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Year 3

Adding features to a program

I can develop my program by adding features.

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New
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Year 3

Adding features to a program

I can develop my program by adding features.

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Share activities with pupils
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These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Pen blocks, such as pen up, change pen colour, and change pen size, have specific functions that can be predicted.
  2. Suitable keys can be assigned to trigger additional features.
  3. New features can be added to existing projects by using a design plan.
  4. Sequences of commands can be built to make a design work.

Keywords

  • Pen - the extension in Scratch which lets you draw lines

  • Event - an input which triggers a block of commands to be run

Common misconception

Pen up and erase all do the same thing.

Pen up stops the sprite from drawing a line, erase all clears all lines already drawn. Pen up stops new marks being drawn on the screen but keeps what is already there whilst erase all clears everything that already exists.


To help you plan your year 3 computing lesson on: Adding features to a program, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

You will need to be familiar with the Pen extension blocks introduced during this lesson: pen up, change pen colour, and change pen size. The change pen colour block uses a number to change the colour of the pen. The greater the number, the greater the contrast between colours.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

Pupils need access to either the online version of Scratch or the downloaded application.

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is the name for a graphic object controlled in a program?
Correct Answer: Sprite, sprite
Q2.
Which block in Scratch could you use to change the position of a sprite?
'change size' block
'duplicate' block
'pen down' block
Correct answer: 'Move 10 steps' block
Q3.
What is an algorithm?
a dance move
a type of sprite
Correct answer: a precise set of ordered steps to do a task
a Scratch extension
Q4.
Why might you adjust the size of a sprite?
Correct answer: to make it fit better with the background
to make it move faster
to change its colour
to create a new event
Q5.
What extension in Scratch allows drawing on the screen?
Correct Answer: Pen, pen
Q6.
What is the purpose of the pen extension in Scratch?
to change the sprite’s appearance
Correct answer: to create lines on the screen as the sprite moves
to add new sprites
to duplicate code

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the terms to their definitions.
Correct Answer:pen up,stops the sprite from drawing lines as it moves
tick

stops the sprite from drawing lines as it moves

Correct Answer:erase all,clears all lines already drawn
tick

clears all lines already drawn

Correct Answer:pen down,makes the sprite start drawing lines as it moves
tick

makes the sprite start drawing lines as it moves

Q2.
What is an event in Scratch?
a block that erases lines
a block that changes the background
Correct answer: an input that triggers commands to run
a block that moves the sprite
Q3.
Which key should you assign to trigger an event?
a key that’s already in use
Correct answer: a key that’s easy to remember
a key that doesn’t work on your keyboard
a random key
Q4.
Put these steps in order to draw a line in Scratch:
1 - Use the 'pen down' block.
2 - Move the sprite.
3 - Use the 'pen up' block.
Q5.
What is the purpose of the 'change pen colour' block?
to erase the sprite
to change the background
Correct answer: to adjust the colour of the pen
to stop the sprite from drawing
Q6.
Which block lets you adjust the thickness of a drawn line?
Correct answer: 'change pen size'
'erase all'
'pen down'
'duplicate'