Hard+Fun+with+Scratch!



"Kat, I'm not //**programming**//...I'm just telling a story!" ~ C.C., grade 7

"Anyone can program, and Scratch makes it fun!." ~ M.T., grade 6

What is Scratch?
First of all, it's **NOT** hard.

Scratch is a free programming language created for students by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. It was designed to make it easy for kids to create their own interactive stories, animations and, games and then share their creations on the web. As young people create and share Scratch projects, they learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.

media type="custom" key="10498452"

**Why Scratch?**
 * supports several 21st century learning skills in 3 areas: []
 * the intuitive drag and drop interface enables students to get involved in programming at an early age.
 * encourages both creativity and critical-thinking skills.
 * introduces students to an open-source model of collaboration.
 * fully supported with many online resources.
 * available for all operating systems
 * it's free!

**In this session** During the Minds on Media session, you'll be able to play with Scratch and see first-hand just how easy and engaging it is. We'll look at some examples of student work and discuss lesson plans and cross-curricular applications. Note: I will have some USB keys with the installation files on them for the session, but it's best if you pre-install the program on your laptop.

**Download**
 * [|for Mac, Windows and Ubuntu]
 * [|Network Installation Instructions]

**Resources** Printables Online
 * [|Scratch Cards]
 * [|Getting Started guide]
 * [|Scratch Reference Guide] (both as online and downloadable pdf)
 * [|LearnScratch.org]: has 3 courses (Introductory, Intermediate and Comprehensive) that each include lesson plans and video tutorials. They will also send a dvd of all the video tutorials upon request if you have connectivity issues.
 * Scratch [|Forums]and [|FAQ]
 * [|ScratchED Teacher Portal]
 * [|Scratch Wiki]
 * [|Scratch Resources]: Downloadable sprites, sounds, backgrounds and scripts created and shared by Scratchers

**Questions?** Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or want to know more about how I use Scratch in my classes.

Kat Goodale Email: kat@lindenschool.ca or kat@katgoodale.com Twitter: [|@katgoodale]