Unplugged Coding Task Cards | 30 Debugging WarmUps Grades 3-5 |No Tech

Find the Bug: Debugging Warm-Ups | Grades 3–5 Computer Science

Find the Bug gives Grades 3–5 students engaging, no-tech debugging practice without requiring a specific coding platform. These debugging task cards help students learn to trace, test, explain, and fix broken pseudocode.

What’s Included

This resource includes six separate PDF files:

• Teacher Guide – 6 pages

  • Teacher directions and implementation ideas

  • Teacher questioning script

  • Standards alignment

  • Scope and sequence

  • Two-week pacing option

• Student Reference – 2 pages

  • How to read a bug card

  • Seven-step debugging checklist

  • Read → Trace → Find → Fix → Test debugging cycle

• Recording Pages – 2 pages

  • Student response sheets

  • Bug type identification

  • Fixed-line recording

  • Debugging progress tracker

• Bug Cards – 30 pages

  • 30 ready-to-use debugging task cards

  • Six different bug types

  • Three difficulty levels

  • One card per page

• Answer Key – 10 pages

  • Correct fixes for every card

  • Misconception behind each bug

  • Helpful teacher conferencing notes

The six bug types include Sequence, Loop Counting, Loop Conditions, Conditionals, Variables, and Placement.

How It Works in the Classroom

Use these debugging task cards in flexible ways throughout your computer science instruction.

⭐ Bell-Ringers

• Project or print one card.

• Students work independently or with partners.

• A six-minute work period fits easily into a warm-up routine.

• One card per day provides approximately six weeks of practice.

⭐ Stations

• Print and laminate the cards.

• Add the student response sheet.

• Students solve cards and record their thinking.

• Five cards provide a manageable station rotation.

⭐ Sub Plans

• Provide the cards, checklist, response sheet, and answer key.

• No student login or device is required.

• No prior coding platform knowledge is needed.

Introduce the cards through discovery. Students encounter concepts by watching code break.

Standards & Learning Goals

Students practice:

• Testing and debugging programs or algorithms.

• Identifying and explaining coding errors.

• Tracing code step by step.

• Modifying existing algorithms.

• Testing boundary cases.

• Recognizing patterns in repeated reasoning.

• Explaining why a solution works.

The resource aligns with CSTA 1B-AP-10, 1B-AP-11, 1B-AP-12, 1B-AP-15, and 2-AP-17. It also supports CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP6, MP8, and CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.2.

Students also build practical debugging habits through the seven-step checklist. These include tracing values, checking starting values, checking stop conditions, reviewing order, checking indentation, and testing edges.

Why Teachers Love It

⭐ Misconception-focused answer key

The answer key explains the misconception behind each bug. This gives teachers better language for student conferences.

⭐ No devices required

Students can practice computational thinking without opening a coding platform.

⭐ Low-prep implementation

Print the cards and start using them as warm-ups, stations, or sub plans.

⭐ Built-in differentiation

Cards progress across three difficulty levels.

⭐ Focuses on thinking, not guessing

Students must find the bug, explain the problem, and write a fix.

⭐ Student reflection is included

The debugging tracker helps students see which bug types they solve most successfully.

Make debugging practice easier with a ready-to-use computer science resource for Grades 3–5.

Use Find the Bug for warm-ups, stations, targeted reteaching, or substitute plans. Give students repeated opportunities to trace, test, explain, and repair code.

Download the resource and give your students a practical way to build stronger debugging habits! 💛