Introduction
Use storytelling and coding to help students creatively tackle real-world problems. In this lesson, students identify a school issue, develop a solution, and present it as an interactive story. They will use Elementari to animate characters, incorporate music, and record voiceovers to bring their story to life. This lesson fosters problem-solving, creativity, and coding for kids, providing a hands-on way to integrate digital storytelling into the classroom.
Objectives
Students will:
- Identify a real problem at school and develop a creative solution.
- Write a story in Elementari with a clear problem and solution structure.
- Code animations, background music, and interactive features to enhance the story.
- Present their finished story with visuals, dialogue, and sound.
Code Stories and Games with Elementari
Elementari empowers kids to creatively tackle real-world problems by combining storytelling and coding. With intuitive drag-and-drop tools, students craft interactive stories that include animations, sound effects, and voiceovers. This process not only fosters literacy and computational thinking but also makes learning fun and accessible for all skill levels. Elementari’s visual coding system simplifies adding interactivity, helping students present their ideas dynamically.
New to Elementari? Click on the orange Start button to jump right into the lesson for free. Check out our Getting Started Guide for an overview of how Elementari works with your class. Get started for free for up to 35 student accounts.
Lesson Resources
Coding Concepts Covered
Function in Parallel Background Music Voice RecordingStudent Instructions
Brainstorm the problem, why it happens, who is affected, and your solution.
Tip: Use the writing organizer (Google Docs or PDF) to organize your ideas and write your draft.
Make a cover slide by writing a title and coding background music and text animations.
Write an introduction and set up the slide using coded templates.
Add an animated character to describe the problem and code dialogue, voiceovers, and animations.
Write your solution. Add an image (or your design) and code animations to make it interactive.
Summarize and code animations for your final message.
Interactive Project Example for Students
Play through this lesson's example project created on Elementari. Use this example to guide and motivate your students.
Standards
CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)
Algorithms & Programming
1B-AP-10 - Create programs that include sequences, events, loops, and conditionals.
1B-AP-11 - Decompose (break down) problems into smaller, manageable subproblems to facilitate the program development process.
1B-AP-12 - Modify, remix, or incorporate portions of an existing program into one's own work, to develop something new or add more advanced features.
1B-AP-15 - Test and debug (identify and fix errors) a program or algorithm to ensure it runs as intended.
Common Core ELA Standards
Language Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.3.6 - Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships (e.g., After dinner that night we went looking for them).
Speaking and Listening Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.4 - Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.5 - Create engaging audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details.
Writing Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.3 - Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.4 - With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards – above.)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.5 - With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards – up to and including gradeon page )
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.8 - Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.
ISTE Student Standards
Empowered Learner
1a - Students articulate and set personal learning goals, develop strategies leveraging technology to achieve them and reflect on the learning process itself to improve learning outcomes.
1c - Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
Innovative Designer
4a - Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts or solving authentic problems.
4b - Students select and use digital tools to plan and manage a design process that considers design constraints and calculated risks.
4c - Students develop, test and refine prototypes as part of a cyclical design process.
AASL Standards
Inquire
I.A.1 - Formulating questions about a personal interest or a curricular topic.
I.A.2 - Recalling prior and background knowledge as context for new meaning
I.B.1 - Using evidence to investigate questions.
I.B.3 - Generating products that illustrate learning.
I.C.4 - Sharing products with an authentic audience.
Curate
IV.B.1 - Seeking a variety of sources.