Cover lesson · Expressive Arts · Year 1 · Intermediate
DCF: Data and computational thinking → Problem-solving and modelling
Also assessed, LNF: Numeracy → Geometry and measurement → Position
Name: Class: Date:
What this practises: following a set of instructions in the right order, spotting a mistake in instructions, and giving instructions to someone else, all through a simple dance. This is how pupils learn about algorithms before they program floor robots. Pupils also use the words above, below and next to and record where the dancer stops, which is numeracy work on position.
Print: this sheet, one per pupil. You read Part 1 aloud; pupils only need Part 2 (the activity pages). Pencils and coloured pencils. No computers are needed. Pupils dance next to their own chair, so no hall is needed.
Run: 5 min hand out and set up · 10 min Step 1, robot dancers · 10 min Step 2, Task 1 together · 10 min Step 3, Tasks 2 and 3 · 10 min Step 4, Task 4, fix Gwen’s dance · 10 min Step 5, Task 5, make a dance · 5 min Step 6, show and share. Total 60 minutes.
Collect: the activity pages. The position evidence is Task 2 (where the dancer stops and how many steps) and Task 3 (pictures circled for above, below and next to). Quick checks: Task 1 stops at the sun; Task 2 stops at the drum after 4 steps; Task 3 is sun, sheep, drum; in Task 4 the last arrow is wrong and should point up.
Read the words in the green boxes aloud. Show the pictures on the activity pages, or draw the two arrows big on the board.
Hand out the activity pages and pencils. Ask pupils to stand behind their chair with a little space around them. Draw a big up arrow and a big right arrow on the board.
Say: “Today we are robot dancers. A robot only does what the instructions say, one at a time, in order. Our instructions are arrows.”
Show: point to the up arrow. Say: “Up arrow means one step forward.” Point to the right arrow. “Right arrow means one step to the side, this way.” Show which way with your arm.
Do: write on the board: up, up, right (draw the arrows). Point to each arrow in turn while pupils step. Count the steps in Welsh as you go: “un, dau, tri” (one, two, three).
Ask: “How many steps did we do?” (3) “What if I swap the order and do right first?” Let pupils try it and notice they end up in the same place but went a different way.
Do: now do up, right, right yourself, but do it wrong on purpose (step up, up, right). Ask: “Did I follow the instructions? Which step was wrong?” Praise pupils who say “the second one”.
Say: “Sit down and look at Task 1. This is a dance floor. Our dancer always starts on the yellow star.”
Say: “Put your finger on the star. Read the arrows with me: up, up, up, right, right. Move your finger one square for each arrow.” Go slowly, square by square, saying the name of each picture you land on: daffodil, empty square, castle, empty square, sun.
Ask: “Where did the dancer stop?” (the sun) Say: “Now draw the path with your pencil and draw a circle round the sun.”
Say: “Task 2 has new arrows: right, right, up, up. Start on the star again. Finger first, then pencil. Circle the picture where you stop. Then count your steps and write the number in the box.”
Walk round. Pupils who rush often move two squares for one arrow: ask them to touch each square and say “one arrow, one step”.
Say: “Task 3. Look at the big dance floor. I will read each question. Circle the right picture.” Read: “What is above the drum?” · “What is below the drum?” · “What is next to the harp?” Show above by holding one hand over the other.
Say: “Gwen wants her dance to finish on the harp. Her arrows are right, up, right. Try her dance with your finger. Where does she stop?” (the sheep)
Ask: “Did she get to the harp? No! One arrow is wrong. Which one?” Let pupils try each arrow. Say: “Put a cross on the wrong arrow. Draw the right arrow in the empty box under it.”
Say: “When we find and fix a mistake in instructions, we call it debugging.” Pupils can trace the word on the sheet.
Say: “Now you are the dance maker. Make a dance from the star to the dragon, or from the star to the sheep. Draw one arrow in each box. You do not have to use every box.”
Say: “Then pick a finishing move: colour the clap or the jump.”
Do: pairs swap sheets. One pupil reads the arrows aloud while the partner does the steps beside their chair, then the finishing move. Ask: “Did your partner’s dance work? Did they end on the right picture?”
Ask 2 or 3 pairs to show their dance to the class. The class counts the steps aloud.
Ask: “Why does a robot need the arrows in the right order?” · “Where did your dancer stop? What is next to it?” Say: “Da iawn, everyone! (Well done!)”
Start on the . One arrow is one step.
Steps:
above the
below the
next to the
Trace: debug
My arrows:
Finishing move: colour one.