Create a magical holiday card with animated falling snowflakes and interactive elements! In this lesson, students will design a holiday card, write a cheerful message, and code looping snowflake animations with interactive features.
Pacing
1 class · 45 min
Grade
Grade 3
Coding
Beginner
Students codePlayer ActionsOn Page StartSequenceMove
Opens a private practice project in the Studio — no account needed.
How do people capture and share moments that don't last?
Students will be able to
Key vocabulary
crystalvanishloop
Assessment
Formative
Use milestone checks, organizer responses, and daily test evidence to guide feedback.
Summative
The message is specific, friendly, inclusive of its intended audience, and visually easy to read. The text effect, snowfall loop, click response, and any optional music or voice work without competing with the greeting.
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 Farmer Who Caught Snowflakes
On a freezing January day in 1885, a Vermont farm boy named Wilson Bentley stood outside in a snowstorm, holding his breath. He had caught a snowflake on a cold, black tray. One warm breath — even from his nose — and it would vanish. Workin…
SourcesSmithsonian Institution Archives — Wilson A. BentleyJericho Historical Society — Snowflake Bentley
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
Designing Your Card 🎨
Add a background and write a festive greeting for your holiday card! Code your message to animate.
Key words — tap to learnon page start block
Each step checks off & advances on its own
All 4 studio steps · dynamic to the project
1Designing Your Card 🎨~10 min
2Code a Looping Animation ❄️~10 min
3Make a Character Bounce 🕺~5 min
4Finalizing Your Card 🎁~5 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
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 fleeting things survive when someone designs a way to hold them — Bentley froze one second of winter in a photograph; an animation loop holds a moment by repeating it. They apply this by choosing one winter feeling for a real audience and building a card whose message, falling snow, and interactive character keep that moment alive every time the card is opened.
Key terms
crystal
ice or stone formed in a pattern with flat sides
vanish
to disappear suddenly
loop
something that repeats again and again without stopping
Watch for these misconceptions
✕
The card mixes several traditions without a clear or respectful purpose. →Choose one stated focus and keep only details that genuinely support it.
✕
The loop covers the message or the click animation is impossible to discover. →Adjust layer order and spacing, then let a peer open the card without instructions.
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 · ELA3CSTA4ISTE83 frameworks · 15 standards · DOK 3
CCSS · ELA
Common Core State Standards — English Language Arts
3 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
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 30, 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.
