Lesson Plan: Programming 1 Year 7 - Double period lesson (100 mins)
Beginning of the lesson 5 mins
Role and settling class Goals and objectives of the lesson: reinforcing effort and providing recognition / setting objectives. Understand the concept of programming and what an algorithm is. Students will begin to use block code. Access students prior knowledge: non linguistic representations, cues, questions, cooperative learning 10 mins Class discussion on How do you think your computer knows what to do when you turn it on? - Students discuss the concept of the computer following a list of instructions (commands) eg. Load the start button, load the dock, run these applications, open this window. Explain that a set of instructions is a program that is run to tell the computer what to do. Computers are usually programmed using a language, which is a limited vocabulary of instructions that can be followed. Each instruction is called a command. The computer runs these commands in order Why would we need to be able to change what the computer does? Class brainstorm Write vocabulary up on board: o A command is an instruction given by a user telling a computer to do something o An algorithm is a sequence of clear instructions. Middle of the lesson 10-15 mins New information declarative and procedural: summarising, note taking, practice 10-15 mins Video on algorithms: https://vimeo.com/user27521626/review/125758228/06a4c31f98 Discuss: what is an algorithm can you think of some in real life, write two down. Activity 1: Practical Activity Programming Pacman Lesson 1 Algorithms.xls: Write a list of instructions to move pacman from one place to another THINK PAIR SHARE (get the students to tell/show each other what they have done swap and test partners algorithm. Quick feedback reinforce concept algorithm. Share examples of other algorithms. Apply thinking skills and practice: identifying similarities & differences, hypotheses, new contexts Activity 2: Introduction to creating code: Go to https://code.org/learn and do An Hour of Code Lesson (teacher choice) Begin as a class (explain, demonstrate, imitate, practice, feedback) o How to drag blocks o How to run program o How to see javascript Continue on at own pace Differentiation activity: ADVANCED or early finishers: Do another hour of code lesson using JavaScript, instead of block code End of the lesson 5 mins Generalise to summarise the concepts covered and review goals: reinforce effort, revisit goals, set goals What is an algorithm, what is a command? How do we feel about todays lesson (thumbs up, down or in between) Next week we will learn how to make more complicated programs!