Warm Up

Share with learners the objectives and success criteria for today's lesson, from the presentation. Read the story text from the lesson. The presentation will contain video to support the day's learning.

Have various starting points and goals for learners throughout the classroom. Green / red dots, or some other marker, will suffice. Learners need to think about, how far away is the goal from the start: how many steps do I need to get to the goal?

Have learners estimate the number of steps and then have them test it. If they do not achieve the goal accurately, have them return to the start and estimate again; discourage learners from walking to the goal if they were incorrect, they should be thinking about, "I didn't go far enough, I need to take more steps," or vice versa.

Showcase Marty walking forward to reach a goal. The code from MartyBlocks Jr is below. The presentation does not have this but does have the attempts, from the story.

Get Learning

The workbook has the four arrows from the Marty Controller. Learners need to draw a line from the symbol to the word. Before learners start, review the words, heavily emphasizing the first sound for any learners challenged by reading: fffffforward, lllllleft, rrrrrrrright and b b b b b back.

The second activity presents a route that Marty has taken on the page. Learners need to draw the arrows in the empty squares and then horizontally, at the bottom, to symbolize the route Marty took. For any errors, use your finger to trace Marty's movements as the arrows progress along the route. Verbalize the direction that your finger is taking. Have learners repeat what you are saying.

Have learners fill out the route Marty can take for the second illustration. Again, have them draw the arrow for the direction and the full instruction, at the bottom. Encourage discussion and sharing ideas.

Let learners know that for today's lesson, we will be focusing mainly on the forward block, but not with the controller they already know. Additionally, it may take some time to get their instructions correct. Inform learners that this is OK and is, in fact, a big part of coding.

Time for Practice

Model how to access MartyBlocks Jr for learners. Once on-screen, show learners the effect that adding the forward movement block, and tapping on that block, has on the Marty sprite. Ask learners if they saw how many steps Marty took with one of the blocks (there are two movements, but it is one step). Show again to check their thoughts. Once the number of steps per block has been established, ask how many blocks we would need for (fill in a number) steps.

Showcase opening the app and accessing MartyBlocks Jr

On the app screen, after pressing the home icon, press the + symbol to start a new file. For further information the link in the additional reading section.

Place an object on the ground that is a distance of about 3 meters from you. Have learners estimate about how many steps they think it would take for you to get to the object. Model this, with learners watching you use the number of blocks they suggested. Once you reach the goal, which may take multiple attempts, have groups open their apps and follow the steps from the video below to create a starting point and end for the Marty sprite.

Challenge learners to estimate about how many steps it will take for Marty to get to the goal. Then, have them build the sequence in MartyBlocks Jr with the arrow pointing upward (for forward): learners will engage in some trial and error in order to reach the goal. Emphasize that this isn't about getting it right the first, or even the second, time: this is about getting better with each attempt.

The presentation had an initial video of Marty trying to reach the goal. This clip also shows how to build the code with MartyBlocks Jr. Remind learners that developers do not get their code right the first time: trial and error often occurs when writing code, it is through this process that code is improved. Feel free to show the video again, if it will support this.

Let learners experiment with the blocks to reach a goal that they have set on the app. If one or two groups manage to reach the goal early, encourage them to move their goal to a different distance.

Cool Down

Bring learners back together to discuss the challenges they faced and overcame. Have groups model their creations and explain what is happening, when. Encourage other groups to ask questions to deepen the understanding of the processes.

Suggested questions you might ask:

• What changes did you make when Marty was not near enough? Did you try one more step or one less or did you try more than one? What encouraged you to choose this number of steps?
• Can you think why it was important to mark the starting point for Marty before beginning any of the tests?
• Is there anything you thought of to make this trial easier?

Carry out any end of lesson routines.

Log off devices and clear everything away.