The Oxford Reading Tree story of the ‘Rainbow Machine’ was used to introduce the basic idea of programming to Year 1 pupils.  After reading half of the ebook online, pupils discussed how a machine could be designed that could create a rainbow.  Key questions led them to consider how machines can be made to do what we want them to do.  They considered:

• who would manage or control the machine
• how instructions could be given ensuring that a rainbow would be generated correctly.

This laid a foundation for understanding ‘input’ and output’.  Pupils went on to design their own ‘Rainbow Machines’.  They had to show through labels or descriptions, how a person would use the machine.  Feedback from peers helped them to refine their descriptions and make them more accurate.

These pictures show how differently the children interpreted the idea:

 

The object of the lesson was to gain an understanding that a machine can be given instructions to perform a specific task. Therefore it was not important what the rainbow machines looked like.

The challenge lent itself to both technically minded pupils and those more inspired by make-believe imaginative tasks.

Where necessary adults used questions to encourage pupils to expand on their ideas and explain how their machines worked.

 

Not all pupils were able to write their explanations so it was important that they were all given the opportunity to talk about their designs.

Following an initial whole class discussion, pupils were encouraged to use specific vocabulary in explaining their own machines to their peers.  The vocabulary included the words: instructions, input, program and output.