Teacher Handbook - MakeCode
Teacher Handbook - MakeCode
CONTENTS
Submission Finalists
Deadline Notified
School
Briefing
Webinars Judging
School Begins FINALS
Contact & DAY
Setup Online
Support
Begins
3rd April 10th Apr 2nd 8th 6th 8th 13th 21st
May May June June June June
LIVE FINALS – MAKECODE CEREMONY (JUNE 21)
TIME SLOT ACTIVITY
12.15pm-12.30pm Introduce MakeCode
competition
12.30pm-1.20pm Game demos/videos
Each week the MakeCode Specialists will be doing a live 1 hour workshop focusing on different key areas of
MakeCode and how to add things into a game. These sessions will be recorded and made available to any student
teams who are unable to connect live. Calendar invites will be sent out each week.
Week 2: Workshop 2 - Deep Dive into MakeCode Week 3: Workshop 3 - Canva Demo Week 4: Workshop 4 - Prepping for Submission
• Session 1 (1 hour) and MakeCode Recap • Session 1 (1 hour)
• Address any questions regarding the • Session 1 (1 hour) • Address any last-minute questions or concerns
homework and Playbook • Address any questions regarding the task or regarding the task or game development
• Presentation on MakeCode's features and game development • Presentation best practices and guidelines
tools • Demonstration of Canva for designing visuals • Tips for effectively showcasing the task or
• Group discussion and sharing of ideas for the and game assets game and its relevance to the theme
task or game • Recap of Make Code concepts, with additional
hints and tips Homework: Participants should finalize their
Homework: Participants should begin working on • Group discussion on progress and challenges game and prepare their presentations for the final
their game using MakeCode, following the faced during development session.
guidelines from the Playbook.
Homework: Participants should continue working
on their game using MakeCode and Canva,
incorporating the new tips and techniques
learned.
SUPPORT SLOTS
MakeCode Specialists are available to support your student teams in several different ways.
- Booking a call to get input or support around a key topic, piece of functionality or problem
- Using chat messaging on Teams to ask questions and get responses from the specialists
A support call covering all your student teams is available once per week to enable us to provide support to all
schools participating in the competition. In some circumstances, if slots are available, it may be possible to book an
additional call in a week.
We suggest attempting to book slots when your students are working together in lunchtimes, in a lesson or during
an ECA.
SUPPORT SLOTS
Real-time chat messaging support will be available Mon-Fri between 12.30-1.30pm. Any chat messages sent
outside of this time will be answered by the MakeCode specialists when they are available but you can submit a
question at any time. MakeCode specialists will respond with answers or guidance (this could also be short video
messages).
Students are encouraged to ask questions in the chat so they can get feedback and guidance to continue moving
forward with the creation of their game.
Each school will have a dedicated channel/chat on Teams that all your student teams can use to ask questions.
If your students are new to using MakeCode Arcade there is a link below to starter lessons and activities to help
them become more familiar with how to build in Block coding and how to create some simple projects and game
activities. The second link is for you as a teacher if you want to set up a workshop session to help them plan their
game concepts.
Game Jam (45 minutes to 1 hour 30 session for game concepts and design)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cpb7bq3lb7ar00t/Game%20Jam%20in%20a%20Box%20Teacher%20Preparation
.pdf?dl=0
CODE EXAMPLES
All game submissions will be judged against the same rubric with consideration for a number of key categories.
Before the submission deadline each student team will need to submit their game files and supporting material by
uploading it to the directory provided.
Details of how and where to upload the game and supporting files will be provided half-way through the process.
This Teacher Handbook is your quick start guide and student teams have a separate document they can utilise,
this is linked below.
This document for student teams includes links to video tutorials for different game mechanics on the MakeCode
website, skill maps and activities for students and “HOW TO” guides to do different things inside MakeCode.