Create Halloween cards featuring captivating designs and messages.
Code animations using functions in sequence and parallel.
Add background music to enhance the interactive experience.
Key vocabulary
animatorglidedroop
Assessment
Formative
Use milestone checks, organizer responses, and daily test evidence to guide feedback.
Summative
The greeting is concise, audience-aware, and supported by a consistent Halloween mood. The text reveal, background music, click bounce, and movement sequence each work and have a clear communication purpose.
The student journey
This is a build — not a worksheet packet
Every lesson runs like the story students are about to make: read it, write it, build it, polish it, publish it. The printables scaffold each stage — the published Elementari project is the destination.
1
📖
Read
Students read a short, high-interest passage — a real-world hook, not a dry textbook definition — to spark ideas for what they'll make.
📖The Lamp That Learned to Feel
In 1986, audiences watched a short film starring two desk lamps. Not talking lamps. Not lamps with faces. Just two ordinary metal lamps — a big one and a little one — playing with a ball. And somehow, everyone understood everything. The lit…
SourcesPixar Animation StudiosThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
In the studio, students bring the project to life — adding art and following the exact writing and coding steps shown below. The Studio Compass walks them through it, one step at a time.
🧭Studio CompassStep 1 / 4
Design Your Card 🎨
Pick two Halloween pals like a witch and a ghost. Set a fun backdrop and write a catchy message.
Key words — tap to learnon page start block
Each step checks off & advances on its own
All 4 studio steps · dynamic to the project
1Design Your Card 🎨~10 min
2Animated Text and Music~10 min
3Character's Bouncy Adventure 🎈~10 min
4Character Moves Along 🕺~20 min
4
🔁
Polish
ongoing
Teacher and peer feedback pin right onto the project — students revise until it's ready to share.
Feedback on the project2 pins
🍎
Add one more sentence here so readers get the full picture.
👍 2Teacher
A
The interaction is clear — it helps the reader follow the project!
A couple of things to gather, a few quick steps to prep — then you're ready to hand it to students.
What you need
A device per student or pair
Internet connection
Headphones or speakers
Prep · about 10 min
1Print the student kits
2Assign this lesson to your students
3Skim the build steps
Teacher background
What you need to know
Students learn that motion carries emotion: a quick hop reads as excitement, a slow slide as sneaking, a bounce as joy — even on a character with no face. Animators design every movement to say something. They apply this by choosing two Halloween characters and coding bounces and glides that show exactly how each character feels when a visitor opens the card.
Key terms
animator
an artist who makes drawings or objects appear to move
glide
to move smoothly, without stopping or bouncing
droop
to bend or hang down, the way something sad looks
Watch for these misconceptions
✕
Several effects compete for attention at the same moment. →Choose the greeting as the first focal point and delay or remove competing motion.
✕
The movement sequence jumps or sends the character off the page. →Test each point separately and check the order and destination before combining the blocks.
Standards alignment
Aligned to the standards you teach
Every task maps to a specific standard, so planning and reporting are covered.
Tracking 7 frameworks: Common Core ELA, Common Core Math, NGSS +4
CCSS · ELA4CSTA4ISTE83 frameworks · 16 standards · DOK 3
CCSS · ELA
Common Core State Standards — English Language Arts
4 standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.5
With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
Also addressedCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.6 · CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.5
CSTA
CSTA K–12 Computer Science Standards
4 standards
1B-AP-15
Test and debug a program or algorithm to ensure it runs as intended.
Also addressed1B-AP-13 · 1B-AP-11 · 1B-AP-17
ISTE
ISTE Standards for Students
8 standards
ISTE 1.4.a
Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts, or solving authentic problems.
ISTE 1.4.c
Students develop, test, and refine prototypes as part of a cyclical design process.
ISTE 1.6.d
Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences.
ISTE 1.5.d
Students understand how automation works and use algorithmic thinking to develop a sequence of steps to create and test automated solutions.
Also addressedISTE 1.1.c · ISTE 1.6.b · ISTE 1.6.c · ISTE 1.5.c
Full task-by-task mapping — including Depth of Knowledge — is in the answer key.
Differentiation & accessibility
Built to reach every learner
One lesson, three built-in paths — with accessibility baked into the materials, not bolted on afterward.
Extra support
Emerging readers & writers
Read-aloud and multilingual support in the Elementari build
Studio Compass highlights one task at a time — including the coding
Sentence frames and a word bank so it is never a blank page
On grade
The core lesson
The passage and storyboard exactly as written
Model answers and “look-fors” in the answer key
Self-check chips at every milestone
Ready for more
Extension & challenge
Challenge vocabulary and a real-world extension question
Deepen one existing page or interaction — without changing the required mechanics
A longer, evidence-based reflection prompt
Accessibility, built inPredictable step-by-step structureOne task at a time · Studio CompassHighlighted response areasLow-stimulation printMovement-friendly pacingDesigned so every student can design, write, and code — with ADHD, autism, and dyslexia in mind.
Questions
Teacher FAQ
Do I — or my students — need to know how to code?
No. Coding concepts are introduced in plain language exactly when students need them, and Studio Compass confirms each milestone so students keep moving without you troubleshooting. The teacher guide walks you through the whole build, answers included.
How long does this lesson take?
About 40, paced into 45-minute class periods. You can spread it out or compress it — students pick up where they left off, so it doesn't have to finish in one sitting.
What devices does this lesson work on?
Students can read, write, code, and publish on Chromebooks, iPads, tablets, laptops, or desktops. All they need is a modern browser — nothing to download or install.
What is Studio Compass?
Studio Compass is the step-by-step guide inside the Studio. It shows students what to do next, identifies the exact coding blocks they need, and confirms completed milestones so they can keep moving independently.
How does this lesson support different learners?
This lesson includes read-to-me with synchronized highlighting, a built-in glossary, and picture-based storyboarding, with writing and coding scaffolds you can dial up or down. Students can work with guided support or more independently — and still finish the same project.
Ready when you are
Bring this lesson to your class
Import your class, assign in one click, and watch them build — the whole kit comes with it.
