1. Review and demonstration (2+ minutes):
Begin by asking coders to talk with a neighbor for 30 seconds about something they learned last time; assess for general understanding of the practices and concepts from the previous project.

Explain that today we are going to create a story about a monster hiding in a room (e.g., under the bed, in the closet, in a dresser, etc.). Display and demonstrate the sample project (or your own remixed version).

A note on say blocks: If you are displaying a sample project with say blocks, it might help to read the text out loud using various voices for each sprite as it is displayed. This strategy might help early/pre-readers, as well as young coders who are new to learning English. In addition, when young coders begin working on their own project, you can encourage them to use speech-to-text or emojis in their own say blocks instead of typing out words (or use recorded sound blocks).

Video: Project Preview (0:58)
Video: Lesson pacing (1:48)

This can include a full class demonstration or guided exploration in small groups or individually. For small group and individual explorations, it might help to set a time limit for exploration before discussing the project.

Example review discussion questions:

• What’s something new you learned last time you coded?
  • Is there a new block or word you learned?
• What’s something you want to know more about?
• What’s something you could add or change to your previous project?
• What’s something that was easy/difficult about your previous project?

3. Create a storyboard (10+ minutes):
Either hand out paper with at least four different quadrants (one for each page in ScratchJr), use handheld whiteboards, or use a painting app on a device to encourage coders to storyboard what they are going to create. It may help to model this process with a separate set of random ideas.

Encourage coders to draw or write out not only the kinds of sprites and backgrounds they’re going to use, but the kind of code that will accompany them.

When coders are ready, have them show you their storyboard and ask questions for clarification of their intent (which may change once they start coding and get more ideas). If approved, they may continue on to the next step (creating); otherwise they can continue to think through and work on their storyboard.

Note: Coders may change their mind midway through a project and wish to rethink through their original storyboard. This is part of the design process and it is encouraged they revise their storyboard to reflect their new ideas.

Resource: Example storyboard templates

Suggested storyboard questions:

• Where will the monster be hiding in your story?
  • For example, in the closet, under the bed, in the dresser, under the table, outside, etc.?
• Who is going to notice the monster?
  • How will they respond to the monster?
    • For example, are they afraid, courageous, think the monster is funny, etc.?
  • How will the monster respond to the other sprite?
    • Will the monster be afraid, happy, sad, mean, etc.?
• What will happen in your story?
  • What blocks will you use for each part of your story?
• What are all of the ways we can interact with the story?
  • In each of these ways we can interact with the story, how might we use code to create that interaction?

Suggestion: If coders need additional help, perhaps pair them with someone who might help them with the storyboarding process. Or, you could have coders meet with a peer to discuss their storyboard before asking to share it with yourself. This can be a great way to get academic feedback and ideas from a peer.

Note: This process may take significantly longer than 10 minutes if storyboarding many different sprites and pages (not recommended until the end of the first year).

4. Make a backdrop look like night time (15+ minutes):

3+ minute unplugged demonstration
Ask everyone to look at an object in the room when the lights are on and share with a neighbor the colors they notice. Dim the lights and ask neighbors to discuss how the colors changed. Turn the lights off and repeat the sharing. Note: You may need to repeat these steps a couple of times for younger kids.

Discuss as a class what happens to the colors when the lights turn low or off. Point out the colors get darker, but they don’t change to a drastically different color (e.g., something that is purple doesn’t become neon yellow); however, some objects, such as emergency exit signs will light up. Transition into displaying ScratchJr to the class.

4+ minute ScratchJr demonstration
Pull up a backdrop you want to change to make it look like it’s nighttime; for example. Ask the class what we need to change in the picture to make it look like the lights are off (make the colors a shade or two darker). Use the paint bucket tool on the right to demonstrate how to change the room to look like it’s in the evening; for example.

Once the backdrop is at the preferred level of darkness, use the scissors to remove an object from the room that the monster is going to hide in. For example, remove the bed with the scissors, then add a sprite to the room that replaces the bed. Explain to the class we want to make the hiding monster a sprite so we can use blocks to control it.

8+ minute application and 1-on-1 facilitating
Encourage coders to try something similar with their backdrops. Facilitate by walking around and asking questions about how coders might change their backdrops to look like it’s in the evening.

Facilitation suggestion: It works best with younger kids to warn them in advance you are going to turn off the lights before actually turning them off. Some kids are genuinely afraid of the dark and others just want an excuse to scream loudly.

Facilitation suggestion: You can engage the class in the background editing process by pointing to a color in the backdrop and asking the class to point to the color they think it should change to or by having them follow along with their own devices.