📃Introduction
Welcome to our Variable Story Online Tool Kit. Use this as a teaching resource or provide your students with the link for them to work independently.
Online Tool Kit Summary:
In these activities, learners will explore how parts of speech can be used to strengthen their understanding of variables. They will work towards writing their own mad lib stories before using Scratch (or Python) to code a mad lib story generator.
This kit contains resources for both synchronous and asynchronous lessons. There is a teacher guide to walk you through leading the challenges over a series of 3 sessions of approximately 30-45 minutes as well as a set of learner challenge handouts for learners to work through on their own as assigned according to your own timeline and discretion. There is also an optional extension activity if you would like to build further on the coding concepts explored in these lessons.
Kit Overview:
Required Technology and Materials:
For teachers:
Computer with internet connection and ability to send learners a document
For online synchronous activity only: ability to share your screen and speak to the learners
This can be done with Teams, Zoom, etc.
https://jitsi.org/jitsi-meet/ is a free online video conferencing tool that requires no accounts to use
For learners:
Computer or tablet with internet connection
Paper and pen/pencils
Ability to print helpful but not necessary
Note: Upon request, the Tech-Up facilitator can help you find which platform works best for you.
Synchronous Timeline:
Intro and review concepts 10 minutes
Challenge 1 – Introducing variables 10 minutes
Challenge 2 – Doing a mad lib 10 minutes
Challenge 3 – Using variables in Scratch 30 minutes
Challenge 4 – Making a mad lib 30 minutes
Optional extension 1 – Using lists in Scratch 30-45 minutes
Extending into Python
Asynchronous Timeline:
Challenge 1 – Review parts of speech, brainstorming words, variables in scratch (offline and online) 30 minutes
Challenge 2 – Planning your mad lib (offline) 30 minutes
Challenge 3 – Making a mad lib in Scratch (online) 30 minutes
Optional extension 1 – Using lists in Scratch 30-45 minutes
Extending into Python
Curriculum links:
ADST Ideating
Generate potential ideas and add to others’ ideas
Prototyping
Outline a general plan, identifying tools and materials
Sharing
Decide on how and with whom to share their product
Demonstrate their product and describe their process
Applied Technologies
Use familiar tools and technologies to extend their capabilities when completing a task
Choose appropriate technologies to use for specific tasks
Demonstrate a willingness to learn new technologies as needed
Comprehend and connect (reading, listening, viewing)
Identify how differences in context, perspectives, and voice influence meaning in texts
Understand how literary elements, techniques, and devices enhance and shape meaning
Create and communicate (writing, speaking, representing)
Use and experiment with oral storytelling processes
Transform ideas and information to create original texts
Core Competencies
Answering the reflection questions to explain their thinking
Communicating their ideas and explaining their code with their family, teacher, and peers
Adapting their code to perform the same task in a different way
Extending their code to go beyond the main challenge – seeing opportunities to build on what they’ve created and how it could be used to facilitate different goals
Debugging their code
Analyzing their task and determining how to accomplish it using the code blocks they’re provided
Persevering through difficult coding tasks and working towards finding a solution
If assigned as a self-paced lesson, managing your time appropriately and creating a plan for finishing the assignment
Developing and utilizing strategies to manage frustrating situations when coding
Seeking feedback
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