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Elementary: Pushing Custom Starter Code to Students

Push custom starter code to Elementary students on CodeHS to scaffold, enrich, or personalize coding lessons

Eva Baez avatar
Written by Eva Baez
Updated over a week ago
Banner description for Elementary License Required

Overview

The Custom Starter Code feature on CodeHS allows teachers to send a copy of their own code to students as a starting point for assignments or projects. This can be a powerful way to differentiate instruction, provide scaffolding, or connect coding to classroom content.

Watch the video overview: Sharing Starter Code

How to Push Custom Starter Code

  1. Navigate to your Teacher Playground

  2. Create or Import a program

  3. Click on the “More” menu (three dots)

    Image to demonstrating step 3: accessing the "More" menu

  4. Select Share Starter Code with Section

  5. Use the drop down menu to Choose the Section(s) you want to send it to

    image demonstrating step 5: sharing to a section

  6. Click Share

Each student will receive an individual, editable copy of the pushed custom starter code in their sandbox or assignment- ready for them to explore and build upon.

Image displaying how shared projects will appear for students

Use Cases for Custom Starter Code

Custom Starter Code is versatile and supports a variety of instructional strategies:

🧩 Extension Activities

Send enrichment projects to early finishers to keep them engaged and challenged.

🛟 Scaffolding for Struggling Students

Provide partially completed code to reduce cognitive load and help students focus on key concepts.

🐞 Debugging Exercises

Share broken code and ask students to find and fix bugs. This helps build resilience and problem-solving skills.

🕰️ Catch-Up Work

Send code to students who were absent so they can easily pick up where the class left off.

🎉 Seasonal Projects

Celebrate holidays or classroom events with themed starter code (e.g., winter animations, Valentine's card generator).

🧪 Customized Lesson Projects

Modify a lesson’s activity to better fit your classroom needs—change instructions, simplify code, or allow for open-ended creativity.

📚 Cross-Curricular Connections

You can link coding to other subjects by providing starter code for:

  • Animating a scene from a book

  • Simulating a science process

  • Building a history timeline

Tips for Pushing Custom Starter Code

  • Starter Code created in your Teacher Playground can be reused or updated at any time.

  • You can push the same starter code to multiple sections.

  • You can also use Scratch Graphic Organizer Templates available on the Teacher Resources page. Add these to your Playground and push them to students to support customized lessons and scaffold planning for their Scratch projects.


CodeHS Elementary Curriculum is included with an Elementary License. If you believe you should have access to the Elementary Portal, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager or send an email to hello@codehs.com.

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