Unplugged lesson: Planning what characters say in ScratchJr stories

🎯 Learning Objectives

• 🧠 Understand the role of dialogue in advancing a story and revealing character.
• 🗣️ Practice planning conversations between characters using non-digital tools.
• ✍️ Develop a simple script or dialogue plan for a short ScratchJr scene.
• 💡 Connect unplugged planning directly to digital story creation.

✂️ Materials Needed

• 📄 Large sheets of paper or whiteboards.
• ✏️ Pencils, markers, or dry-erase markers.
• ✂️ Character cut-outs or simple drawings (optional, but highly recommended).
• 🖼️ Index cards or sticky notes for individual speech bubbles.
• ⏰ Timer (for warm-up).

⏱️ Warm-up: Story Spark (5 mins)

• 🎬 Display a simple image or a very short, silent animated GIF of two characters interacting.
• 🤔 Ask students: "What do you think these characters are saying to each other?"
• 👂 Encourage a few students to share their ideas, emphasizing that dialogue helps us understand the characters' thoughts and feelings.
• 🌟 Introduce the idea that today, we'll be the 'voice writers' for our characters.

📖 Main Instruction: Dialogue Design Workshop

📝 Step 1: Character Introduction & Scenario (10 mins)

• 👥 Divide students into small groups (2-3 per group).
• 📜 Provide each group with a simple story prompt or scenario (e.g., "Two friends meet after school and one has exciting news," "A cat and a dog are trying to share a toy").
• 🎭 Have them choose or draw two characters for their scenario. Encourage them to think about their characters' personalities.

🗣️ Step 2: Unplugged Conversation Planning (15 mins)

• 💬 Explain that they will plan out a short conversation (3-5 exchanges) between their characters.
• 💡 Introduce the concept of a 'dialogue bubble' using index cards or sticky notes. Each card represents one line of dialogue.
• ↔️ Instruct groups to lay out their character drawings and then place the dialogue cards between them, in order, to show the flow of conversation.
• ✍️ On each card, they should write what one character says. Encourage them to think about:
  • 🤔 What does this character want to say?
  • 👂 How would this character *sound* (e.g., excited, shy, curious)?
  • ➡️ How does one line of dialogue lead to the next?
• 🚶‍♂️ Circulate among groups, providing guidance and asking probing questions (e.g., "What will the other character respond?" "Does this line make sense with their personality?").

🔄 Step 3: Dialogue Rehearsal & Feedback (10 mins)

• 🎤 Ask each group to 'perform' their conversation by reading their dialogue cards aloud.
• 👍 Encourage peer feedback focusing on clarity, character voice, and story progression.
• ✍️ Allow groups to make revisions to their dialogue based on feedback.

📱 Step 4: Connecting to ScratchJr (5 mins)

• 🔗 Explain how this unplugged planning directly translates to ScratchJr.
• 🖱️ Discuss how each dialogue card can become a 'Say' block in ScratchJr, and how the order of cards dictates the sequence of the story.
• 🚀 Emphasize that planning makes coding much easier and more effective.

✅ Assessment & Extension

✨ Assessment

• 🔍 Observe groups during the planning and rehearsal phases, noting their collaboration and understanding of dialogue flow.
• 📄 Collect the dialogue card sequences from each group as a tangible assessment of their planning.
• 🗣️ Ask students to verbally explain how their planned dialogue would look in ScratchJr.

🚀 Extension Activities

• ✍️ Challenge students to add a third character and plan a more complex conversation.
• 🔄 Have groups swap scenarios and plan dialogue for a new set of characters.
• 💻 Transition to ScratchJr: Have students implement their planned dialogue into a new or existing ScratchJr project.
• ❓ Introduce a 'problem' into their scenario and have the dialogue work towards a solution.