I was just informed about Scratch’s new ‘big nbrother’ called Panther. Apparently made by major Scratch users and contains code blocks missing from Scratch. I haven’t checked it out yet but would love to hear feedback.
If you’ve been here before you know what Scratch is and its benefits. I was just informed about a Scratch app which plays Scratch projects on the Ipod.
This will interest my students. It also gives me more support to argue for a class set of Ipod Touches 
.
If you are new here, Scratch is a drag and drop programming platform in which you can create animations, video games or screen savers. Due to its drag and drop component, no need to worry about syntax errors. Yes, logical errors may arise but this gives our students opportunities for critical thinking.
Now we can develop together on the SMARTBoard as well as locally on our Ipods!!
I have mentioned Scratch before. It is a programming platform used to create screen savers, animations, video games etc.
Today I had an “AH HA” moment when modeling procedural writing. We were looking at exemplars from the OWA book.
The level 2 exemplar discussed Dodgeball. More specifically how to be out or get someone out. One of the steps said to throw the ball at an opponent. Following this step was a mention that if the catcher catches the ball the thrower is out. If it is fumbled, the catcher is out.
Many hands went up in my classroom. Many connections were made to Scratch and computer programming. On a teachable moment whim I asked for an oral algorithm for this step. This was one student’s response.
If (catcher catches) thrower is out;
Else (catcher fumbles) catcher is out;
Talk about worldly connections with procedural writing. I then prompted for other worldly examples.
Monopoly:
If (rolls doubles) Go Again;
Else next players turn;
Wow, I am impressed.
We went one step further and looked at a piece of writing about playing Hide and Seek. Step 5 from this example says the first person tagged is “it” and the game starts over. Again, many raised hands – “THATS A LOOP!”
Wow, I am impressed.
So now I see a clearer link between procedural writing and computer programming, specifically Scratch for this age group (grades 7 and 8), though it could be applied whether teaching in grammar schools or online colleges. Cut and dry procedures are easy to write. Make a sandwich. Ask for money, etc. Procedures with conditions are more difficult.
The next time you ask your students to write a procedure to make a sandwich, have them pause and consider the case of frozen bread.
On a side note, Scratch allowed for a mini lesson in boolean logic today. I now have a student in grade 7 using OR and AND operators and understanding the differences between them.
Thanks again, MIT!
Yesterday I had the opportunity to show some Scratch projects my students have been working on to our area enrichment person. This person is someone I highly respect and actually sort of owe my job to. A few years back I supply taught in her room and she passed my name around. Not before long I was assigned an LTO contract in her school.
Now I have since changed schools and she is no longer in the classroom but our relationship is much the same; very techie, geeky, and for the most part – online.
My students loved bragging about their homemade video games and the response was positive. Scratch will now be used at the final core enrichment workshop in March. It is very high order thinking and very much procedural writing.
On a side note, and interesting idea was suggested that I brushed off until my drive home yesterday. Why CAT test when the DRA is a focus for instruction. I was left thinking about this one…..
Pro or con: Most interested students are boys for my computer club Scratch project.
Is this a good thing if we are targeting them in writing?
A few details from my current Scratch project at school.
- Very “social” students are choosing to work on it during the breaks instead of going outside – almost like its a hobby because there is no official deadline.
- Many members of my computer club and working on their projects at home on a daily basis. They are always saving their latest work to a flash drive to transport back and forth.
- They are so excited that most of my mornings are spent previewing what the student did the night before.
- Students who didn’t understand the Cartesian Plan get it now.
- Students who didn’t understand 360 degrees in a rotation get it now.
- Maybe its a retro trend but most students are re creating Atari games – PONG!
- Students now understand that procedural writing could have conditions (IF bread is thawed -> make a sandwich. Else -> thaw bread). Board games (IF roll a 6 -> some event)
- Many of my hands on learners are flying.
- Many of my less confident students are now the “goto” people for debugging issues.
- My students understand the difference between a syntax error and a logical error.
- Everyone one of them has downloaded SCRATCH at home and some even share their projects with the online Scracth community. Huge collaborative piece. They download and learn someone elses program and in term share their own back. Future students may do collaborative SCRATCH projects with neighbouring schools. Something for me to ponder.
- Kids are programming cheat codes to manipulate variables in their games. Certain key combinations are triggering specific events that only the author knows…
Many of you have asked about Scratch. Download it and poke around. Younger grades can bounce balls and create “Screen Savers” before moving on to video games. Remember it is a process. Junior grades have expressed frustrations because they were exposed to heavy video games initially. Baby steps on this one. Start with a simple animation and move on to keyboard control of objects. Don’t “wow” your students with a Mario game that you have downloaded. Many of those projects are created by adults and senior programmers. The kids will eventually see these games as they continue the learning process and begin to explore the online Scatch community.
Scratch.mit.edu
Well, its goodbye to Narrative writing and hello to Procedural. I have decided that my intermediate students are beyond the “make a sandwich and write a how-to” so we are going to use Scratch and Animoto.
However, before anything gets published I may have them copy their text into Wordle and print some fancy art in white and black. Next I may have them colour all the nouns red, verbs blue etc. I would use this as a diagnostic piece. We don’t do much in terms of word study with our writing framework so it would be nice to see some grammar pieces. We may also do it as a class on the SMART Board
How do you use Wordle?
I have decided that for procedural writing, it might be better to have my students write computer algorithms instead of step by step instructions on how to do something like make a sandwich. They understand that a procedure is a series of finite steps used to complete a task. Well, so is an algorithm. The only key differences might be that there are rules at each step in the series. Maybe there is a loop and you can’t leave step 4 until a condition is true or false. Maybe step 7 tells you to repeat step 4 until another condition occurs.
I think computer algorithms are the perfect next steps for any kid who really gets procedural writing. This is where Scratch comes in from MIT. Using the software, students can drag code snippets into linking blocks to create algorithms. Each sprite on the screen can have an algorithm applied to it to animate. I’ve seen High School students re-create the first level of the NES version of Mario Bros. from 1985. It was very well done.
Now my students are not senior computer science majors so I am going to have them create a Pong-like game of table tennis. This game will also include a huge math component with angles etc. Some of the stronger kids will create 2 player versions with loading screens while other modified kids might just create 1 player versions without any loaders.
You don’t have to use Scratch to create games, it can also be used to create video animations or stories, which might also be useful for narrative writing. Heck, kids could event recount or persuade their audiences through Scratch animations.
Link: http://scratch.mit.edu/
Yesterday I was fortunate enough to attend (with 9 students) a Computer Science workshop at a nearby high school. The topic was re-creating the classic Super Mario Bros. video game using the software Scratch provided by MIT. This program is so simple to use. You click and drag code snippets and apply them to objects on the screen. By the end of the day, my grade 7 students had created a Mario Bros. level where Mario runs in both directions, jumps and collects coins. It even had sound! I honestly had never heard of Scratch but can see its potential for Computer Science students at the intermediate level.
Since the code snippets are built it, you will never have a syntax error, as far aas I could tell. Logical errors still exist (infitie loops, conditions never true or false) so you could develop some mighty fine problem solvers in your students.
It also has a paint program built in for creating game backgrounds and characters.
I highly recommend this program. The level of interest was incredibly high and it is very simple to use, with practice. Why not have groups of students developing small video games in the computer lab. You can import artwork as well as create it in the program. My computer club will definately be taking on a project before the year ends.
Tomorrow I am taking 9 students to a nearby high school for a Mario From Scratch Computer Science Workshop. I’m not completely sure on the details but it should be fun nonetheless. At least there is lunch!!
More details to follow.
