Introduction to programming using Small Basic - (KS2-KS3) - Lesson 4 Shapes and Animation

A lesson with resources for Small Basic programming, introducing the way shapes can be drawn on the screen and animated.

I have used these lessons with 7 and 8, and they were very popular with pupils as well as colleagues who used them in their own lessons.

I think the key to success is encouraging pupils to be creative and experiment with the commands they learn in these lessons. Before you know it they will be making all sorts of shapes and discoveries of what else can be done.

This could follow on from use of 'Bee-Bots' or other similar tools pupils will be familiar with from KS1, or could be used independently to get pupils interested in the use of a text-based programming language.

Small Basic is a good choice of programming language for KS2 or KS3 as there are very few commands to learn, yet quite advanced programmes can be designed.

Further lessons are available that follow the style of this lesson but introduce more programming concepts including For loops, variables, and even how to interact with the mouse (e.g. draw a square wherever the mouse is clicked).

I have included a PDF and Word version as you may wish to edit parts of it, and a zip file containing an example solutions to the challenges.