Lesson 15: Keyboard Input
45 minutes
Overview
Question of the Day: How can our programs react to user input?
Following the introduction to booleans and if statements in the previous lesson, students are introduced to a new block called keyDown() which returns a boolean and can be used in conditionals statements to move sprites around the screen. By the end of this lesson, students will have written programs that take keyboard input from the user to control sprites on the screen.
Purpose
One common way conditionals are used is to check for different types of user input, especially key presses. Having a way for a user to interact with a program makes it more interesting and dynamic. Without interaction from the user it is very difficult to create a game. Therefore the introduction of conditionals and user inputs for decision making is a critical step toward creating games.
Assessment Opportunities
-
Use conditionals to react to keyboard input
See Level 6 in Code Studio.
-
Move sprites in response to keyboard input
See Level 6 in Code Studio.
Standards
AP - Algorithms & Programming
- 2-AP-11 - Create clearly named variables that represent different data types and perform operations on their values.
- 2-AP-12 - Design and iteratively develop programs that combine control structures, including nested loops and compound conditionals.
- 2-AP-16 - Incorporate existing code, media, and libraries into original programs, and give attribution.
- 2-AP-17 - Systematically test and refine programs using a range of test cases.
- 2-AP-19 - Document programs in order to make them easier to follow, test, and debug.
Agenda
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Move sprites in response to keyboard input
- Use conditionals to react to keyboard input
Preparation
- Check the "Teacher's Lounge" forum for verified teachers to find additional strategies or resources shared by fellow teachers
- If you are teaching virtually, consider checking our Virtual Lesson Modifications
Links
Heads Up! Please make a copy of any documents you plan to share with students.
For the teachers
- Keyboard Input - Slides (Download)
Introduced Code
Teaching Guide
Warm Up (5 minutes)
Taking Input
Discuss: So far all of the programs you've written run without any input from the user. How might adding user interaction make your programs more useful, effective, or entertaining? How might a user provide input into your program?
The goal here isn't to get into the technical specifics of how programs can take input (students will get to that in the online portion of the lesson), but rather to get students thinking about how user input could change the programs they've made. Encourage students to think back to Unit 1 and the various computer inputs and outputs they explored then. Which inputs would be most useful for the types of programs they've been making?
Question of the Day: How can our programs react to user input?
Activity (35 minutes)
Keyboard Input
Transition: Send students to Code Studio
Guide to Programming Levels: Additional guidance for programming levels is provided in the CSD Guide to Programming Levels. This document includes strategies and best-practices for facilitating programming levels with students.
Formative Assessment: This level can be used as a formative assessment. A rubric is provided in the level, and written feedback can be given to students. Click here to learn more about giving feedback to students.
Wrap Up (5 minutes)
Adding Conditionals
Question of the Day: How can our programs react to user input?
Journal: Think back to all of the programs you've written so far; how might you use user interaction to improve one of your programs from past lessons? What condition would you check, and how would you respond to it?
This work is available under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
If you are interested in licensing Code.org materials for commercial purposes contact us.
