historical origin of this binary language, and it explains the reasoning behind the use of 7 and then eventually 8 place values.

Using the idea of an “off” and “on” switch, the student handout also explains what role the ones and zeros have and how they work.

With a simple analogy of how a letter A is typed in an email and what that means in binary language, students will begin to appreciate the method that computers use to allow us to communicate through our technological devices.

Printable ASCII Binary Code Reference Chart:

This ready-to-go, printable chart is a handy reference tool that students will need to be able to code and decode words throughout this activity.

This chart contains both CAPITAL and lowercase letters (the binary codes are different for each).

The chart is color coded in red and white to not only keep with the Christmas theme, but also to help students to read the numbers and letters in the chart easier.

Individual Letters and Codes for Differentiated Learning:

Some of your students will find the reference chart overwhelming as there are a lot of letters and numbers on it.

Each letter (both the CAPITAL and the lowercase) is on a card that can be printed out and given to students. Since each letter (with the corresponding code) is individual there are many ways this resource can help support and scaffold student learning.

Some ways that I have used these cards in the past include:

• Laminating each card and putting it into a large binder ring. I can give any student who needs extra help a booklet of cards to refer to when we do any ASCII coding work.
• Only giving students the cards of the letters we will be using in the activity. This reduces the anxiety and frustration of students having to find or choose the right cards.
• I can put the cards in order (of the word) on their desk so they can just look at the word without having to worry about finding the right letters. Very helpful for students who struggle with executive functioning and processing skills.
• If I have students who are not ready for ASCII coding, I will have them play a game of matching (matching the capital letter with the lowercase letter) or a simple card game like go fish -but they pair up CAPITAL and lowercase letters. This way all students are working with the same topic as the rest of the class, but working on a different skill set or learning goal – great for differentiating based on IEPs.
• I often use the cards as a visual on the board when I’m introducing the language of ASCII and how to decode a word (see Teacher Directed Lesson below). 
• If I notice a group of students are struggling, I will do some direct teaching with them using the cards as visuals. I find once they see the individual letters and codes on the cards often the concept is better understood.

Teaching Directed Lesson:

I use this quick, direct instruction lesson to introduce my students to ASCII coding.

I choose a small word from the vocabulary list included (see description of vocabulary/anchor chart list below) – I usually pick something simple like – Joy.

I put the individual cards J-o-y on the board (I ensure I use a CAPITAL J and lowercase o and y so I can explain there are different codes for each).

I will write each letter with big spaces between them and then use the cards to show students how to code each letter into ASCII binary code (1s and 0s).

I have included an image of this in the thumbnails of this product if you would like to see a visual of it.

We spend a bit of time talking about having to separate each letter with a forward slash (you could omit these if you have strong critical thinkers in the class – they just have to separate the numbers into groups of 8, however any time I have tried this in my classes, it has not ended well).

Christmas Vocabulary/Anchor Chart List:

This list of 47 Christmas themed words are divided into 3, 4, 5 and 6 letter words. 

Again, this list can be printed out for each student, the words can be put on individual cards, you can put them on your word wall, or create anchor charts for your classroom.

With the words grouped by number of letters, it provides different entry points and scaffolding levels for your students.

If you find students are struggling with coding, they can choose to stay in the 3 or 4 letter list.

Students who are showing proficiency in coding can try the 5 or 6 letter list.

I’ve even had students in the past move on to creating Christmas themed sentences or Christmas Carol song titles.

My students have a lot of fun with the unplugged binary coding once they get the hang of it.

We’ve even held a coding competition where students will create a challenging code and then give it to a classmate to decode.

My competitive students even incorporate a timing challenge to it as well.

The flexibility and variability of what you can do with this activity is endless!

Student Worksheet: Practice Decoding

On this ready-to-go printable worksheet, students will be given the ASCII code numbers with blanks above the codes. 

Using either the Binary Code Reference Chart or the individual letter cards, students are given 5 different codes they are to decode. 

Answer Sheet for Practice Decoding Worksheet

A filled in answer key is provided for the worksheet above. 

ASCII Printable Color by Number Page

This fun color by number page is ready to be printed and completed. 

On the Christmas picture, your students will see the numbers 1 – 5 to indicate the different colors. 

The catch? 

To know what color each number is, they will have to decode the ASCII Binary Codes on the next page.

ASCII Printable Color by Number – ASCII Coded Colors

Students will need to complete this sheet before they can color by numbers on the previous page. 

Students will have to use their new decoding skills to decode each of the five colors on this sheet before they can color the picture. 

It is a great way to see if students have learned the decoding skills and can apply their learning in a fun and engaging way.

ASCII Printable Color by Number – ASCII Coded Colors Answer Key

A filled in answer key is provided for you.

I hope your students enjoy this activity as much as my students did!