Week 5: Coding and English Part 1

About

In the Coding and English sessions, you will learn about how the teaching of Coding can be linked with the teaching of English, through the creation of digital stories in Scratch.

This session’s activities have been adapted from Unit 3 (Stories) of the Creative Computing Curriculum guide. The activities in Unit 3 are intended to encourage discussions about authorship, re-using materials and remixing projects in Scratch.

In the Part 1 session, we will focus on three activities from Unit 3 of the Creative Computing Curriculum guide: Characters, Conversations and Scenes.

Key Terms

algorithm, computational thinking, computational concept, coding, visual programming, sequences, remixing, events, parallelism, loops, broadcasting, custom block, reset, backpack, pair programming, debugging

Materials

Presentations

Activities

Homework

Session Outcomes

Stage 3 NSW Syllabus Outcomes

Science and Technology

Digital Technologies
Outcome How the Outcome is addressed
ST3-2DP-T: plans and uses materials, tools and equipment to develop solutions for a need or opportunity. In this session, you will create different programs that combine a variety of materials to address different opportunities and needs. For example, in the Conversations activity you will combine different animations and code in an interactive story.
ST3-3DP-T: defines problems, and designs, modifies and follows algorithms to develop solutions In this session’s activities, you will design, modify and follow algorithms (steps of instructions for a computer to follow) when creating the different Scratch programs.

English

Objective A
Outcome How the Outcome is addressed
EN3-1A: communicates effectively for a variety of audiences and purposes using increasingly challenging topics, ideas, issues and language forms and features When you complete the Scenes activity in Scratch, you will have the opportunity to create a digital story that communicates to a variety of audiences and that addresses different purposes and ideas.
EN3-2A: composes, edits and presents well-structured and coherent texts In the Conversations activity, you will compose a digital story in Scratch and present the story through sharing the project with other participants.
EN3-3A: uses an integrated range of skills, strategies and knowledge to read, view and comprehend a wide range of texts in different media and technologies In this session, you will have the opportunity to view a variety of different texts and compare digital stories to other forms of texts.
Objective B
Outcome How the Outcome is addressed
EN3-5B: discusses how language is used to achieve a widening range of purposes for a widening range of audiences and contexts In this session, you will have the opportunity to discuss how the language conventions used in digital stories differ to those in written texts.
EN3-6B: uses knowledge of sentence structure, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary to respond to and compose clear and cohesive texts in different media and technologies In this session, you will compose texts for digital stories created in Scratch.
AITSL Professional Teacher Standards
Standard How the Standard is addressed
2.1.2: Apply knowledge of the content and teaching strategies of the teaching area to develop engaging teaching activities. In this session, you will have the opportunity to plan how you use could use different teaching approaches (such as digital storytelling) when teaching Coding alongside English.
2.6.2: Use effective teaching strategies to integrate ICT into learning and teaching programs to make selected content relevant and meaningful. In this session, you will learn about different teaching strategies for the integration of ICT (specifically Coding) with English. The activities in the session, such as the Scenes activity, are focused on the encouragement of personal expression and the creation of digital stories that relate to learners’ interests.
3.3.2: Select and use relevant teaching strategies to develop knowledge, skills, problem solving and critical and creative thinking In this session, you will learn about how digital storytelling can be used when teaching Coding. These activities can help learners develop their critical and creative thinking, through the creation of digital stories.
3.4.2: Select and/or create and use a range of resources, including ICT, to engage students in their learning. In this session, you will learn about different resources for teaching Coding, including ‘unplugged’ methods that can be used when you do not have access to a computer lab.
6.2.2: Participate in learning to update knowledge and practice, targeted to professional needs and school and/or system priorities. In this session, you will learn about Coding and Computational Thinking can be taught alongside objectives from the English syllabus.
6.4.2: Undertake professional learning programs designed to address identified student learning needs. In this session, you will be introduced to different teaching approaches for the teaching of Coding with English. Some of these teaching approaches could be more suitable to students with particular learning needs (for example, teaching students Coding by having them act out instructions in the Conversations activity).
ACARA General Capabilities

Literacy

Literacy Element How this Element is addressed
Comprehending texts through listening, reading and viewing In the session’s activities, you will be given the opportunity to view the digital stories made in Scratch by other participants and members of the Scratch community.
Composing texts through speaking, writing and creating In the session’s activities, you will be given the opportunity to create multimodal texts in Scratch. For example, in the Scenes activity, you could create a script for characters in Scratch to act out, in order to tell a story.
Text knowledge In the session’s activities, you will apply your knowledge about text to create digital stories in Scratch. For example, in the Conversations activity you will create a multimodal text that involves a conversation between two characters.
Grammar knowledge In the session’s activities, you will apply your grammar knowledge when creating digital stories in Scratch. For example, in the Conversations activity you will write grammatically correct sentences for the characters in the conversation to say.
Word knowledge In the session’s activities, you will apply your word knowledge (including spelling) when creating digital stories in Scratch. For example, in the Scenes activity you will write sentences for the characters in the scene to say.
Visual knowledge In the session’s activities, you will apply your visual knowledge when creating digital stories in Scratch. For example, in the Scenes activity you will use Sprites to represent characters and change the Backdrop when the location in the story changes.

Numeracy

Numeracy Element How this Element is addressed
Estimating and calculating with whole numbers In the session’s activities, you will calculate with whole numbers when creating programs in Scratch. For example, when creating the conversations between characters in the Conversations activity, you will have to calculate the total time a character talks before another character begins talking.
Using spatial reasoning In the session’s activity, you will use spatial reasoning when moving Sprites around the canvas in Scratch. For example, in the Scene activity, you may move one of the characters to different positions on the canvas.

Information and Communication Technology Capability

ICT Capability Element How this Element is addressed
Investigating with ICT In this session, you will have the opportunity to investigate the digital stories that other participants in the session and members of the Scratch community have shared. Through this investigation, you may learn about how to use different blocks in Scratch or find common story elements in the digital stories.
Creating with ICT In this session, you will create and modify digital stories (which will be Scratch projects).
Communicating with ICT In this session, you will create digital stories, which will be shared with other participants in the session and members of the Scratch community.

Critical and Creative Thinking

Creative and Creative Thinking Capability Element How this Element is addressed
Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas In this session, you will create digital stories in Scratch after a process of inquiry. For example, in the Conversations activity you may plan the conversation between your characters and get ideas from similar projects before creating your own Scratch program.
Generating ideas, possibilities and actions In this session, you will be encouraged to be creative in the activities and to explore a variety of ideas, possibilities and actions when creating your digital stories in Scratch.
Reflecting on thinking and processes In this session, you will be encouraged to reflect on how you completed the activity through the reflection prompts from the Creative Computing Curriculum guide. For example, one of the suggestions in the Conversations activity is to explain the process you used to create the conversation in Scratch to another participant.
Analysing, synthesising and evaluating reasoning and procedures In this session, you will have the opportunity to analyse, synthesis and evaluate your own reasoning and procedures. For example, in the Scenes activity you will be able to plan out the different scenes you create and will be able to reflect on how this planning helped you code the story in Scratch.
Stage 3 ACARA Digital Technologies Content Descriptors
Content Descriptor How the Descriptor is addressed
ACTDIP019: Design, modify and follow simple algorithms involving sequences of steps, branching, and iteration (repetition) In this session’s activities, you will design, modify and follow algorithms (steps of instructions for a computer to follow).
ACTDIP020: Implement digital solutions as simple visual programs involving branching, iteration (repetition), and user input In this session, you will implement a program in Scratch, a visual programming language, that includes loops (iteration), events and user input.