Scratch

Scratch – program your own interactive stories, games, and animations — and share your creations with others in the online community. Learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively — essential skills for life in the 21st century.

• Web-based – Flash, not on iPad without additional app
• free, login

Scratch and design-based learning

• Scratch – interactive stories, games, and animations — and share your creations
• Remix – starter projects * Dance Party – 5 scripts, 2 sprites – dinosaur and girl (photo), stage, music * Dressup remix – 39 scripts, 10 sprites * When I’m Astro – 48 scripts, 13 sprites
• Game design * play 5 games. What’s the objective? Interaction? Scoring? Fun factor? * storyboard game, break out design elements * assemble and test * get reviewer feedback
• presentation * review 5 stories * storyboard your story * create elements, transitions
• Art – resources, examples
• Scratch Curriculum Guide – Design-based learning is an approach that emphasizes designing (creating things, not just using or interacting with things), personalizing (creating things that are personally meaningful and relevant), collaborating (working with others on creations), and reflecting (reviewing and rethinking one’s creative practices). As such, a design-based approach to learning is particularly well suited to creative computing, and forms the basis for the design of each session described in the Scratch Curriculum Guide.
• Scratch and LEGO WeDo

This is programming?

Video: Scratch 1:37 – overview of Scratch and programming.

Scratch is free program from the MIT Media Lab. Learners of any age create games, tell stories, make animations, and much more. Scratch is entirely web-based. Questions correspond to the steps in the [/Engineering%20Design%20Process Engineering Design Process].

• Ask (What? Ask questions, understand the need, identify the problem, define)
  Q: What sort of presentation are we making? What is the story? How long should the presentation be? How many people are working in the project group?
  Even with a given presentation topic like insects or bullying, there are lots of things to think about and ask.

• Imagine (So what? Imagine, brainstorm, explore, discover)
  Q: What can Scratch do? How did they do that?
  There are 1000s of examples of Scratch creations on the web site. Look through lots of them. See what you like. What looks interesting? Look at the scripts and sprites.

• Plan (Now what? Plan, design)
  Q: What Scratch commands are need for the presentation? How do they work together? What art work is needed?
  Scratch is really a neat way to make many small pieces work together. These are sprites and scripts. Work out all the pieces, and how they will make the final presentation.

• Create (Do it. Create, try it out)
  Q: What pictures are needed? How does the sound enhance the presentation?
  As each sprite and script are developed, test them individually. Then join them together. Do they still work the way the are supposed to?

• Improve (If this then what? Improve, make it better)
  Q: What would improve this presentation? What doesn’t work too well and could be better?

Learn more…

• Scratch video 1:37 – overview of Scratch and programming.
• Scratch – create games, tell stories, make animations, and much more. Scratch is entirely web-based.
• Scratch Curriculum Guide – design-based approach to learning is particularly well suited to creative computing, and forms the basis for the design of each session described in the Scratch Curriculum Guide.