Programming Languages Appropriate for 6th grade & Up!
Alice: An Educational Software that teaches students computer programming in a 3D environment. Suitable for grades 6-8+
App Inventor: a visual programming language for the creation of mobile apps. Suitable for grades 6-8+. Includes tutorials here and here, and curriculum guides here.
Bootstrap: a text based programming language that uses algebra and geometry concepts to create video games. Comes with curriculum. Suitable for grades 6-8+.
CodeHS: student directed curriculum teaching text based programming. Suitable for grades 6-8+. Free to try, but schools must purchase license.
GameMaker: a text based programming language used to create video games with built-in tutorials. Suitable for grades 6-8+.
GameSalad: GameSalad is a visual programming environment that is easy to use, but not as simple as Scratch. The platform is distinct for its large library of graphics (plus the ability to create your own) and the ease-of-use to publish games for PC and Mac computers for free (and mobile devices for a fee). Suitable grades 6-8+
Hackety Hack: Will teach you the absolute basics of programming from the ground up. No previous programming experience is needed! With Hackety Hack, you'll learn the Ruby programming language. Ruby is used for all kinds of programs, including desktop applications and websites (for Windows Environment) (insert age range)
LearnStreet: online tutorials for students to learn text based programming languages. Suitable for grades 6-8+. Built-in teacher dashboard and educator resources.
Looking Glass: Looking Glass enables user to program 3D animated stories. Looking uses a drag and drop programming interface to make coding easier to pick up and to reduce potential errors. Using Looking Glass, novice programmers can pick up key programming concepts like parallel actions, iterations, conditionals and object-oriented code. An Alice derivative.
Starlogo TNG: StarLogo TNG is a 3D modeling and simulation software that might serve as a follow up programming environment for students proficient with Scratch. It brings a blocks-based programming interface, allowing for importing of sound files and 3D models, that make it a great tool for programming educational video games, simulations, and models of complex systems. Suitable for grades 4-8+