PreExpress2018
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Lesson 4: Sequencing with Scrat

Overview

This lesson will give students an idea of what to expect when they head to the computer lab. It begins with a brief discussion introducing them to computer lab manners, then they will progress into using a computer to complete online puzzles.

Purpose

The main goal of this lesson is to build experience with computers. By covering the most basic computer functions such as clicking, dragging, and dropping, we are creating a more equal playing field in the class for future puzzles. This lesson also provides a great opportunity to introduce appropriate computer lab behavior.

Agenda

Warm Up (10 min)

Bridging Activity - Drag and Drop (10 - 15 min)

Main Activity (20 - 30 min)

Wrap Up (5 - 10 min)

Extension Activities

View on Code Studio

Objectives

Students will be able to:

  • Model proper computer lab behaviors
  • Experiment with standard block-based programming actions such as: clicking, drag and drop, etc.

Preparation

Links

Heads Up! Please make a copy of any documents you plan to share with students.

For the Teachers

For the Students

Vocabulary

  • Click - Press the mouse button
  • Double-Click - Press the mouse button very quickly
  • Drag - Click your mouse button and hold as you move the mouse pointer to a new location
  • Drop - Release your mouse button to "let go" of an item that you are dragging

Support

Report a Bug

Teaching Guide

Warm Up (10 min)

Behaving in the Computer Lab

This discussion will teach students what to expect and how to behave when they enter the computer lab.

Some possible things to cover:

  • Use calm bodies in the lab
  • Remember not to chew gum or candy
  • Sanitize your hands
  • Sit with your partner at one computer
  • Make sure that the first "driver" can reach the mouse
  • When you get frustrated, don't hit or shake the computer or monitor
  • Follow the 20/20/20 - Website rule
  • How to deal with the Wiggles every 20-30 minutes (requires a free login on GoNoodle)
  • Ask your partner before you ask the teacher
  • Keep volume down so everyone else can hear their partners
  • Use your journal for keeping track of feelings and solutions

Discuss:

Have a good discussion around your computer lab expectations to make sure that students understand the rules. Some topics of discussion might include:

  • Is running in the computer lab okay?
  • How loudly should we walk when we are in the computer lab?
  • What should you do if you get stuck on a puzzle?
  • If you get frustrated, will it help to hit the computer?
  • When we're about to go to the computer lab, how should we get ready?

Bridging Activity - Drag and Drop (10 - 15 min)

Choose one of the following to do with your class:

Dragging and Dropping Algorithms

Print out one of the Move It Maps from the "Move It, Move It" activity and display it for the students to see. On a projector or in front of the class, put some direction blocks from the Unplugged Blockly Blocks (Grades K-1) - Manipulatives in random order and practice "dragging and dropping" by pressing your finger on one of the paper pieces and moving it across the screen. Explain that you can "click" to select this block by tapping your finger on it, or you can "drag" the block by pressing your finger on it and moving it. To "drop" the block, release your finger.

After showing this to the class, ask for volunteers to create an algorithm for the Move It Map by "dragging and dropping" the necessary blocks.

Previewing Online Puzzles as a Class

Project a puzzle from the Pre-Express Online Puzzles - Website corresponding to this lesson. Show the class how to click on a block and place it in the correct spot by dragging and dropping. Purposely make mistakes such as clicking the background or dropping the image before it's at the right spot. Ask for help from volunteers in the class when you run into these problems, and help them use the skills that they developed in the last unplugged lesson to make things right.

Main Activity (20 - 30 min)

Pre-Express Online Puzzles - Website

Teacher Tip

Show the students the right way to help classmates:

  • Don’t sit in the classmate’s chair
  • Don’t use the classmate’s keyboard
  • Don’t touch the classmate’s mouse
  • Make sure the classmate can describe the solution to you out loud before you walk away

This will teach students how to use Code.org to complete online puzzles.

This stage was designed to give students the opportunity to practice hand-eye coordination, clicking, and drag & drop skills. Students will also play with sequence.

The vocabulary introduced in this lesson becomes relevant during this activity. Take some time to explicitly teach how to click, double-click, drag, and drop. It might work better for you to cover these words in the classroom environment where you can lead by example -- or it might make more sense to teach the words individually as students work on their puzzles in the lab. You will need to decide what you believe is best for your class.

Watch the Pair Programming - Student Video with your students, then assign them to pairs. This should help students start off in the right direction.

Teachers play a vital role in computer science education and supporting a collaborative and vibrant classroom environment. During online activities, the role of the teacher is primarily one of encouragement and support. Online lessons are meant to be student-centered, so teachers should avoid stepping in when students get stuck. Some ideas on how to do this are:

  • Utilize pair programming whenever possible during the activity.
  • Encourage students with questions/challenges to start by asking their partner.
  • Unanswered questions can be escalated to a nearby group, who might already know the solution.
  • Remind students to use the debugging process before you approach.
  • Have students describe the problem that they’re seeing. What is it supposed to do? What does it do? What does that tell you?
  • Remind frustrated students that frustration is a step on the path to learning, and that persistence will pay off.
  • If a student is still stuck after all of this, ask leading questions to get the student to spot an error on their own.

Wrap Up (5 - 10 min)

Journaling

Give the students a journal prompt to help them process some of the things that they encountered during the day.

Journal Prompts:

  • Can you draw a sequence for getting ready to go to the computer lab?
  • Draw a computer lab "Do" and a "Don't"
  • Draw one of the Feeling Faces - Emotion Images that shows how you felt about today's lesson in the corner of your journal page.

Extension Activities

If students complete the puzzles from this lesson early, have them spend some time trying to come up with their own puzzles in their Think Spot Journal - Reflection Journal.

Standards Alignment

View full course alignment

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)

AP - Algorithms & Programming
  • 1A-AP-11 - Decompose (break down) the steps needed to solve a problem into a precise sequence of instructions.

Cross-curricular Opportunities

This list represents opportunities in this lesson to support standards in other content areas.

Common Core English Language Arts Standards

L - Language
  • 1.L.6 - Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts, including using frequently occurring conjunctions to signal simple relationships (e.g., because).
SL - Speaking & Listening
  • 1.SL.1 - Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
  • 1.SL.1.c - Ask questions to clear up any confusion about the topics and texts under discussion.
  • 1.SL.2 - Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.
  • 1.SL.5 - Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

Common Core Math Standards

MD - Measurement And Data
  • 1.MD.2 - Express the length of an object as a whole number of length units, by laying multiple copies of a shorter object (the length unit) end to end; understand that the length measurement of an object is the number of same-size length units that span it with no
MP - Math Practices
  • MP.1 - Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them
  • MP.2 - Reason abstractly and quantitatively
  • MP.5 - Use appropriate tools strategically
  • MP.6 - Attend to precision
  • MP.7 - Look for and make use of structure
  • MP.8 - Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning

Next Generation Science Standards

ETS - Engineering in the Sciences
ETS1 - Engineering Design
  • K-2-ETS1-1 - Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
  • K-2-ETS1-2 - Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.