Year 3 – Events and actions in programs

Lesson 1 – Moving a sprite

Lesson plan

Lesson 1: Moving a sprite

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Introduction
In this lesson, learners will investigate how characters can be moved using ‘events’. They
will analyse and improve an existing project, and then apply what they have learned to
their own projects. They will then extend their learning to control multiple sprites in the
same project.

Learning objectives
To explain how a sprite moves in an existing project
● I can explain the relationship between an event and an action
● I can choose which keys to use for actions and explain my choices
● I can identify a way to improve a program

Key vocabulary
Motion, event, sprite, algorithm, logic

Preparation
Subject knowledge:
You will need an awareness of basic movements in Scratch, and how to associate events
with actions. You will also need to know how to program multiple sprites.

This lesson includes elements of design. The approach to design in programming is

based on levels of abstraction and is outlined in Lesson 2 of the ‘Programming A –
Sequence in music’ unit.

You will need:

● L1 Slides
● A1 Worksheet – Complete the instructions
● A1 - Scratch project 'Improving movement' (the-cc.io/pg3b-1-a1-ca)
● A2 Worksheet – Design for moving a sprite
● Computers capable of running Scratch 3.0. The activities in this lesson require the
use of a keyboard, so they are not suitable for tablets.
● Homework worksheet

Assessment opportunities
Activity 1: You can assess the learners’ ability to establish the events which lead to
actions in an existing project, and identify missing actions and events.

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 Year 3 – Events and actions in programs
Lesson 1 – Moving a sprite
Lesson plan
Activity 2: You can assess the learners’ ability to design algorithms for new code
snippets to change the movement in a project, and then implement these changes.

Outline plan
Please note that the activities are labelled in the top right-hand corner of the slide deck
to help you navigate the lesson.

*Timings are rough guides

Introduction Controlling movement
(Slides 1–4) Show slide 3, and pose the question on the slide: “How do you control
movement in computer games?” Invite responses from learners. Answers
5 mins are likely to include:

● By moving, shaking, or tilting a device

● Using a game controller on a device such as an Xbox or
PlayStation
● Using a computer keyboard
● Using the movement of our bodies

Click on the slide to reveal three possible answers.

Show slide 4. Extend the question to “What controls can be used to move a
sprite in Scratch?” If necessary, remind learners that ‘events’ are used to
sense ‘inputs’, which then trigger scripts to run. Learners should identify
that the mouse and the keyboard can be used to trigger Events blocks,
and can be used to control the movement of sprites.

Click on the slide to show the mouse and the keyboard.

Note: There are many other ways of triggering movement in Scratch,

including using Sensing blocks, extensions, and peripheral devices such as
a micro:bit. Some of these features of Scratch will be explored in future
units, but are not covered in these lessons.

If the learners have completed the Year 3 ‘Computing systems and

networks’ unit, they will be familiar with input devices. All the devices
referred to in this introduction are input devices — they can be used to
input instructions into a computer. If the unit has not yet been taught,
explain that these devices allow us to give instructions to computers.

Activity 1 How does this sprite move?

(Slides 5–6) Show slide 5. Direct learners towards the Improving movement Scratch

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 Year 3 – Events and actions in programs
Lesson 1 – Moving a sprite
Lesson plan

project.
10 mins
This project contains code snippets that will do the following:
● Press key ‘R’ - Sprite points right and moves 10 steps
● Press key ‘U’ - Sprite points up and moves 10 steps
● Press key ‘D’ - Sprite points down and moves 10 steps
● Press key ‘C’ - Sprite changes to the next costume
● Click on sprite - Sprite turns 15 degrees clockwise

Note: This activity is based on guided exploration, which involves learners

exploring a project within certain parameters, and drawing their own
conclusions. No code has been included to move the sprite left, or to
rotate it anticlockwise — these are deliberate omissions, for learners to
identify.

Show slide 6. Give out the ‘Complete the instructions’ worksheet, and ask
learners to complete the instructions by experimenting with the project.

Activity 2 Improving movement

(Slides 7–9) Show slide 7. Show learners the code snippets used in the Improving
movement Scratch project.
15 mins
Show slide 8. Give the learners the ‘Design for moving a sprite’ worksheet
and ask them to think about how to improve the movement in the project
they have been exploring.

Invite learners to suggest ways to improve the project. Ideas may include:

● Complete the algorithms for missing movements

● Choose more logical keys for directional movement (arrow keys,
or letters arranged in a way that reflects the directional
movements)

Show slide 9. Once learners have completed their worksheets,

demonstrate how they can make changes to the project by clicking on
See inside on the top right-hand side of the project page. Give learners
the opportunity to complete their projects.

Activity 3 Control a second sprite

(Slide 10) Show slide 10. Challenge the learners to add a second sprite to their
projects. The new sprite should have its movement controlled in a
10 mins different way to their first sprite. Explain that if they used a key press to

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 Year 3 – Events and actions in programs
Lesson 1 – Moving a sprite
Lesson plan

move their first sprite, they should use the mouse or trackpad for the
second sprite. There are two blocks on the slide that could help learners to
move their sprites in a different way.

Give learners the opportunity to compare the movement of their second

sprite with a partner and, if necessary, make further adjustments to their
project.

Plenary Why move sprites?

(Slide 11) Show slide 11. Remind learners of the first question that was posed in this
lesson: “How do you control movement in computer games?” Explain that
5 mins using a limited set of controls (a keyboard and a mouse or trackpad),
they have controlled the movement of sprites in a Scratch project.

Ask the learners if they can think of types of computer games that feature
movements of characters or sprites. Direct learners to the ‘Games’ section
of the projects page in Scratch, where they can find examples for
themselves.

Next time Review the ‘Assessment’ and ‘Summary’ slides.

(Slides 12–13)

5 mins

Homework Ask learners to think about the computer games they play, and how they
control the movement in these games. This can include games they play
at home or in school, and they may or may not be linked to an
educational context. Learners can record their responses on the
homework worksheet.

Resources are updated regularly - the latest version is available at: the-cc.io/curriculum.

This resource is licensed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation under a Creative Commons

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence. To view a copy of this
license, visit, see creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.

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