Learning objective
- To create a program that tells a story.
Success criteria
- I can use programming to give the Bee-Bot clear instructions.
- I can debug my instructions if they go wrong by identifying and correcting the mistake.
National curriculum
Computing
Pupils should be taught to:
- Create and debug simple programs.
Cross-curricular links
English
Reading – comprehension
Pupils should be taught to:
- Develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by becoming very familiar with key stories, fairy stories and traditional tales, retelling them and considering their particular characteristics.
Before the lesson
- Presentation: Programming a Bee-Bot.
- Presentation: The Three Little Pigs.
- Whiteboards and pens (one between two – optional, see Recap and recall).
- Bee-Bots or Blue-Bots (ideally one between two).
- Bee-Bot mats from the last lesson (see Lesson 4: Bee-Bot world).
- Link: Assessment- Computing Y1: Programming: Bee-Bot (optional – see Wrapping up).
Lesson plan
1: Recap and recall
Presentation: Programming a Bee-Bot
Display the Presentation: Programming a Bee-Bot and arrange the children in pairs.
Ask the children to program the Bee-Bot to a specific image on the mat. For example:
- How would we program the Bee-Bot to move to the parrot? (Clear, forward, forward and forward.)
- How would we program the Bee-Bot to move to the lion? (Clear, forward, forward, right and forward.)
Ask the children to discuss with a partner or hand out whiteboards and pens and allow them to write down their program.
Take feedback and address any misconceptions. Use the route ‘A to C, avoiding B’ if the children are confident. For example:
- Can you program the Bee-Bot from the orange flower to the snake without going over the parrot? (Clear, forward, forward, right, forward, left and forward.)
2: Attention grabber
Ask the children:
- Who knows the story of the ‘Three Little Pigs’?
- What happens in the story?
Explain to the children that Bee-Bots like stories and they will help retell the story of the ‘Three Little Pigs’.
3: Main event
Arrange the children in pairs and hand out Bee-Bots and the mats from the last lesson (one per pair). Provide the children with the Resource: The Three Little Pigs images (pre-cut, one set per pair) and ask the children to place them on the mat.
Practise with a few warm-up exercises, for example:
- Can partner one get the Bee-Bot to the wolf?
- Can partner two get Bee-Bot to the blowing picture?
Demonstrate fixing mistakes and learning from them rather than worrying about being wrong.
Presentation: The Three Little Pigs
Display slide 1 of the Presentation: The Three Little Pigs and explain to the children that they will now listen to the story of the ‘Three Little Pigs’. Ask the children to number themselves one and two. Inform the children that when one of the pictures is mentioned in the story, one of the children should program the Bee-Bot to move to that character (from the Bee-Bot’s last position).
- Partner one: moves the Bee-Bot to the red spaces in the story.
- Partner two: moves the Bee-Bot to the blue spaces in the story.
Use slide 2 to remind the children that they must not lift the Bee-Bot while it is moving and explain that this could cause damage to it. Encourage the children to think carefully about completing the challenge by inputting more than one instruction at a time.
Read through the story using slides 3–19 and use the coloured prompts if necessary. Pause reading while the children program the Bee-Bots.
As this is the final week in this topic, now is a good time for observational assessment:
- Take note of who takes several steps to reach their target.
- Look for children who get the Bee-Bot to their target straight away.
- Observe who panics when they make a mistake.
- Notice who can fix an error.
4: Wrapping up
Set the children some quick-fire challenges to see how familiar they are with the instructions they give. Judge how ‘quick-fire’ to make these challenges by how confident the class is.
Optional – provide each child with the Quiz – pupil answer sheet and display the Unit quiz (see link: Assessment- Computing Y1: Programming: Bee-Bot). Read each question aloud and allow the children time to answer. Reveal the answers and ask them to self/peer mark their answer sheets.
If pupils completed the Knowledge catcher in Lesson 1, they can revisit them and add new information in a different colour.
Adaptive teaching
Pupils needing extra support
Could program the route one square at a time.
Pupils working at greater depth
Should explain the shortest route as well as the longest route possible.
Assessing progress and understanding
Pupils with secure understanding indicated by: programming the Bee-Bot to reach the goal as specified in the story; identifying and correcting mistakes when they go wrong.
Pupils working at greater depth indicated by: an awareness of route efficiency; suggesting alternative routes.
Vocabulary definitions
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algorithm
A clear set of instructions to carry out a task.
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Bee-Bot
A small programmable floor robot with seven buttons (forwards, backwards, turn right, turn left, go, pause and clear).
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debug
Finding an issue in the program and fixing it.
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program
A series of instructions that are written for a computer to follow.
In this unit
Maintained by: Kapow Primary team
Last update: 14th February, 2024
