Lesson 1: Dance Party: Unplugged

Vocabulary

This lesson has one new and important vocabulary word:

Event: An action that causes something to happen.

Warming up to Events

• Today we're going to have a dance party! Does anyone have a favorite dance move?
  • Have you ever watched a dance team perform to music together? How do they stay in sync?
    • One way to do this might be to plan out all of the moves in advance. It's almost like the dancers are programmed! Computer scientists would call this an algorithm because it's a list of steps to get something done.
    • Another way to keep in sync is to have a cue that tells everyone when to change to a different move. Everyone would still need to know what moves to perform and agree on what the cues mean.
  • If I want everyone in class to clap at the exact same time, I could do that by giving you a countdown from 3. (Try it!)
  • When I reached "1", that was the event that gave you all the signal to clap.
• Ask the class if they can think of any other events that could give signals.
  • You may need to remind them that you're not talking about an event like a birthday party or a field trip.
  • If they have trouble, you can remind them that an event is an action that causes something to happen.
    • Blowing a whistle
    • Waving a flag
    • Saying a magic word
    • Pressing a button
• Today, we're going to organize our class dance party using events.

Directions:

It is important to note that each move is performed continuously but also in left/right pairs. For example, when performing Clap High students will clap once to the left, then once to the right, then repeat that until the next move starts.

Dance Rehearsal

• Project the Dance Moves Slides onto your classroom screen.
• Practice each of the moves until students feel secure with them.
  • Consider expectations you might need to set around safety and personal space.
• When you reach the last slide, decide with your class what each button does. We suggest:
  • Green Button -> High Clap
  • Orange Button -> Dab
  • Teal Button -> Star
  • Purple Button -> Body Roll
  • Pink Button -> This Or That
• Practice tapping the buttons on the overhead and having your class react.
• Let your class know that every time you push a button, it is an “event” that lets them know what they are expected to start doing next.

At the beginning, give enough space between button presses for students to perform the move in both directions a couple times. You can get faster over time.

Dance Party

• Start playing some music.
  • Check out this Spotify Playlist (all ages). We are using radio-safe versions of all songs.
• Use the controller buttons to have class change dance moves while the music plays.

Feel free to change up the music or to re-program each of your events. This is called iteration and it's a big part of what computer scientists do!

• Mix up the dance moves using suggestions from the class. Encourage students to teach each other what they know.
  • If only a few students can perform a complex move, you can make them the lead dancers for a particular event.
    • For example, pressing one button might cause 3 students to start flossing while the rest of the class performs a body roll.

• Why do we need to be able to handle events in a program?
• What are some other kinds of events that you can think of?

Explain that you are spending one hour learning computer science today, because this week is CS Education Week, and millions of other students across the globe have also been learning one Hour of Code this week. Congratulate students on being part of this world wide movement.

Give each student a certificate with his or her name on it.

The Hour of Code is about creativity, and we can’t wait to see what you create! Please share student creations, photos, and videos on social media! Teachers, record your classroom coding a dance, or dancing the dance. Make your video special by adding an ending clip.

Be sure to include #HourOfCode and tag us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Bonus points for tagging the artist whose music your students used. Code.org will re-share our favorite posts to our millions of followers.

Of course, make sure to respect your school's social media policy

After your Hour of Code ends, there are many ways to continue teaching computer science in your K-5 classroom. Here are some ideas:

• Teach the Code Studio Computer Science Fundamentals courses. These six courses are designed for young learners. Students work their way through a series of puzzles that teach them to code, and educators have access to engaging lesson plans that help make the learning come alive. Code.org offers free professional development for these courses, online or in-person.
• Visit You can Teach Computer Science for more course suggestions.
• Invite a computer science expert to talk to your class about his or her work. Don’t know any local computer scientists? Reach out to a volunteer on our volunteer map.