DJ Digit

Learn to form the digits 0 to 9 with a song

DJ Digit is a rapping gorilla who teaches how to write each digit. Every digit has its own verse, sung twice while a pencil shows how to write it, then "That's zero! That's zero!" Choose one of four ways to use it from the menu.

Show For the teacher to model a digit on the board. Choose a digit from the strip along the bottom. Press the play button. DJ Digit sings the digit's verse while the pencil writes it twice. Anyone can then write over the digit. Press play again to wipe the writing and watch it again. The writing is never checked in Show.	Try For children to practise on their own. Choose a digit. The ten frame under DJ Digit fills with that many stars. Press play to watch and hear how it is written. When DJ Digit says "Your turn!", trace over the digit, then press the green tick to check it. DJ Digit says what to fix, and a green dot shows where to start. Press the orange arrow to try again.
Assembly The whole song from start to finish, for singing together or performing. The ten digits write in turn, in time with the music, and the words of the chorus come up on the screen. Use the buttons in the bottom right to play, pause or start again. Tick Instrumental to play the music without the voice, so the class can sing it on their own.	All All ten digits writing themselves at the same time, over and over. Leave it on the board as a reminder while the children work.

Settings

• DJ Digit (top of the screen): untick to hide him if he is distracting. His voice still plays.
• Demo ink (top of the screen): untick if you would rather the pencil left no line when it shows how to write a digit.
• Pen buttons (right-hand side): choose the thickness and colour of the children's pen.
• Use the expand button in the top right for full screen.

These settings, and the strictness level, are remembered on this device.

Strictness levels (Try)

Use the 1, 2 and 3 buttons along the top to choose how strictly the children's tracing is checked.

Setting	Level 1 (gentle)	Level 2 (medium)	Level 3 (strict)
How far off the digit's line the writing can be and still count as on it	Very forgiving	Forgiving	Close
How close to the correct start point the child must begin	Very forgiving	Forgiving	Close
Share of the child's line allowed to wander off the digit	25%	15%	8%
How much of each stroke must be traced	70%	80%	90%
Joining a stroke back up after a pen lift	Yes	Yes	No
The two parts of 4 and 5 in the right order	Either order	Must be in order	Must be in order

Song lyrics (© ictgames Ltd)

The words in brackets are for the class to call back.

Five, four, three, two, one… let's go!

Chorus
Hands up high! (Hands up high!)
Fingers ready! (Fingers ready!)
Write in the air! (Write in the air!)
Nice and steady! (Nice and steady!)
Start at the top, that's the rule,
DJ Digit's at our school!

Top, round left, and close it up,
Top, round left, and close it up,
That's zero, that's zero!

Start at the top, go straight on down,
Start at the top, go straight on down,
That's one, that's one!

Over the top, slide down, zoom along,
Over the top, slide down, zoom along,
That's two, that's two!

Round to the middle, round to the floor,
Round to the middle, round to the floor,
That's three, that's three!

Down, across, lift, then down,
Down, across, lift, then down,
That's four, that's four!

Down and round, then a flag on top,
Down and round, then a flag on top,
That's five, that's five!

Curve down, round, and loop back in,
Curve down, round, and loop back in,
That's six, that's six!

Line across, then slide down long,
Line across, then slide down long,
That's seven, that's seven!

Make an S, then climb back up,
Make an S, then climb back up,
That's eight, that's eight!

Round in a ball, then straight line down,
Round in a ball, then straight line down,
That's nine, that's nine!

Have fun!

Thank you to Richard Stibbon for the music and sound production.