Students create an interactive story about a cheetah hunt, with two reader choices and a die-based chase outcome. The writing connects story events to the reading’s account of energy moving through food. Students play and test the finished project, then share it in a gallery walk or brief presentation.
Pacing
5 classes · 45 min each
Grade
Grade 5
Coding
Advanced
Students codePlayer ActionsOn Page StartParallelConditionals
Opens a private practice project in the Studio — no account needed.
How does energy from sunlight reach a cheetah's moving body?
Students will be able to
Trace how energy from sunlight passes through plants and impala to a cheetah.
Explain how food energy supports a cheetah’s movement and how a new meal can support later movement.
Develop an interactive hunt narrative with distinct chase outcomes.
Apply scientific relationships in an ending that connects the hunt to the energy pathway.
Key vocabulary
herbivoreplant matterfood energy
Assessment
Formative
Organizer drafts, exit tickets, and peer-review checks along the way.
Summative
A published, playable interactive story.
The student journey
From reading to an interactive project
Elementari is a browser-based tool for creating illustrated, interactive stories and projects. Students plan their writing in the Student Kit, then add it to a digital project in the editor, called Studio.
1
📖
Read
The reading provides background knowledge or a model of writing for students to draw on. The lesson plan explains its connection to the project.
📖The Sprint That Began in Sunlight
Picture an impala leaping sideways as a cheetah gives chase. The cheetah’s feet strike the ground, then lift again. Where does the energy for those quick strides come from? The answer reaches much farther back than the start of the chase. I…
Students use the Student Kit's storyboard to plan and draft their project. Choose High Support, Guided Support, or Independent to adjust the writing scaffolds.
Student mission
Write a story about a cheetah in Botswana’s Okavango Delta as a scattered impala herd interrupts its hunt for a meal.
2Student Kit · sneak peek
High Support
In the Okavango Delta, the cheetah stalked the impala herd for a meal. When they scattered, it ___ .
Key Words from the Passageherbivoreplant matterfood energy
Glossary a kid-friendly definition for every key term
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 / 5
Build the cover
Write your title.
Key words — tap to learnCompare Numbers
Each step checks off & advances on its own
All 5 studio steps · dynamic to the project
1Build the cover
2The Herd Scatters
3Across the Grassland
4The Chase Turns
5Build the ending
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!
Students finish and test their projects. Work submitted through a class goes to the teacher for review; publishing a project makes it public with a shareable link.
Open these resources as web pages, then use Print to print them or save a PDF. The Student Kit supports the writing; Studio provides the on-screen build steps.
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
Student Organizer
Headphones or speakers
Prep before class
1Print the student organizers
2Assign this lesson to your students
3Skim the build steps
Teacher background
What you need to know
Key terms
herbivore
An animal that eats plants.
plant matter
The parts of a plant that make up its body, such as leaves and stems.
food energy
Energy an animal gets from food to help it move and live.
Watch for these misconceptions
✕
The two choice routes feel too similar →Ask the student to compare the two approach lines and identify how a reader would recognize each as a different route.
✕
The ending’s connection to the reading is unclear →Point the student back to “The Sprint That Began in Sunlight” and ask which part of the ending needs a clearer connection to it.
✕
A reader result is not easy to check →Play and test the project’s die and separate chase outcomes, then fix anything that does not appear as intended.
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 · ELA6NGSS12 frameworks · 7 standards · DOK 2–3
CCSS · ELA
Common Core State Standards — English Language Arts
6 standards
W.5.3b
Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.
Also addressedW.5.3c · L.5.6 · W.5.1c · W.5.2c · W.5.2d
NGSS
Next Generation Science Standards
1 standard
5-PS3-1
Use models to describe that energy in animals' food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.
Full task-by-task mapping — including Depth of Knowledge — is in the answer key.
Differentiation & accessibility
Choose the writing support
These are the three support options in the Student Kit. Choose the scaffolds students need while keeping the same project.
High Support
More writing scaffolds
Sentence frames break the response into manageable parts
Supplied words and ideas help students get started
Students still have space to write their responses
Guided Support
A starting point for writing
Task prompts and selected sentence starters
Writing cues and word banks where supplied
Space to develop each response
Independent
Less scaffolding
The same project and required writing tasks
Open response space without the support frames
Students develop their own wording
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 prior coding knowledge is required to start. Students follow on-screen build steps in Studio. Coding difficulty describes the project's complexity; teachers may still need to help students test and revise. The lesson plan supports teaching, and the Answer Key provides sample writing responses.
How long does this lesson take?
About 225 minutes. 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?
Use a Chromebook, laptop, desktop or tablet with a modern browser and an internet connection. The project editor does not support phones. Try the build on your class devices before teaching.
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?
The Student Kit has High Support, Guided Support and Independent writing profiles. They change the amount of scaffolding for the same project. Choose a profile in the kit before printing, and use the lesson plan's differentiation suggestions.
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.
