Scratch Year 7 Virtual Pet: Free Lessons 1–2

Two complete, ready-to-teach Scratch lessons for Year 7: sequence, events and loops. Pupils start building a virtual pet with SEND-friendly step-by-step instructions and tested Scratch files.

These are the first two lessons of the Virtual Pet Scratch unit, free to download in full. Pupils add Cat 2 to a bedroom, make it greet its owner and purr when clicked (Lesson 1: sequence and events), then bring it to life with a breathing animation, a spin and a jump (Lesson 2: iteration with repeat and forever loops).

What is included

Organised by lesson. For each lesson:

• Teaching Presentation (PowerPoint) with detailed speaker notes: explanations, questions, answers, misconceptions and timings

• Lesson Plan (Word) with timings for 60- and 50-minute lessons, answers, differentiation and SEND support

• Pupil Task Sheets (Word) with clear DO THIS → CHECK steps, one action at a time, and real screenshots of the current Scratch editor

• Answer Key (PDF) with example code, accepted alternatives and Debug Me fixes

• Tested Scratch files (.sb3, in a zip): Starter, Support Starter, Solution, Challenge Solution and Debug Me (9 files in total)

Also included: a combined Pupil Workbook PDF (both lessons in one booklet), a Teacher Guide (curriculum links for England and Scotland, preparation checklist, troubleshooting), a Read Me and Printable Support Cards (word mat, block reference, loop card and more).

Built for every learner

Every lesson has Core, Support and Challenge routes, a retrieval starter, a PRIMM Predict task, a stop-and-check point and an exit ticket. Support Starter files lay the blocks out ready to snap together, reducing dragging and working-memory load. Challenge tasks develop computational thinking, such as nested loops and comparing two algorithms. “If it doesn’t work…” boxes help pupils fix common problems without waiting for the teacher.

Curriculum

Mapped statement by statement to the National Curriculum for Computing in England (KS3, securing KS2 programming) and to Curriculum for Excellence Technologies, Third Level (Scotland).

Requirements

Scratch 3 (free) online at scratch.mit.edu or the Scratch app. No accounts needed. Scratch files are zipped because Tes does not accept .sb3 files directly.

The full unit

The full Virtual Pet unit continues with Lesson 3 (variables and input), Lesson 4 (selection and Boolean logic) and Lesson 5 (the Pet Rescue project with broadcasts, testing and evaluation), plus an End-of-Unit Test with Mark Scheme and a Project Rubric.