Fair Chance Learning

Lesson Plan:
Empowering students to self regulate through coding
with the micro:bit

[email protected]
www.fairchancelearning.com
@FCLedu
 Self Regulation
Core Elements of Self Regulation

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)

explains social and emotional learning (SEL) as students obtaining skills that
“enhance [their] capacity to integrate skills, attitudes, and behaviours to deal
effectively with daily tasks and challenges.” CASEL’s SEL framework encom-
passes five core competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social aware-
ness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. Social skill deficits
also create major obstacles for a significantly large subgroup of learning-dis-
abled students and adults.

Successful Classrooms Self-Regulation Skills

+
Pedagogical
Recognizing and valuing the research supporting the
Learning Skills
need for as well as the benefits of self-regulation, this
=
micro:bit lesson will focus on using the micro:bit as a
Pathways to a
tool to communicate the zone a student is identifying
Successful
with as well as offer tools to enable a student to
Classroom
regain self-control.

“How well students do in school can be determined

by how well they are able to self regulate”
- Stuart Shanker
Zones of Regulation
Goal: to create a tool to represent the Zones of Regulation and to
offer an outlet, using the micro:bit.

Minds On!
Have a class discussion around the need for self-regulation and communicating about
how a student is feeling. Record ideas on chart paper, white board etc.

Possible discussion prompts:

1. How do you feel when...
recess is cancelled?
gym is reschedule?
WIFI is down?

2. What do these emotions...

look like?
sound like?
feel like?

Unplugged 4-Corners:

Before class prepare the 4-Corners posters.

Ask students how they’re feeling

in the moment,
last night,
first thing this morning,
etc.

Have students move to the corner within the room which best reflects their mood,
reflecting each prompt.

At the corner, students discuss with an elbow partner why they are feeling this way and
brainstorm possible solutions.

Consolidation: Sometimes it’s hard for students to identify how they are feeling and
even control those emotions. We are going to design a tool to help students with
sharing how they feel and to offer a possible outlet!
Action Part One
Zones of Regulation

Have your students get onto the internet and go to:

https://makecode.microbit.org/

Select New Project

Sample text....
In your workspace you will see two blocks when you start a new project.
Delete the on start block. You can do this by right-clicking and choosing
the Delete Block option or by dragging the block to the left over the
menu where a trashcan will appear.

From Input, click and drag an on shake block to the workspace.

Use the on the on shake to reveal all the inputs, and select logo up.

From Basic, click and drag a show icon block inside of the logo up block.
Use the on the show icon block to reveal all the available icons. Click
on the smiley face.
Repeat the process for the three other icons by following the steps
above and changing the inputs and the icons to the heart, angry face,
and confused face as shown below.

Another way to complete this is to right click on our initial set of blocks
and choose duplicate, then edit the inputs and icons.

You can also use the link below

to access to completed code.

https://bit.ly/2PJbjMM

TIP!

Notice how the duplicated

code is greyed out or
inactive until the inputs are
changed.
Download the code
Downloading the code to see if the icons work!

Plug the micro:bit in to your computer’s USB port using the micro USB cable that came
with the micro:bit. The micro:bit should show up as a USB storage device, much in the
same way as a flash drive.
Below the working area you will see a space beside the
save icon where you can name your project. After you
have given your project a name, click on the save button.
This will save your program to your Downloads folder.

If the box that asks What do you want to do with [file

name]? pops up, click on Save then click on Open folder.
This will take you to your Downloads folder.

Select the file (program) you wish to upload onto the

micro:bit and drag it into the micro:bit folder on the left
side.
As the program is copied onto the micro:bit, you will see
that the light on the back of the micro:bit is flashing. This
means that the program is in the process of being
uploaded onto the micro:bit.

Once the lights are no longer flashing, your program should be running on your
micro:bit.

Note: You need to go through this saving and uploading process every time you make
changes or make a new micro:bit program.
Action Part Two
Calming Strategies

Return to the workspace at https://makecode.microbit.org - no need for

a new project this time as you’ll be adding more code to the Self
Regulation tool. The new code will enable students to use the micro:bit
to try a breathing exercise to self regulate when they become frustrated
or anxious.

To being get the on start block.

From the Variables create a new variable called seconds. Afterwards set
seconds to 60.

To active the timer students will code the B button to initialize the timer
to countdown from 60 to 0.

Start with the on button A pressed from Input and select B.

From Loops, select the while true block.

From Loops, scroll down to find a comparison block.

From Variables, select the Seconds block and click it into place in the first
bubble following while. Make sure the symbol is for greater than, (＞).
From Variables select the change block, making sure it is change
seconds.

From Math, choose the 0 - 0 block and snap it into place after by.

Finally, get a show number block from Basic, snap it into place below
change seconds, adding the variable Seconds.

From Basic, more, select a clear screen to follow the show number block.

Visit the link below to access the

completed code:

https://bit.ly/34qEqKr

Consolidation:
Discuss what emotion is being represented by each icon.
Teachers may wish to create a classroom legend to help students
recall which input corresponds with which emotion (see example
below).
Discuss the research around breathing exercises and
self-regulation.
Extension One
Exit ticket.
Gauge student thinking about this lesson through responses to the
following prompts:
I think the micro:bit Self Regulation tool will help me…
Coding the micro:bit Self Regulation tool made me feel…
I wonder about…
The exit ticket could be paper pencil or using a digital platform such as
FlipGrid.

Extension Two
Plot your feelings using coordinates.
Teachers may wish to use x, y coordinates along with the graphic below
to have students draw their feelings.

Start with a forever block from Basic and the show leds block.

For example, if a student was feeling excited or happy they may elect to
program a smiling face by selecting each box they wish to illuminate.
Extension Three
Calming strategy: playing music.
Music is relaxing and a great way to foster and development
computational thinking skills.

The micro:bit has three octaves to program which contain seven notes:
C, D, E, F, G, A, and B.

To program a portion of the song Twinkle Twinkle give students the first
first section using C, C, G, G, , A, A, G (twin-kle, twin-kle, lit-tle, star) and
the code shown below. Teachers may wish to only give the beginning and
encourage students to complete the song.

Students can remix the code or create their own songs.

TIP!

The micro:bit does not contain a

speaker, but it can generate sound
when connected to a headphone or a
speaker.

To connect a micro:bit to headphones

or a speaker, complete a circuit as
illustrated in the diagram to the right
using alligator clips.
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