Year 2: Develop Programming – teacher notes
Pupil Activity Code: PT46 – What is it?
Prior Learning
Pupils should have completed the Year 1 Programming Activity Pack before completing the activities in this pack.
Progression of skills in this pack
1. Create and debug simple programs by selecting code blocks, placing them in the correct sequence and executing a program. (All activities but activity 3 covers debugging specifically)
2. Use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs. (All activities)
3. Simplify a program by using a loop. (this is covered in level 19 on activity 1 challenge plus activities 2-4)
National Curriculum Content
Understand what algorithms are; how they are implemented as programs on digital devices; and that programs execute by following precise and unambiguous instructions.
Create and debug simple programs.
Use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs.
4-5 hours
What will pupils need?
Access to the free websites in the activities below.
Teacher Input
You may wish to look back at the Year 1 Programming Activity Pack and particularly the introduction video explaining what programming is. Activity 5 of the year 1 pack is the first activity below so pupils may have already tried it but it is worth them doing it again for consolidation.
The activities below introduces loops/repetition to help pupils simplify their programs when they get too long.
Vocabulary to discuss:
Predict (working out my program before I execute/run it)
Sequence/algorithm (putting the code blocks in the correct order to make the program work)
Execute (Start/run a program)
Repeat (putting a code block inside a repeat code block loop, meaning you can use less blocks)
Debug (fix a program to make it work – this is specifically covered in a few levels in activity 3)
You may wish to show the pupil activity video tutorials below to the pupils before they try each activity.
Differentiation
There is overlap between the activities below as each includes a series of levels that get more and more challenging – pupils do not need to complete all the levels for each activity in order to show the skills. Less able pupils may need to spend more time looking back at the activities from Year 1 Programming Activity Pack. Activity 3 includes 2 parts – the first part is covered in the video tutorial and then part 2 is more for lower Key Stage 2 so should be used an extension. The more able should be encouraged to use the loops in activity 4 to simplify their programs and there are extra challenge levels for this too below. There is also an extension task that introduces programming keyboard or touch screen inputs – this is also covered in the Year 2 Scratch Jr Pack and also developed in the Year 3 Programming in Scratch Pack.
✅ Assessment
The websites used below in the activities do not include assessment opportunities (saving etc). Therefore, we have created a video tutorial that demonstrates how teachers can use the free code.org website to assess the skills we teach in our activities below.
The Code.org website allows teachers to add their pupils in and then allocate activities. You could use Code.org to assign Course A, Lesson 6: Programming with Rey and make the other lessons invisible (as shown in video). This is also the last activity below which pupils can try without having to create a code.org account.
The Code.org website allows teachers to add their pupils in and then allocate activities. You could assign Course A (2019): Lesson 4 Sequencing with Scrat and hide the other activities (the video tutorial shows how to do this). This is also the final activity in the pupil activities below.
Developing Programming Activity Pack (teacher view)
Pupil Activity 1 – Using Scratch-style code blocks!
(Skills: Predict, sequence and execute a simple program – up until level 5)
These first activities use Scratch-style code blocks, which go down the screen. Watch the video to learn about them and then click play to try programming a beaver to fix the dam.
Extension: Levels 6-7 looks at using a loop to simplify the program)
Program a van!
Watch the video tutorial and then click play to sequence code blocks to move the van to the target.
Extra challenge
If you are able to get to level 19 then you will need to use the repeat code block and put other blocks inside it. This means you do not need to use as many blocks. See example below of moving forward 3 time.
Can you use loops in your program so you do not need as many code blocks? Watch the video tutorial and then click play.
Pupil Activity 3 – Sequence, debug and loops
Watch the video tutorial and then click play to try the levels of Rodocodo to sequence code blocks, debug programs and use loops to simplify code.
Watch the video tutorial and then click play.