Scratch-ing the Itch
Scratch is a project of the MIT Media Lab Lifelong Kindergarten Group and was designed as a programming environment for kids 8-16 years old. Scratch can be used to program games, stories, animations, and more. Scratch also has an online community where creations can be shared.
Why Coding?
Want students to learn problem solving and critical thinking skills?
Try Coding!
Want to let students be creative in the ways they demonstrate curricular knowledge or express themselves?
Try Coding!
Want students to be engaged in what they are doing?
Try Coding!
Why Scratch?
- It's free!
- Open-ended - easy to start but can create complex programs.
- Can be used to demonstrate knowledge in almost any curricular area.
- Easy to connect with other educators using Scratch on the ScratchEd Community, Scratch in Practice, on Twitter, on the Scratch website, etc.
- Did I mention, it's free!
If you're interested in the full video that the clip above came from, you can find it here. Another great video with Mitch Resnick is about Coding as the New Literacy.
More Resources:
- Scratch Teacher Accounts
- Educator Guides available for Scratch Cards. Check out some ideas to adapt these to curricular areas.
- Scratch Video Tutorials
- ScratchEd Resources including the Scratch Curriculum Guide
- Google CS First has "clubs" available based on real-world themes each with about 10 hours of lessons and activities.
- An Educator's Guide to Scratch Programming
- Code Campus - Learn to code for free and get some lesson plans, as well.
- edX Programming in Scratch Course - Course designed for middle school students but great information and an easy way to learn Scratch.
About This Site:
This site was created for use in workshops for educators by Vicky Sedgwick. If you have any questions or comments, please contact Vicky:
- Twitter: @visionsbyvicky
- Email: visionsbyvicky@gmail.com
- Website: www.visionsbyvicky.com