JK - Grade 3
Language & Story Telling
Open coding environments provide many opportunities for students to engage in storytelling and to develop reading and writing skills. Coding required close attention to blocks chosen and their order. Students immediately see the consequences if the blocks are out of order.
Storytelling and Animation in Scratch JR
Many students will be happy to explore dragging and connecting blocks, but the ScratchJR website has many hints to help teachers get started, including lesson plans such as Drive Across the City. See the ScratchJR page for resources on getting started and videos for various tools.
Coding Concepts: Sequential events. Concurrent, repeating & nesting possible
Let’s Play with Scratch JR Kitten (a story about characters)
This unplugged activity is a story introducing the characters in ScratchJR. After reading the story, children can recreate the story or start their own.
Intro to coding. We find that free storytelling is a good place for students to start because they can play and as long as the characters move, students feel successful.
Coding Concepts: Sequential events. Repeating & nesting possible.
Creating Stories from Code.org Activities
Many of the scaffolded challenges in Code.org are based on favourite movies and games such as Angry Bird and BB-8. These lessons introduce fundamental coding concepts to new users with optional supports, such as reading the instructions aloud and hints. Teachers can track student progress in the dashboard. See the Code.org page for resources on getting started and videos for various tools.
Coding Concepts: Sequential events. Repeating & nesting possible.