For this entire lesson, Marty should be on the ground, not on a table.

Warm up

Share the learning objectives and success criteria from the presentation. Say to learners, "We are going to practice moving around objects and moving toward different objects. Space permitting, have chairs set up in the classroom with space between them for children to pass around and between them, as pictured below. The image also shows one or two chairs that are off to the side.

Learners need to sit in their groups and think about how they can go between some of the chairs but also be able to touch all of them. There is one condition, they can only move forward and sidestep to the left or right. Each group should receive a drawing of the arrangement so they can view the chairs from above. Groups need to plan the route to take and choose a volunteer to complete the course.

There needs to be an x as a starting point and learners need to decide where their group stopping point will be. A group member could sit or stand at the stopping point. This activity is not a race, it is more of an observation exercise to see if there are different ways that the course could be completed. Impress on learners that they need to follow their plan: it would be a good idea for those not moving around the course to support the one that is.

Congratulate learners as they finish the route and congratulate groups for the team effort. Tell the story of the village children and how they explored a very similar exercise.

Get Learning

Share with learners the sidesteps from the Marty Controller on your device. Ask them if they can remember which color commands caused Marty to move these ways. As they watch Marty moving to your taps, ask them how many steps Marty takes, one step to the side, and ask about how big each step is. Learners may hold their fingers apart or say words like, not very far or a bit far.

Control Marty to walk up to an object and then sidestep to go around, step forward to go past, and then sidestep to return to the original path. Continue to model with a second obstacle, so Marty might move as a skier does on a downhill race, albeit it a little slower.

As you are pressing the commands, record them somewhere so learners can see what it looks like to keep track of movements; they will be doing this later on in their workbooks. Show learners that it is OK to correct Marty to face front if the floor causes them to turn slightly: it may be a slippery surface or a carpet may cause too much friction.

These videos show the route Marty takes in the presentation. You should only display one of the videos, the first is longer than the second; the second has been edited to speed the journey.

Time for Practice

Inform learners that they will need to arrange for starting and stopping places, place an obstacle in the way, and then control Marty to get from the start to the end without knocking over the obstacle. Have them draw a quick plan showing a start, stop, and obstacle. Ensure that each member of the group has an opportunity to place an obstacle and to control Marty to get from the start to the finish. Learners can decide for themselves how much space they want to allow Marty to get around the obstacle but they need to be very careful that they do not bump into anything.

As learners are getting Marty to complete the course, they need to count the number of steps forward and to the side that are needed to get Marty to the finish. Inform learners that, depending on the surface, there is a potential that Marty may slide or rub a bit on the ground, which may take them from the planned straight path. Either ask learners to ask you for help when this happens or show learners how to gently turn Marty so that they are again facing the proper direction.

Once this task is complete, have learners prepare a second course, this time the start and stop do not have an obstacle between but there is a 'checkpoint' off to the side that Marty has to reach, before making it to the end. Once again, have learners draw their plan and keep track of the number of steps they counted as Marty completed the course.

Cool Down

Congratulate learners for two accomplishments: the course creation and the good control with new directions. Ask learners if they felt it was still challenging or easier to control Marty moving forward, now that they have had some practice. Ask as well if they had estimated about how many steps they thought Marty would take before they counted and, if they did, was their estimate close.

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.

Read the closing part of the story, to close off this lesson and tie it into the next part.

Carry out any end of lesson routines.

Log off devices and clear everything away.