Why do strong creative projects start with one clear idea?
Students will be able to
Explore the Elementari platform to create interactive stories.
Write their own narratives and design story elements.
Code interactive features to enhance their stories.
Develop digital literacy and creative writing skills.
Key vocabulary
engineerpromisetavern
Assessment
Formative
Use milestone checks, organizer responses, and daily test evidence to guide feedback.
Summative
The project has a clear purpose, coherent words, and a beginning-to-ending experience rather than unrelated content. At least one READER action produces an understandable response, and every added effect supports the stated promise.
The student journey
From reading to an interactive project
Elementari is a browser-based tool for creating illustrated, interactive stories and projects. Students plan their writing in the Student Kit, then add it to a digital project in the editor, called Studio.
1
📖
Read
The reading provides background knowledge or a model of writing for students to draw on. The lesson plan explains its connection to the project.
📖Two Paddles, One Ball, One Rule
In 1972, a young engineer named Allan Alcorn built a video game as a practice project — his boss wanted to see what he could do. The game could hardly have been simpler. Two paddles. One bouncing ball. On the machine, a single instruction: …
Students use the Student Kit's storyboard to plan and draft their project. Choose High Support, Guided Support, or Independent to adjust the writing scaffolds.
Student mission
Dream up an interactive story that keeps one clear promise to its reader.
2Student Kit · sneak peek
Guided Support
When the player
Key Words from the Passageengineerpromisetavern
Glossary a kid-friendly definition for every key term
In the studio, students bring the project to life — adding art and following the exact writing and coding steps shown below. The Studio Compass walks them through it, one step at a time.
🧭Studio CompassStep 1 / 1
Create For Fun
Have fun writing and coding your own interactive story on Elementari!
Key words — tap to learnOn Click
Each step checks off & advances on its own
All 1 studio steps · dynamic to the project
1Create For Fun
4
🔁
Polish
ongoing
Teacher and peer feedback pin right onto the project — students revise until it's ready to share.
Feedback on the project2 pins
🍎
Add one more sentence here so readers get the full picture.
👍 2Teacher
A
The interaction is clear — it helps the reader follow the project!
Students finish and test their projects. Work submitted through a class goes to the teacher for review; publishing a project makes it public with a shareable link.
Open these resources as web pages, then use Print to print them or save a PDF. The Student Kit supports the writing; Studio provides the on-screen build steps.
A couple of things to gather, a few quick steps to prep — then you're ready to hand it to students.
What you need
One device per student or pair
Internet connection
Student Kit or printed organizer
A device per student or pair
Prep before class
1Preview the designated builder story.
2Review the ordered milestones and Student Kit.
3Decide whether students work independently or in pairs.
Teacher background
What you need to know
Key terms
engineer
a person who designs and builds machines or systems
promise
the one experience a project tells its audience to expect
tavern
a place where people gather to eat and drink
Watch for these misconceptions
✕
Students collect unrelated images or effects without a clear experience. →Pause building until the AUTHOR can state the READER action and payoff in one sentence.
✕
The project keeps expanding before the first interaction works. →Require one complete beginning-action-response loop before any optional additions.
Differentiation & accessibility
Choose the writing support
These are the three support options in the Student Kit. Choose the scaffolds students need while keeping the same project.
High Support
More writing scaffolds
Sentence frames break the response into manageable parts
Supplied words and ideas help students get started
Students still have space to write their responses
Guided Support
A starting point for writing
Task prompts and selected sentence starters
Writing cues and word banks where supplied
Space to develop each response
Independent
Less scaffolding
The same project and required writing tasks
Open response space without the support frames
Students develop their own wording
Accessibility, built inPredictable step-by-step structureOne task at a time · Studio CompassHighlighted response areasLow-stimulation printMovement-friendly pacingDesigned so every student can design, write, and code — with ADHD, autism, and dyslexia in mind.
Questions
Teacher FAQ
Do I — or my students — need to know how to code?
No prior coding knowledge is required to start. Students follow on-screen build steps in Studio. Coding difficulty describes the project's complexity; teachers may still need to help students test and revise. The lesson plan supports teaching, and the Answer Key provides sample writing responses.
How long does this lesson take?
About 0.0, paced into 45-minute class periods. You can spread it out or compress it — students pick up where they left off, so it doesn't have to finish in one sitting.
What devices does this lesson work on?
Use a Chromebook, laptop, desktop or tablet with a modern browser and an internet connection. The project editor does not support phones. Try the build on your class devices before teaching.
What is Studio Compass?
Studio Compass is the step-by-step guide inside the Studio. It shows students what to do next, identifies the exact coding blocks they need, and confirms completed milestones so they can keep moving independently.
How does this lesson support different learners?
The Student Kit has High Support, Guided Support and Independent writing profiles. They change the amount of scaffolding for the same project. Choose a profile in the kit before printing, and use the lesson plan's differentiation suggestions.
Ready when you are
Bring this lesson to your class
Import your class, assign in one click, and watch them build — the whole kit comes with it.
