Scratch

What is Scratch?
toc Scratch is a programming language set up by M.I.T. that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web.

Scratch is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills. As they create and share Scratch projects, young people learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.

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Reasons for Use
 · Something for everyone!  · Can add your own code and programs  · Extensive support, both technical and peer  · Available in over 44 languages!  · Free of charge, easy to download (Send HelpDesk asset tag #’s of the computers you would like to see the Scratch program loaded on.)  · <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; letter-spacing: 0.35pt;">User friendly for younger students and people new to programming <span style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; letter-spacing: 0.35pt;">Applicable for any subject area to create Scratch programs <span style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; letter-spacing: 0.35pt;">Students knowledge, skills and abilities improve with practice <span style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; letter-spacing: 0.35pt;">User can create 'friends' to create and share projects together

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0in;">Ease of Use
<span style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Take one hour of your time and participate in this archived webinar entitled “ [|Learn, Create and Innovate with Scratch] ” which comes with a .pdf resource. <span style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Speak with Scott at Tomahawk to see how he is using Scratch with early years and middle years students.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0in;">Resources
<span style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">1) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; letter-spacing: 0.35pt;">[|Projects] <span style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">2) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; letter-spacing: 0.35pt;">[|Feature Galleries] <span style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">3) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; letter-spacing: 0.35pt;">[|Forums] <span style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">4) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; letter-spacing: 0.35pt;">[|Source Code] <span style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">5) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; letter-spacing: 0.35pt;">[|Scratch wiki] <span style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">6) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; letter-spacing: 0.35pt;">[|After-school Scratch club] <span style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">7) Online Scratch "programming handbook" with lesson plans, basic and more  <span style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">advanced, and video tutorials  <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; font-family: Georgia,serif;">[]  <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;">8) Rated list of sites for learning more about Scratch <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position-x: 100%; background-position-y: 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; cursor: pointer;">[], [] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> This wiki that has a lot of links to help you get started. There are introductory lessons, sample projects, and evaluation rubrics to help teachers in their scoring. One assignment involves classifying animals and their habitats. Students have to choose the correct background, sprite, movements, and other creative story developments for the project. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 9) Free tool offers 'easy' coding - article about why scratch was created and what it allows students to do. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 10) With simplified code, programming becomes child's play - article about the uses of Scratch in the classroom setting. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -0.25in;">11) [|Scratch Tutorials]

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0in;">Examples
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 14.85pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Obviously, the ideas for the classroom are too numerous to list here. Scratch is a site specifically developed to provide ideas for the classroom for children ages 8 and up to develop creativity and other skills. The ideas come from the children with, of course, some direction from the teacher but the possibilities are endless. Here are a few: · <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Animations · <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Simulations · <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Computer games · <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Interactive projects · <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Graphic designs · <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Music projects · <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Storytelling · <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Programming concepts · <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Extend traditional classroom projects · <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Appeals to authentic learning