U
UNPLUGGED
FunctionalSuncatchers
Lessontime:20MinutesBasiclessontimeincludesactivityonly.IntroductoryandWrap-Upsuggestionscanbeused
todelvedeeperwhentimeallows.
LESSONOVERVIEW
Inthislesson,studentswillmakeasuncatcheroutofstring,beads,andaspecialcharm.Thestudentswillfollowa
seriesofrepetitivesteps,thenbeaskedtoidentifycertainsetsof“skills”thatareduplicatedseveraltimes.Once
thoseskillsaredefined,theywillbecalledfromamainprogramandthewholebeautifulprocessofcreationwill
berecordedonasinglesheetofpaper.Thefinalprogramwillbegearedtowardtheentireclass,whatevertheir
typeofstring,beads,andcharms.Toeffectivelyallowforthis,studentswillneedto“abstractout”thedetailsof
theirspecificmaterialsandcreatevaguetermsforanindividual’ssupplies.Thisuseofgenericplaceholdersisa
wonderfulintroductiontovariables.
TEACHINGSUMMARY
GettingStarted-15minutes
1)Review
2)Vocabulary
3)SeeMySuncatcher
Activity:Fun-ctionalSuncatchers-20minutes
4)FunctionalSuncatcherInstructions
Wrap-up-10minutes
5)FlashChat-Whatdidwelearn?
6)VocabShmocab
Assessment-5minutes
7)FunctionalSkillsAssessment
LESSONOBJECTIVES
Studentswill:
Learntofindpatternsinprocesses
Thinkaboutanartistictaskinadifferentway
Interpretsymbolsastheyrelatetophysicalmanipulatives
TEACHINGGUIDE
MATERIALS,RESOURCESANDPREP
FortheStudent
Onefootofstring,thread,orfishinglineperstudent
2-4beadsperstudent
2-4otheraccessories(buttons,hoops,spacers)perstudent
Onespecialbead,prism,button,orstudent-madesuncharmperstudent
Pens,Pencils,&Scissors
OneSkillsSheetpergroup
Fun-ctionalSkillsAssessmentforeachstudent
FortheTeacher
LessonVideo
ThisTeacherLessonGuide
PrintoneSkillsSheetpergroup
PrintoneFun-ctionalSkillsAssessmentforeachstudent
Gatheravarietyofbeadingsuppliesasdescribedabove.(Thesecaneasilybefoundatcraftwarehouses,
dollarstores,orevenonline.)
GETTINGSTARTED(15MIN)
1)Review
Thisisagreattimetoreviewthelastlessonthatyouwentthroughwithyourclass.Wesuggestyoualternate
betweenaskingquestionsofthewholeclassandhavingstudentstalkabouttheiranswersinsmallgroups.
Herearesomequestionsthatyoucanaskinreview:
Whatdidwedolasttime?
Whatdoyouwishwehadhadachancetodo?
Didyouthinkofanyquestionsafterthelessonthatyouwanttoask?
Whatwasyourfavoritepartofthelastlesson?
LESSONTIP
Finishingthereviewbyaskingaboutthestudents'favoritethingshelpstoleaveapositiveimpression
ofthepreviousexercise,increasingexcitementfortheactivitythatyouareabouttointroduce.
2)Vocabulary
Thislessonhastwonewandimportantwords:
Function-Sayitwithme:Func-shun
Apieceofcodethatyoucaneasilycalloverandoveragain
Variable-Sayitwithme:Vayr-ee-ah-buhl
Aplaceholderforapieceofinformationthatcanchange
3)SeeMySuncatcher
Beginbyholdingupyourexamplesuncatcher.
Lettheclassknowthatwewillbemakingthesetoday.
Theirmaterialsmaybeslightlydifferentthanyours,butthestepswillbeprettymuchthesame.
Pointingtoyourbead,youcantellthemthattheirbeadsmaybeshapeddifferently,ormightevenbea
differentcolor,butyouwillusetheword“bead”tomeanwhateveritisthattheyendedupwith.
Similarly,theirspacersmaybeadifferentsize,differenttexture,ormaybeadifferentmaterialaltogether,but
youwillusetheword“spacer”torefertothosethings.
Finally,wewillallhavea“specialcharm.”Itcouldbealargebead,ahandmadeornament,orevena
randomitemfromtheroom,butinallcases,wewilljustcallita“specialcharm.”
Asyousharethoseterms,feelfreetowritetheassociatedwordsontheboard.Ifyouwanttosetthemequal
totheitemsyoudiscussed,thatworkswell,also.
Example:
Bead=“Whateverstyle,color,orkindofbeadthatyouhavebeengiven”
Spacer=“Alongitemthatisnotabead”
SpecialCharm=“Thecrystalprism,orlargeglasssphere”
Nowyoucanmoveintodiscussinghowyoumadeyoursparklingpieceofart.
