OVERVIEW

Activity Overview:

Students will listen to the poetry from the book Scranimals by Jack Prelutsky. Students will choose an animal and a fruit/ vegetable of their choice to create their new animal. Using the book Scranimals as an example, students will create their own Scranimals on grid paper. (Paper/ Pencil) Students will complete this lesson by successfully creating a poem to accompany their Scranimal.

Meta description

• Subject Area: Computer Science, Reading/Language Arts, Engineering, Art
• Grade Level : 3-5
• Computer Science Domains:
  • Algorithms and Programming
• Computer Science Principles:
  • Collaborating Around Computing, Testing and Refining Computational Artifacts
• Materials:
  • Micro:bit, Scranimals by Jack Prelutsky, worksheets for Scranimal development, student Chromebooks, grid paper
• Considerations:
  • Ensure that I stress the algorithms and programming prep in this lesson so they are ready for the next lesson. Make sure to go at the student’s pace.

Lesson Plan

Overview

Students will listen to the poetry from the book Scranimals by Jack Prelutsky. Students will choose an animal and a fruit/ vegetable of their choice to create their new animal. Using the book Scranimals as an example, students will create their own Scranimals on grid paper. (Paper/ Pencil) Students will complete this lesson by successfully creating a poem to accompany their Scranimal.

ASSESSMENT PRE/POST-TEST

Is it possible to create an animal that is combined with a fruit/ vegetable? Why or why not? How do you plot points on grid paper? Does the poem match the scranimal that was created?

OBJECTIVES

Create a new hybrid of animal using a real-world animal and fruit/ vegetable. Successfully plot (algorithms) their Scranimal onto grid paper. Write a poem to accompany their project.

CATCH/HOOK

Imagine you take a strawberry and combine it with a deer! (Show a picture of what that would look like- strawberry as a deer and vice versa.) Imagine an asparagus with a giraffe. (Show a picture of what that would look like asparagus as a giraffe and vice versa.)

ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

Students will follow along as I read the book of poems, ‘Scranimals’, projected on the white board. Discussion: What did you notice throughout the book? What animals did you recognize? Hand Out: What’s a scranimal? Students will complete the questions: Choose 1 animal and 1 fruit. Create 3 different scranimals and choose the 1 they like best. Draw a picture of the scranimal. Complete brainstorming- What does the animal look like? What does the fruit/ vegetable look like? What does the animal like to do? What does the fruit like to do? What do you eat it with? Where does your animal live? Where does your fruit/ vegetable grow? Once that is complete, students will be given a piece of grid paper to plot out their scranimal. (This will prepare them for the following lesson.) Once their scranimal is on grid paper, students will begin their poem that pertains to their choice of scranimal.

Supplements

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REVIEW

We did alot! We learned about scranimals, you created your own scranimal, plotted out your scranimal, and began the first draft of your poem. Next time we meet, we will begin coding your scranimals using Micro:bits.

STANDARDS