Lesson 1.5: Nursery Rhyme Project

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to...

• Apply basic programming and SNAP skills to create an animated movie, play, nursery rhyme, or other scene
• Practice good debugging skills to correct issues as they arise while programming

Materials/Preparation

• Reference to Nursery Rhyme project: Project 1 - Nursery Rhyme (Download in Word) (Link to PDF)
• Optional: Printouts of the project specification
• A list of possible nursery rhymes
  • Wikipedia has a fairly comprehensive list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nursery_rhymes
• A few suggested subjects for students who struggle to come up with their own
  • Pick a few simple, well-known options from your list

Pacing Guide

Instructor's Notes

1. Review

   • Play a review game (such as GrudgeBall to remind students of the skills and concepts that have been learned in this unit
     • Categories of blocks
     • Movement
     • Drawing
     • Hide/Show
     • Costumes
     • Broadcasting
   • Remind students that their solutions to previous assignments are an excellent resource when trying to accomplish similar tasks.

2. Introduce project

   • Walk students through project specification, pointing out important details, potential pitfalls, and specific requirements
     • The words to the nursery rhyme must appear on the screen somehow
       • This can be as a sprite, as a part of the background, or "said" by a narrator
     • Sprites must act out the nursery rhyme line by line
       • The action must be dynamic-- a series of static images is not sufficient
     • The action and words should advance automatically, but at a slow enough pace that the viewer can follow
     • The user must be able to restart the animation (in a manner other than pressing the green flag again) after it has concluded
     • At least two sprites must act during the animation, and the sprites must collectively meet the requirements on page 2
   • Encourage students to look at the grading rubric on page two repeatedly throughout the project to ensure they are meeting all the requirements
   • Sample project solution

3. Project

   • This project is a summative assessment for the unit. Students should be demonstrating mastery of all the skills covered.
   • Most students will require roughly 4-8 hours of total work time to complete the project
     • Assess the progress of your students regularly using such techniques as asking them to demonstrate their incomplete programs, tracking questions asked during lab time, and/or utilizing peer reviews.
     • Adjust the amount of time allowed for the project to fit the needs of your students
       • It is vital that nearly all students complete the project before moving on
     • If most students have the ability to work on SNAP assignments at home, the amount of in-class time provided can be reduced if necessary.
       • If this approach is taken, be sure to make accommodations for students who are not able to work at home, such as after school lab hours
     • Ensure that students are able to ask questions in class throughout the project
   • See the standard Lab Day Lesson for detailed plans for lab days.

Accommodation/Differentiation

• Instead of a nursery rhyme, students can recreate a famous scene from a movie or play, depict lyrics from their favorite song, or develop their own unique animations. Feel free to modify the specification for whichever version will appeal most to your students.
• Advanced students can be encouraged to add detail and/or complexity to their project for possible extra credit.
• For ELL students or students from other cultures, offer the opportunity to choose an animation subject familiar to them rather than requiring a traditional English nursery rhyme.
  • If necessary, a non-English language can be used for this assignment without affecting the learning objectives. Discuss this option with the student's ELL specialist to determine if it is appropriate.