Codemoji Coding Hour · Lesson plan

🦈 Build a game: Shark Eat Fish

Grades K-5 · 60 minutes · No typing · Start at codemoji.com/lessons/sprite/shark/1

Students will

build a working game by snapping code blocks together, and say what one event in their game does.

The big idea

Games run on events: when something happens (a key is pressed, two things touch), the code under it runs.

Before the hour

Open the first part on one device and play it through once (about 15 minutes).
Decide on accounts: students can play as guests, or join your class with its code so their progress (and certificate) is saved.
Turn sound on low, or bring headphones: the game makes sounds.
Put the finished game on the board to show at the start.

Warm-up (away from screens)

Play "Simon says, the game way": "WHEN I clap, you jump. WHEN I say fish, you chomp." Point out that each rule starts with WHEN. That is exactly what their code will do.

The hour

0-5 minWarm-up. The "WHEN" game above, then show the finished Shark Eat Fish on the board.
5-10 minGet started. Everyone opens Part 1. Show the pointing hand and the coach line at the top: they say the one next thing to do.
10-45 minBuild. Students work through the 9 parts at their own pace. Each part checks itself when they press Play. Aim for Part 5 ("Chomp!") by minute 30.
45-55 minShow and share. Pairs swap seats and play each other's game. Ask the share-out questions below.
55-60 minWrap-up. Hand out certificates, or tell students they are coming. Ask: what other game could you make with WHEN blocks?

The lessons

1. Sharky arrives
2. Swim, Sharky, swim!
3. Steer me!
4. Lunch swims by
5. Chomp!
6. Growing up
7. Watch out!
8. Level up!
9. The big win

Where students get stuck

Blocks are grey and nothing happens
A stack is loose. It needs a yellow WHEN block on top. Snap it under one.
Sharky moves the wrong way
Tap the arrow on the block until it matches the key in the WHEN block.
"I don't know what to do"
Read the coach line at the top out loud with them, or press the speaker for "Read to me". Follow the hand.

Talk about it

What happens in your game WHEN Sharky touches a fish?
Which block made your game harder? How?
If you could add one more rule, what would it be?

Fast finishers

Try Road Crossing or Space Dodge on /learn: the same blocks, a new game.
Open Sprite Studio and make Sharky's game your own: new backdrop, new sprites.

Words to know

Event:: Something that happens, like a key press, that starts code running.
Sprite:: A character or object in the game.
Code block:: One instruction you can snap together with others.

After the hour

Hand out Codemoji Coding Hour certificates: students who finished signed in to your class have theirs ready in your class's Certificates tab, and you can print any class by name. Standards: CSTA 1A-AP-10 / 1B-AP-10: develop programs with sequences and events.

Try the activity Make a class