This lesson gently reintroduces coding ideas through music, rhythm, and simple storytelling. You’ll guide pupils to try clear commands, short sequences, if/then choices, and easy loops using familiar actions and sounds.
Materials Needed:
Simple prompt cards (actions/sounds)
Optional cut-and-stick worksheet
Scissors and glue (if using worksheets)
This is a quick, fun warm-up to prepare the students for listening and reacting accurately.
Start by using simple body percussion (Clap, Snap, Pat, Stomp) to create a 4-beat sequence (e.g., Clap, Clap, Snap, Pat).
Have the students listen to your 4-beat sequence and then immediately repeat it back exactly.
Repeat this four or five times, changing your rhythm sequence each time. This drills the listening and immediate response skills needed for the story activity.
Check out the teacher notes for this step to see some different rhythms to try out with your class.
You can also invite a student to lead the class once they are familiar with the activity!
These patterns are straightforward and focus only on memory and order..
Clap - Clap - Snap - Snap
Stomp - Pat - Stomp - Pat
Snap - Clap - Stomp - Pat (The "Grand Finale" sequence)
Pat - Pat - Pat - Pat (Focus on unison and steady tempo)
These patterns introduce the concept of timing variations and silent beats (rests, which can be thought of as a Pause command).
Clap - Clap - Clap, (Pause) - Snap (Students must recognise the intentional break in the middle.)
Pat - Pat - Pat - Stomp - Stomp (Faster tempo, focus on switching action quickly.)
Snap - Snap - Snap - Snap - (Pause) - Clap (A rapid sequence followed by a break.)
Stomp - (Pause) - Clap - (Pause) - Stomp (Forces students to listen for silence and maintain the beat.)
These patterns introduce simple, repeating elements, which is a great lead-in to the Loop concept from previous lessons.
Clap - Snap - Clap - Snap - Clap - Snap (An A-B-A-B-A-B loop.)
Stomp - Stomp - Pat - Pat - Stomp - Stomp (A quick A-A-B-B-A-A visual pattern.)
Pat - Snap - Snap - Pat - Snap - Snap (Shows a short sequence repeating.)
Clap - Stomp - Pat - Clap - Stomp - Pat
Introduce the story, "Animal Adventure".
Read the entire story through once, normally, without any pauses or student involvement.
Once completed, tell the students that you are going to turn this simple story into a computer program where certain words act as code triggers.
Now you are going to read through the story again except this time, your class will have responses for certain animals named in the story!
Display the following conditions on the board. Explain that if you hear the word "Dog" in the story, then you need to say "Woof!" and likewise with the other animals mentioned below.
| IF (Condition) | THEN (Action) |
| Monkey | Clap |
| Dog | Say "Woof!" |
| Snake | Hiss (make a quiet 'Sss' sound) |
| Bear | Stomp |
Reread the story, but this time, the students must respond to the story conditions.
Every time you say one of the triggered words, the whole class must instantly perform the THEN action.
If the word isn't on the list, they do nothing.
The students now take ownership by adding a second layer of code.
Ask the students to suggest 2-3 more animals or important words from the story (e.g., Tree, River, Jump).
Ask the class what the THEN action should be for these new conditions (e.g., "IF Tree, THEN point up" or "IF River, THEN make a gentle waving motion").
Reread the story one final time. The class now has 6-7 different conditional rules to keep track of, requiring total focus and precise execution.
Get ready to embark on an incredible learning journey! Get access to this lesson and hundreds more in our Digital Skills Curriculum.
