0.01: Who is Marty the Robot?

Warm-up:

Start by reading the text that goes with the presentation, 'Presentation for Who is Marty', in the resources section. The notes will give you ideas for what you can say to support the presentation images. The start of the presentation is setting the scene that Marty is more than a toy and that Marty is a tool that can support our learning.

Get Learning:

Following the text presentation, play ‘Marty Says’. All of the moves you will need to program are in the resource, 'Marty Says Code Samples'. Follow the instructions in the Teacher's Guide to see how to do this. If you do not want to program Marty, in the classroom, feel free to use the next part of the presentation, each slide will have a video, which showcases a movement. Additionally, the code blocks are also pasted into the teacher guide.

The order of the slides can be changed as you want. The eyebrow wiggle is one of Marty's movements that learners will likely not be able to complete. It may take them a little while to realise that.

Review the game and ask for some examples of what Marty moved. Identify where the movement starts. Introduce the word joint.

Time for Practice

The following can be done as part of a whole class activity or in small groups.

Have learners explore different movements they can make. Have a mirror type of activity where one learner creates a simple movement and a partner, group or the whole class mirrors that: this is not to be like a dance or walk / run; rather, it is the arm moving from the elbow or shoulder, a finger wiggling, a foot turning at the ankle, or something like that. Focus on where the movement starts - the joint. Have learners indicate the place that controls the movement by pointing to the joint on themselves or the person displaying the action. To extend the creativity of this, have learners pretend that they are a machine and that their movement does a job. Have learners think about why a robot might have this action: how would it help people; why might people not want to do it? Extend questions as needed.

Cool Down

Celebrate the creative work that was accomplished: "You moved your arms or legs at the joints; you copied other people and a robot, you are able to move in some ways a robot can't!"

Remind learners of the goals for the lesson, "Say what helps us move our arms and legs and point to the places that help us move."

Ask learners if they think they did well with the lesson using a familiar formative assessment strategy: thumbs up for good, thumbs to the side for OK, thumbs down for not so good; a green, yellow or red card, indicating their thoughts; a one to one chat about the learning; whole class feedback using a PMI (plus, minus, interesting) approach; or some other strategy with which the learners are familiar. One strategy document is included in the resources.

Read the closing part of the text to tie into the next lesson (from the Story Part 1 text).

Carry out any end of lesson routines. Collect the paper Martys for later use, making sure their names are on each. Personalising the Martys with colour is also a possibility.