Areas of Learning: Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication, Language and Literacy, Mathematical Development
Context: Children had been introduced to directional language and also explored moving in different directions by playing a simple "Simon Says" game in PE sessions.
Learning Intentions: Work as part of a group taking turns and sharing fairly (PSE)
Link sounds to letters (CLL)
Understand directional language (MD)
Child Speak Targets: I am learning to/can program a Pixie.
Key Vocabulary: Pixie, move, program, travel, stop, start, clear memory, twice, sound, forward, backward, left, right, go

You will need: Pixie

Introduce children to the Pixie and demonstrate how to program it using the arrow keys. Show how to clear the memory in between moves if you do not want the Pixie to remember previous instructions.

Sitting in a circle see if children can program the Pixie to travel to another child. Encourage children to say their instructions e.g. "forward 7 go" before they program the Pixie.

Show children how the Pixie can dance and is particularly good at spinning round! Let children explore the left and right turn buttons to see how Pixie will turn.

Show pupils 3 letter cards and encourage them to recall the phonemes independently.

Place the cards on the floor, one in front, one to the left and one to the right. Practise walking to the correct sound.

Next place the Pixie in the middle of the cards and ask pupils to listen to the different sounds that you are making, then program the Pixie to travel to the correct phoneme. Change the letters, by replacing the cards, as they are playing the game.

You will need: An alphabet floor map, Pixie

Place an alphabet mat on the floor and the Pixie, encourage pupils to work in groups of two or three. They can plan which letter they want the Pixie to travel to and then program it.

Alternatively, give children a collection of small objects and ask them if the Pixie can transport the object to its initial phoneme on the mat.

Thinking Questions: How can the Pixie move?
What do the arrows buttons do?
How can you make the Pixie turn around?
How far does the Pixie move in one Pixie step?
Why does the light flash when the Pixie moves?