Teach coding with the 'Shark Lady Explorer Game' for grades 3-5. Students create a marine game, learning movement, random positioning, and collision detection.
Use milestone checks, organizer responses, and daily test evidence to guide feedback.
Summative
Assess the published Shark Lady Explorer Game 🦈 with the analytic rubric.
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.
📖Read Before You Build: Shark Lady Explorer Game 🦈
Dr. Eugenie Clark was a marine biologist known for research on sharks and other fish. Her observations helped challenge inaccurate ideas about sharks, including the belief that every shark must swim constantly to breathe. In an explorer gam…
SourcesNOAA — Dr. Eugenie ClarkCode.org — Programming Concepts and Tool DocumentationCode.org — Responding to User InputMDN — Looping Code
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 / 11
Introduction and Pre-Coding 📚
View the example Shark Lady Game project. Use the Coding Blocks Handout ( PDF or google doc ) to see what coding blocks are needed to code your game.
Key words — tap to learnobject block
Each step checks off & advances on its own
All 11 studio steps · dynamic to the project
1Introduction and Pre-Coding 📚~10 min
2Game Start Menu 🚀~10 min
3Designing the Scene 🎨~5 min
4Coding Character Movement 🕹️ Up~5 min
5Coding Character Movement 🕹️ Down~5 min
6Programming Shark Movement 🦈~10 min
7Looping Shark Movement 🦈~5 min
8Randomizing the Y Variable 🎲~10 min
9Creating the Game Over Page ❌~5 min
10Setting Up the Collision Trigger 💥~5 min
11Testing and Debugging 🛠️~10 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!
CCSS · ELA10CSTA10ISTE11AASL34 frameworks · 34 standards · DOK 3
CCSS · ELA
Common Core — English Language Arts
10 standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
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.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.7
Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and generating additional related questions when appropriate.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.8
Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes, categorize information, and provide a list of sources.
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 1.3.a · ISTE 1.3.b · ISTE 1.1.c · ISTE 1.6.b · ISTE 1.6.c · ISTE 1.5.c · ISTE 1.3.d
AASL
AASL Standards Framework for Learners
3 standards
AASL I.A.1
Learners display curiosity and initiative by formulating questions about a personal interest or a curricular topic.
Also addressedAASL I.B.1 · AASL I.B.3
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 need to know how to code?
No coding experience needed. Studio Compass guides students through Guided Steps — each names the exact block and checks itself off — while you facilitate.
What devices does it work on?
Any modern browser — laptops, Chromebooks, and tablets. Nothing to install.
Do my students need an account?
No student email addresses required. You roster your class in a couple of clicks, and students join with a simple class code.
Is it standards-aligned?
Yes — each lesson shows national frameworks and supported state codes from your Standards setting, with specific standards and DOK levels called out in the answer key.
Can students work at different levels?
Built-in read-aloud, sentence frames, and task-level word suggestions meet students where they are, and the self-checking steps let each student work at their own pace.
How do students share their work?
They submit to you for review; you publish the best to your class showcase, each with a public link.
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.
