Aim

 Clicker 5 is suitable for very early interactions with the computer and it’s easy to make lots of single cell activities from the same basic template.  This activity will show you how to make a simple activity that can be used with a mouse, touch screen, switch, keyboard or interactive whiteboard. 

 We will use some of the images that come with Clicker 5 but if you prefer to use your own photos and pictures then first familiarise yourself with how to do this using the Have a go! Worksheet ‘Clicker 5: Using photos from digital cameras or the Internet’. You will need a microphone for this activity.

  1.  Click on ‘Create New Grid Set’.  Now double click ‘Blanks / Blank Grids / Non-sending’ in the ‘Templates’ folder.  Now click ‘Create’. Click File and Save Grid As. Name your grid ‘Animal c&e’ and save it to your desired location.
  2. Click ‘Edit’ at the top of the screen and select ‘Edit Mode’.  This is a teachers’ mode, within which all the contents and layout of cells can be altered.  You can easily tell if you are in Edit Mode as you will see a floating palette ‘Editing Tools’ on the screen as shown in the picture. 
  3. Clicker 5 edit modeClick on the icon ‘Cell Palette’ on the floating toolbar.  This brings up the ‘Cell Palette window from which you can add many different types of cells to any clicker grid by dragging and dropping them anywhere onto the grid.  Choose one cell from the ‘Simple’ tab and drag/drop it onto the screen as pictured.

 

  1. Now close the Cell Palette by clicking ‘close’.  Move your mouse over the new cell that you have put on the screen.  You will see resizing handles appear around the cell.  Hold down the mouse button on any corner to drag out and enlarge the cell until it fills most of the blue screen.
  2. From the ‘Editing Tools’ palette select ‘Pictures’ and navigate to ‘Animal Life’.  Drag and drop the picture of the duck onto the cell.

 Clicker 5 inserting pictures

  1. The default is for the text to be included as shown but for this activity no text is required.  To remove it move your mouse over the cell and right click.  Select ‘properties’.Clicker 5 cell properties dialogue box
  2. Highlight and delete the text from the textbox and the picture will automatically resize to fill the cell.
  3. To help the student focus on the picture, this example also shows the background colour set to bright yellow.  Click the drop down arrow next to ‘Background Colour’ and choose one that suits the pupil. 
     
  4. Next add some sound by clicking on the ‘Sound & Video’ tab, and choosing ‘Play recorded sound or video’. Click the record button and make a quacking sound into your microphone for a few seconds, then click the stop button’.  You can hear what you have recorded by pressing the play button.  Repeat this until you are happy with your sound effect. Clicker 5 sounds dialogue box

 

  1. When the sound has finished playing a different grid needs to open.  Click the ‘Open Grid’ tab and select the button next to ‘Randomly move to any grid in the sequence’.  Click OK to close the Cell Properties window.
  2. To add more pages you need to open ‘Explorer’ from the ‘Editing Tools’ palette.  In Sequence 1 you can see a thumbnail of the grid you have just created.  Clicker has called this grid ‘nonsending1’.  To create another identical page, click on ‘nonsending1’.  Hold down the control key and drag and drop this page to the right of the original as pictured.  A new grid appears titled ‘nonsending2’.  Repeat this process to create two more pages. Clicker Explorer in edit mode  
  3. Double click ‘nonsending2’ and follow steps 6-10 to replace the duck picture and sound with three more animals and record their sound effects. Once you have the basic template for one page, you can replicate it in this way as many times as you like.  Test your activity by closing out of Edit Mode.  Save your grid set.
  4. Congratulations! You have made a lovely cause and effect activity that can now be tailored to build up your pupils’ understanding of cause and effect.

 If you like this activity it can be downloaded from CENMAC’s section of the Learning Grids website.  Please ask your tutor for more details.  Other guides in this series will show you how to change the appearance of cells, how to add sound, your own pictures, how to add and delete other cells and many more related activities.

Good luck and do send us any cause and effect activities that you make so that we can share all Clicker 5 resources.