Teaching Decomposition
Its always much easier to edit code than start with a blank canvas.
When starting to explore the Scratch Music Machine Unit, I got my Year 3 Class to decompose an example from the Scratch website. The children had time to explore the game whilst filling out the decomposition sheet. They tested whether the given statements were true or false, and thought of any improvements they would make in the game. Children want to explore and play and already had some preconceived ideas what they want the game to do next. Whether it was adding a variety of complex sounds or being to create a rhythm.
Children are naturally curious. They want to explore, manipulate and test to the extremities of games and programs. In decomposing this game I didn’t let children explore the code, this will come later.
I will use this method again in further units, getting children to break down what the game does. Think about the outcomes and how they, as coders, will achieve their aims. I am looking forward to seeing what the children produce when they create their own version next week.
We have also used this with planning traffic lights in Flowol for Year 6.
