Cover lesson · Mathematics and Numeracy · Year 2 · Advanced
DCF: Producing → Evaluating and improving digital content
What this practises: checking digital work against one success criterion and suggesting an improvement, on paper. Pupils test four screens of an invented counting game (counting in 2s, 5s and 10s, and counting ducks) and decide if each one passes its check. Then they write comments to the designers as sentences, which is literacy work on punctuation that you can mark from the sheet.
Print: the teacher script and activity sheet (this file), the activity pages one per pupil. No computers are needed. Black and white printing is fine.
Run: 5 min the testers · 8 min counting warm-up · 15 min test the screens, Task 1 · 7 min how to write a sentence · 10 min write comments, Task 2 · 8 min fix the comments, Task 3 · 5 min share. Total 58 minutes.
Collect: the activity pages. Quick checks: Task 1, screen 1 no (9 should be 8), screen 2 no (there are 7 ducks), screen 3 no (numbers too small and pale), screen 4 yes. Literacy (punctuation) evidence: Task 2 (two comments written as sentences, with the pupil’s own checklist) and Task 3 (three comments rewritten with capital letters, finger spaces and full stops).
Year 6 pupils at an invented school have designed a counting game for Year 2. Your class are the testers. Pupils check each screen against one success criterion, then write kind and helpful comments to the designers as proper sentences.
5 min We are the testers
Say: “Year 6 pupils at Ysgol Aberdaron have made a counting game for Year 2 on the computer. Before it is finished, they want testers to check it. That is you. Each screen has one check, called a success criterion. You will decide if the screen passes the check.”
8 min Counting warm-up
Say: “Let us count in 2s together from 0 to 20. Now in 5s from 0 to 50. Now in 10s from 0 to 100.”
Ask: “What comes after 6 when we count in 2s? What comes after 15 when we count in 5s?”
15 min Test the screens (Task 1)
Say: “Read the check under each screen. Look carefully at the screen. Does it pass? Tick yes or no. If it does not pass, circle the problem and write the fix if there is a box.”
Ask: “Which screens passed? Which did not? How do you know?”
Screen 3 is a check about reading, not about numbers. Ask: could someone at the back of the class read it?
7 min How to write a good comment
Say: “Designers like comments that are kind and helpful. Say something you like, then say what to change. Write each comment as a sentence. A sentence starts with a capital letter, has finger spaces between the words and ends with a full stop.”
Show: write on the board: the ducks are fun. Ask the class to fix it: The ducks are fun. Point to the capital letter, the spaces and the full stop.
10 min Write comments (Task 2)
Say: “Write one comment that starts I like about screen 4. Then write one comment that starts Please change about screen 1, 2 or 3. Tick your checklist when you finish each one.”
8 min Fix the comments (Task 3)
Say: “Someone typed these comments too fast. Write each one correctly underneath, with a capital letter, finger spaces and a full stop.”
Ask: “What was missing in the last one?”
5 min Share
Say: “Diolch. Good testers check carefully and give helpful comments.”
Ask: “Who will read us a Please change comment? Is it kind? Would it help the designer?”
Name: Date:
1Test each screen. Does it pass the check? Tick yes or no. Circle the problem. Write the fix.
2Write a comment to the designers. Then tick your checklist.
3These comments were typed too fast. Write each one correctly.