Create a spooky Halloween card. Students in grades K-2 will design characters, add background music, and animate their cards using simple visual coding blocks.
Pacing
1 class · 20 min
Grade
K
Opens a private practice project in the Studio — no account needed.
Create a Halloween card with images, backgrounds, and text elements.
Animate their characters using basic coding blocks.
Add background music to enhance their interactive card.
Key vocabulary
carveturnipglow
Assessment
Formative
Use milestone checks, organizer responses, and daily test evidence to guide feedback.
Summative
The greeting is kind, readable, and specific enough to feel complete. Clicking the intended character triggers the promised movement, and the music supports rather than overwhelms the message.
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 Lantern with a Face
A face glows by the door. Eyes. A grin. A light inside. And here is the surprise — it is a vegetable. Long ago in Ireland, people carved faces into turnips, not pumpkins. They cut eyes and a grin, put a light inside, and set the glowing fac…
SourcesLibrary of CongressHistory.com, "History of the Jack-o'-Lantern"
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 / 2
Design Your Card! 🖌️
Choose a Halloween buddy, set a background, and add a speech bubble for their special message.
Key words — tap to learnon page start block
Each step checks off & advances on its own
All 2 studio steps · dynamic to the project
1Design Your Card! 🖌️~10 min
2Add Moves & Music! 🎶~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!
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 a mood is built from matched choices. A jack-o'-lantern is spooky-fun because its glow, its carved face, and its dark night all agree. They apply this by choosing a character, message, music, and motion for their card that all point at the same friendly-spooky feeling for one real audience.
Key terms
carve
to cut a shape into something
turnip
a round white-and-purple vegetable
glow
a soft, warm light
Watch for these misconceptions
✕
The message sounds threatening or assumes everyone celebrates Halloween. →Revise it as a playful wish or invitation for a known audience.
✕
The READER cannot tell what to click. →Make the clickable buddy visually prominent and let a peer try the card without directions.
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 · ELA4CSTA2ISTE83 frameworks · 14 standards · DOK 3
CCSS · ELA
Common Core State Standards — English Language Arts
4 standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.3
Write narratives that recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details, use temporal words, and provide closure.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.5
With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.
Also addressedCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.6 · CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.5
CSTA
CSTA K–12 Computer Science Standards
2 standards
1A-AP-12
Develop plans that describe a program’s sequence of events, goals, and expected outcomes.
Also addressed1A-AP-15
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 20, 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.
