Programming In Key Stage 2 (Directed Reading)
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Programming opens up many more possibilities by turning their simple graphics,
animations, stories, music and sounds into dynamic and responsive creations that
‘do something’
From Key Stage One onwards children are expected to learn how to understand and
write computer programs.
They need to understand basic concepts such as that an algorithm is a sequence of
instructions.
The power and simplicity of Scratch programming enables you to teach computing
concepts and techniques whilst staying true to the ethos of purposeful activity that
is the hallmark of good teaching.
In order to use computing creatively children need to have direct experience of
manipulating code.
Key concepts of Scratch
Scratch component
Sprite
What it does
An individual character or
object.
Script
A short program which
instructs sprites to do things.
Blocks stack together to
make a program.
Command Block
Stage
The area where you place
sprites and test programs.
Backdrop
The stage has backdrops that
can also be programmed.
Sprites can have several
poses called costumes.
Costume
Useful to know
You can draw your own, select
from a library or import from the
web.
Scripts can be attached to
backgrounds as well as sprites.
You can move, nest, separate,
delete and duplicate blocks. Click
to test out a block or stack.
The stage is a grid and you can
specify sprites’ coordinates on the
stage.
You can draw your own, import or
select from a library.
Changing costumes lets you
animate sprites.
The reading highlights a series of lesson plans, which could be adapted and applied
within my own teaching.
Key Computational Terms
Term
What it means
Examples
Algorithm
Combining instructions into a
sequence to achieve a goal.
Algorithms may be decomposed
into smaller parts or procedures to
make them easier to understand.
Write a recipe.
Instruct a remote control toy to navigate a
maze.
Animate a sprite to draw a square.
Loop
Conditional
selection
Repeating a sequence. Types of
loops include ‘until’, ‘while’, or
‘forever’ loops that run until
something changes as a condition
is met.
Conditional statements execute
code depending on what happens
to other objects based on
conditions such as ‘if this..then
that’ or ‘if..else’.
An electrical circuit.
A dancing sprite.
A room thermostat responding to temperature
changes.
If the answer is correct say ‘well done’ else say
‘try again’.
Collision detection in a game: If ‘touching black’
then ‘hide’.
Making a football move across a field is just like
making a bird fly.
Detecting whether an arrow hit a target is the
same as detecting if a player caught a ball.
Pattern
recognition
Repeats in designs or similar
qualities that are shared by a
number of different items. We can
implement a pattern again in a
different context.
Abstraction
Removing unnecessary detail so
you can concentrate on the bigger
picture by
putting together collections of
smaller parts.
The London Underground map.
A school timetable.
Using pen blocks with repeated functions to
create complex patterns using simple polygons.
Variables
Things that can change while a
program is running.
Games make variables more concrete as they
control the state of a sprite, e.g. ‘score’,
‘number of questions’, ‘speed’, ‘lives’.
Initialisation
Setting variables to their starting
values.
Set the score to 0 at the beginning of a game.
Establish a starting position for a sprite.
Event
Handling
One event causing another to
happen.
Responding to someone talking during a
conversation.
In Scratch broadcast ‘The game has begun’ and
display sprites.
Use the ‘broadcast’ and ‘when I receive’ block
pair to coordinate sprites’ actions.
Parallelism
Making events happen at the same
time, as opposed to sequential
programming in which events
execute consecutively.
Act out a series of instructions highlighting
things happening at the same time e.g. walking
and talking.
A single sprite can do multiple things at once
and multiple sprites can also perform actions
simultaneously.
The chance to make music videos, animated stories, adventure games and quizzes adds a
new dimension by turning ‘learning by doing’ into ‘learning by making’. As children explore
programming as a tool to make meaningful artefacts, they can also be helped to develop
logical thinking skills and understand the technologies that surround them.