Goals & Objectives:

“Animate a Name” will help kids get comfortable with coding. Scratch is an introductory coding language designed to get kids creating, having fun and feeling confident about their coding skills quickly. With just a few blocks and clicks, kids can make a “sprite” (character) dance, talk or come to life in endless ways. Additionally, the computer science concepts used in Scratch can be applied to other advanced programming languages, like Python or Java.

By the end of this activity, kids will:

• be familiar with Scratch, the block–based programming language;
• have learned important computer science concepts like events, sequencing and loops; and
• have created an animation project in Scratch.

Activity Instructions

1. Check out this example project. bit.ly/2M9lE1U
2. Open an internet browser and go to g.co/csfirst/nysdname get started.
3. You will see the Animate a Name activity page. Plug in your headphones if you have them, and watch the introductory video at the top.
4. Open the starter project linked next to the video. This will open Scratch in a new tab. Click the “Remix” button to start your own project. Title your project with the name or word you choose to animate.
5. Then, return to CS First to select an add–on video with a new coding challenge and follow the instructions.
6. If you want to share and save your work, remember to click “Sign in” on the Scratch website. See Lori for a username & password to sign in the NYSD site.