ACTIVITIES:(20MIN)
4)FunctionalSuncatcherInstructions
Showthestudentsanexamplesuncatcher
It’smadetohangfromtherearviewmirrorofacar,butitcanalsodanglefromawindoworabackpack
zipper.
Letthemknowthattheyaregoingtomakethesetoday,andintheprocess,learnaboutprograms,variables
andfunctions.
Steps:
1)Explaintotheclasshowthesuncatcherismade.
"First,Iputabeadonthestring,thenItiedaknot.Iputanotherbeadonastring,andtiedanother
knot.Then,Iputaspaceronthestringandtiedanotherknot.Afterthat,Ididitallagain.Iputabead
onthestring,thenItiedaknot.Iputanotherbeadonastring,andtiedanotherknot.Then,Iputa
spaceronthestringandtiedanotherknot.Finally,Iputonthespecialcharm,andtiedonelast
knot."
2)Acknowledgethattheroutinetakesquiteafewsteps,soyouwillprovidethemasing-songywayto
remembertheorder.
"Bead,knot,bead,knot,spacer,knot.
(Ithelpstohaveabitofarhythmwiththewordsasyougothrough.)
Bead,knot,bead,knot,spacer,knot.
Specialcharm,finalknot.”
3)Indicatethatyou’regoingtowritethestepsdowntothisprogram,sothateveryonehasthe
directionsinfrontofthem.
Usetheprovided"SkillsSheet"andbegintowritethestepsinthe"Program"areaastheclass
shoutsoutinstructions.Writeoneinstructionperline.
1. Bead
2. Knot
3. Bead
4. Knot
5. Spacer
6. Knot
Bynow,theclassshouldbenoticinganissue.
Iftheydon’t,youcanleadthemtoit.
Howmanyinstructionsdowehavelefttogothrough?
Howmanylinesdowehaveleft?
Whatshouldwedo?
4)HandouttheSkillsSheettoeveryone.
Pointoutthattherearetwo“extra”sectionswheretheycancombinestepssothatyoucanwriteone
nametocallthemall.
Forinstance,everythingthatyouputintothetopsection,youcancallallatoncebycalling“Skill
1”;thisisafunction.
Challengetheclasstofillouttheirsheetinawaythatmakessenseandallowsthemtofitthe
entiresequenceunderthe“Program”listinsomeway.
Givethemaboutfiveminutestocompletetheirsheet(moreforyoungerstudents)thenlistento
theirsuggestions.
Therewilllikelybegroupsthatneedtohavetheprocessexplainedone-on-one.
Askthemwhattheywoulddoiftheyhadtorepeatthesequenceathousandtimesormore.
Howmanydifferentwaysdidtheclassfilloutthesamesheettomakethesamesuncatcher?
5)Onceyouhavereviewedallofthegroups'solutions,handoutsuppliestothestudents.
Pointoutthatdifferentpeopleintheclassmayhavedifferentsupplies,andtheymayallbedifferent
thantheonesyouused.
Askifthatshouldstopthemfromfollowingtheprogram.
Whynot?
Wecantreatthewords(Bead,Spacer,Knot,etc.)as"placeholders"forwhateveritemsweare
usingthatfitthosedescriptions.
Thesearecalledvariables
6)Letthestudentsgetstartedontheirsuncatchers!
WRAP-UP(5MIN)
5)FlashChat:Whatdidwelearn?
Whatitemsdidyouusethatcouldhavebeen"variable"frompersontoperson?
Howimportantdoyouthinkitwastohavegroupsofskillsthatwecouldcallforthislesson?
Whatifwehaddoneeachsetofsteps100timesinsteadofonlytwice?
Canyouthinkofanythingelsethatwecouldgrouptogetheronceandcalleasilyoverandoveragain?
Whataboutthechorusofasong?
LESSONTIP
FlashChatquestionsareintendedtosparkbig-picturethinkingabouthowthelessonrelatestothe
greaterworldandthestudents'greaterfuture.Useyourknowledgeofyourclassroomtodecideifyou
wanttodiscusstheseasaclass,ingroups,orwithanelbowpartner.
6)VocabShmocab
Whichoneofthesedefinitionsdidwelearnawordfortoday?
"Topullonsomethingsuddenly"
"Apieceofcodethatyoucaneasilycalloverandoveragain"
"Someonewhocreatessomethingthatnooneelsehasevermade"
...andwhatisthewordthatwelearned?
ASSESSMENT(5MIN)
7)FunctionalSkillsAssessment
Handouttheassessmentworksheetandallowstudentstocompletetheactivityindependentlyafterthe
instructionshavebeenwellexplained.
Thisshouldfeelfamiliar,thankstothepreviousactivities.
EXTENDEDLEARNING
Usetheseactivitiestoenhancestudentlearning.Theycanbeusedasoutsideofclassactivitiesorother
enrichment.
FunctionswithSong
Didyouknowthatthesameconceptsfromabovecanbeusedtorepresentseveraldifferentthings?
TryusingtheSkillsSheettorepresentasong,like"Head,Shoulders,Knees,andToes."
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