Do the clap-stamp pattern yourself once, then invite the class to join in. Ask: which bit keeps coming back? Accept answers such as clap-stamp or the whole two-beat chunk.

Keep this beat light. Do not hand out step-cards or name the vocabulary table yet. Those come next.

STEM eyes: link briefly to everyday repeats the children already know, such as a chorus in a song, a skipping rhyme, or the pattern on a knitted scarf.

Model the full cycle live before the groups work. Use the class clap pattern so every child can see and hear it. Name repeat and bug as the words pupils will say and record. Treat decompose (breaking a big job into small steps) as your adult teaching word for what you model; do not put it on the board or ask 2nd Class to memorise it.

Default 5-minute path (do this):

1. Write or lay three clap cards and three stamp cards in order (clap, stamp, clap, stamp, clap, stamp).
2. Circle the clap-stamp pair and name it the repeat.
3. Swap one stamp card for a jump. Run it. Name the jump a bug, then put stamp back.

Show one idea at a time with a quick acted beat. First show the ordered steps. Then circle the repeat. Then swap in one wrong step and name it a bug.

Misconception to head off: children may think a bug means the person is silly. A bug is a mistake in the steps, not in the person. Fixing it is the clever part.

If time allows (optional): run the fuller worked-model script below, and ask where else they have seen a pattern that repeats (music, knitting, playground games, border patterns).

Teacher vocabulary only (not for the board): Decompose — break a big job into small steps you can follow one by one. Example: tidying the cloakroom becomes pick up coats, hang coats, pick up bags, put bags on hooks.

Optional worked model (say the beats out loud if time allows):

• I wonder: Can I write the steps for our clap-stamp pattern so someone else could do it?
• I predict: I think the pattern is two steps that keep looping.
• I test: Write the cards: 1 clap, 2 stamp, 3 clap, 4 stamp, 5 clap, 6 stamp. Circle cards 1–2 as the repeat and say we do that part three times.
• I observed: When I follow the cards, the class matches me. When I swap card 4 for a jump, the pattern breaks and everyone notices.
• I think: The jump is a bug. Putting stamp back on card 4 fixes the sequence.

Before the lesson

Print the provided step-card sets (one set per group). Cut along the card lines. Clear a little floor space if groups will act the dance or tidy sequence.

Card sets (print these texts exactly on the provided cut-out sheets)

Set A — Class dance

• Card 1 — Step: Step forward once.
• Card 2 — Step: Clap twice.
• Card 3 — Step: Step forward once.
• Card 4 — Step: Clap twice.
• Card 5 — Step: Step forward once.
• Card 6 — Step: Clap twice.
• Card 7 — Step: Freeze and smile.

The repeat is step forward once, clap twice (cards 1–2, done three times). Freeze and smile happens once at the end.

Set B — Repeating border pattern

• Card 1 — Step: Draw a red square.
• Card 2 — Step: Draw a blue triangle.
• Card 3 — Step: Draw a red square.
• Card 4 — Step: Draw a blue triangle.
• Card 5 — Step: Draw a red square.
• Card 6 — Step: Draw a blue triangle.
• Card 7 — Step: Draw a yellow star at the end.

The repeat is red square, blue triangle. The yellow star is a one-off finish.

Set C — Tidying the room

• Card 1 — Step: Pick up one book from the floor.
• Card 2 — Step: Put the book on the shelf.
• Card 3 — Step: Pick up one book from the floor.
• Card 4 — Step: Put the book on the shelf.
• Card 5 — Step: Pick up one book from the floor.
• Card 6 — Step: Put the book on the shelf.
• Card 7 — Step: Push the chairs in.

The repeat is pick up one book, put it on the shelf. Push the chairs in happens once.

Teacher aside for Set C: We are pretending there are only three books so the repeat is easy to see. Real tidy-up would loop until the floor is clear.

During the activity

Give each group one set already shuffled. Groups order the cards, then draw a loop or circle around the repeating part with a crayon. One child from the group may act the sequence while the others check the cards. Pupils are sequencing and spotting the repeat from given cards; you modelled breaking the job into steps in the previous beat.

Key questions: Which steps come back again and again? Which step happens only once? Could you say the job shorter by saying do this part three times?

Differentiation: support groups by laying the first and last card for them. Stretch groups by asking them to rewrite the sequence as do [this part] three times, then [finish].

Handoff to step 4: when time is up, ask groups to leave their clean ordered strip to one side (or stack it). You will hand each group a separate ready buggy pack next.

Facilitation handoff: groups set their clean ordered strip aside. Hand each group a ready buggy set (seven cards with one bug already in place) plus the matching correct replacement card. Every group starts the run-find-fix cycle together. Do not rely on groups looking away while you swap cards across the room.

Ready buggy sets (print these texts exactly on the provided cut-out sheets)

Set A buggy — Class dance (one Clap twice card replaced):

• Card 1 — Step: Step forward once.
• Card 2 — Step: Clap twice.
• Card 3 — Step: Step forward once.
• Card 4 — Bug: Jump once.
• Card 5 — Step: Step forward once.
• Card 6 — Step: Clap twice.
• Card 7 — Step: Freeze and smile.

Fix card A: Card — Fix: Clap twice. (Swap this in for the Jump once bug.)

Set B buggy — Border pattern (one Draw a blue triangle card replaced):

• Card 1 — Step: Draw a red square.
• Card 2 — Step: Draw a blue triangle.
• Card 3 — Step: Draw a red square.
• Card 4 — Bug: Draw a green circle.
• Card 5 — Step: Draw a red square.
• Card 6 — Step: Draw a blue triangle.
• Card 7 — Step: Draw a yellow star at the end.

Fix card B: Card — Fix: Draw a blue triangle. (Swap this in for the green circle bug.)

Set C buggy — Tidying the room (one Put the book on the shelf card replaced):

• Card 1 — Step: Pick up one book from the floor.
• Card 2 — Step: Put the book on the shelf.
• Card 3 — Step: Pick up one book from the floor.
• Card 4 — Bug: Put the book under the chair.
• Card 5 — Step: Pick up one book from the floor.
• Card 6 — Step: Put the book on the shelf.
• Card 7 — Step: Push the chairs in.

Fix card C: Card — Fix: Put the book on the shelf. (Swap this in for the under-the-chair bug.)

Worked fix (model with one group if needed): Act the buggy dance. Pause when it feels wrong. Ask the class: which card broke the pattern? Swap the bug card for the correct step. Run it again and confirm the fix.

Look-fors: children name the wrong step, say why it is wrong, and put the correct card back. Praise the fix, not who made the mistake.

Key questions: What did you expect to happen? What happened instead? Which card was the bug? How do you know the fix works?

Pupils record on the paper Investigation Journal page. Keep the default ask short for 2nd Class stamina:

• the repeat we circled (name or stick that part)
• the bug
• the fix

Full seven-step copy is optional extension or a later homework noticing task, not the default in this five-minute slot.

Circulate and ask one child per group to read their bug-and-fix sentence aloud. No typed responses.

If a group is stuck, let them stick or copy three key cards only: start of the repeat, the bug card, and the fixed card.