Embedded Files
Scratch is a coding app and site (https://scratch.mit.edu/ ) that allows users to play and experiment with code. All iPads in our school have this app. It is very user friendly and is great for student self-exploration of coding starting as early as Grade 1. Students who have access to the laptops at our school are able to use it by accessing https://scratch.mit.edu/ .
This app and website is also a place that students can learn how to create simple to complex games. Apparently some schools have had students recreated old versions of video games from Super Mario to Pong.
There is also a Teacher Guide that can help you get a better understanding of what this wonderful tool is all about!
https://resources.scratch.mit.edu/www/guides/en/EducatorGuidesAll.pdf
Below is also a part of the Scratch site that has resources for teachers and ideas for lessons.
Google's CS First also has lessons that go with Scratch. https://csfirst.withgoogle.com/s/en/home
What it looks like: App
What it looks like: App
Students have the ability to use pictures to represent their code. The yellow is the beginning of their code or how they want it to start. The blue is for movements/motions. Purple is for the sprite to speak, show itself, hide itself or change size. The green allows students to record a sound and insert it. The orange has tools like a loop (repeats the section of code instead of them having to constantly repeat it), timers and stops, speed settings. The red is the end of the code so that it stops completely or continues to repeat.
Changing the Sprite
Changing the Sprite
If the sprite on the left hand side is tapped the paintbrush option comes up. This allows students to edit or change their sprite.
They can add multiple sprites to their code by tapping the plus sign on the right hand side. There are ones by default that they can add.
Scratch on the Laptop
Scratch on the Laptop
On the website https://scratch.mit.edu/ this is what the website will look like. Instead of the picture symbols for coding, students have the actual block coding sequences to pick from. There are also more to choose from. For students to code in this version of Scratch they need to drag and click them together in a chain sequence. On the right hand side it allows them to see and test run their code with their sprite. In the bottom right corner, they can see the sprites currently used and click on them to edit.
Explore on the website
Explore on the website
Under the Explore tab students can play different student created games and see the code they have used to create the game by clicking "see inside". This is a great way for students to get inspired of how to use code to create different games and how it works for games that they commonly play.
Ideas on the website
Ideas on the website
Under the Ideas tab on the website, there are activity guides that work as tutorials to teach you or your students how to create different things on Scratch. It even provides coding cards that are walk throughs of different activities with step by steps of how to do it. Click below to pull them up.
https://resources.scratch.mit.edu/www/cards/en/scratch-cards-all.pdf
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