Irving Independent School District Smart Solutions

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Facilitator Guide: Text-Code Bridge Day 2 — Change the Grid with Purpose

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Unpublished

TEACHER ONLY · TEXT-CODE BRIDGE DAY 2

Lesson 4: Text Code — Emergency Supply Grid

One class period · keep the student page as the independent and absence route.

Daily Learning Contract

Topic: Creating and improving a constrained emergency supply-layout program

Objective: Students will use a software design process to construct meaningful variables across string, number, and Boolean types, perform operations on their values, complete a text-based nested-loop program for row and column subproblems, and improve it from test evidence.

Demonstration of learning: Passport 6 problem/constraints and pseudocode, student-authored typed variables and operations, student-completed nested loops, prediction, first/final evidence, exact revision, final JavaScript, and explanation.

Essential TEKS:

  • §126.19(c)(2)(A) — construct named variables with multiple data types and perform operations on their values;
  • §126.19(c)(2)(B) — use a software design process to create text-based programs with nested loops that address different subproblems within a real-world context; and
  • §126.19(c)(2)(C) — modify and implement previously written code to develop improved programs.

Supporting TEKS:

  • §126.19(c)(1)(A) — decompose real-world problems into structured parts using pseudocode;
  • §126.19(c)(1)(E) — develop, compare, and improve algorithms for a specific task to solve a problem; and

Meets threshold: Meets when the student authors/meaningfully completes string, number, and Boolean variables plus operations; completes both loop structures; keeps the selected mission visible within 160 × 120; records a first run and required improvement; and explains the distinct row/column subproblems. Supplied sprite/API code alone earns no authorship credit.

Evidence status: Demonstrated: (2)(A), (2)(B), and (2)(C) only when the authored TODOs, design record, first run, required revision, and explanation all meet the threshold. Practiced: (1)(A) and (1)(E).

Before class

Prerequisite: Completed Passport 5 and Day 1 repair; can trace a loop counter and interpret string, number, and Boolean values.

Editable teacher deck, slides 38–51 · PowerPoint fallback

MakeCode Arcade · Day 2 student-authorship scaffold · Teacher exemplar — alternate finished solution; do not use as the starter

Reveal only after student diagnosis/work: Teacher-only code reference · Teacher-only result reference

Student route: Lesson 4: Text Code — Emergency Supply Grid

Timed lesson flow

  1. 5 min · Launch: Present the shelter/distribution need, 160 × 120 screen constraint, and Mission A/B. Ask what could make a grid unusable.
  2. 8 min · Model: Using a separate two-row example, model one typed declaration and one coordinate calculation. Do not complete the assignment loops.
  3. 8 min · Guided practice: Complete the Passport 6 problem, constraints, row/column subproblems, and pseudocode. Confirm the selected mission total.
  4. 4 min · CFU: Students identify which TODO proves string, number, Boolean, arithmetic, comparison, Boolean logic, outer loop, and inner loop.
  5. 20 min · Independent work: Students complete all scaffold TODOs, run a first draft, make one required controlled improvement, and capture final evidence.
  6. 5 min · Submit: Use the four rubric criteria; Meets is full credit and optional extension is not required.
  7. 5 min · Close: Students explain one authored element and how test evidence justified the revision.

Expected answers

  • Mission A total: 20. Mission B total: 12.
  • Variables include meaningful string, number, and Boolean declarations authored/completed by the student.
  • Operations include coordinate arithmetic, suppliesPlaced increment, expected-total multiplication/comparison, and a Boolean decision.
  • The outer loop advances rows; the inner loop completes columns in each row.
  • A valid revision improves visible spacing, placement, or the priority cue and is supported by before/after evidence.

Likely misconceptions

  • Changing values in a finished exemplar and calling that variable construction.
  • Leaving supplied loops unchanged and claiming independent nested-loop creation.
  • Treating optional extension as required for full credit.
  • Submitting only the final screenshot without the first run, exact revision, or explanation.

Scaffolds, recovery, and absence

Scaffolds: Use the scaffold that supplies MakeCode APIs and sprite art but leaves typed declarations, operations, and both loop structures as student TODOs. Use the Passport 6 row/column trace and bilingual sentence stems. Allow oral explanation recorded by the teacher without reducing the authored code requirement.

Recovery: Paste a fresh Day 2 scaffold into a new JavaScript project. Restore only completed TODOs from the last readable screenshot/text entry; do not replace the assignment with the exemplar.

Absence route: Use the student page, Day 2 scaffold, Passport 6, and rubric. The student may choose either tested mission and submit code through upload or text entry; no public URL or account is required.