technology with intention
Posts tagged Scratch
IF you want fun, THEN Scratch!
1221 days
by Jac de Haan
in 6th Grade
Note to parents: TYPING DELAYED UNTIL NEXT WEEK
This week we got wrapped up in an introduction to programming – there are so many exciting discoveries that the 6th grade voted to delay typing to the week of October 6th.
Scratch is an open-source introduction to programming and animation created by MIT. The interface is drag-and-drop, meaning we don’t have to write the code ourselves and can get right to making stuff happen. Topics covered this week:
- Similarities between Scratch and a stage performance (actors, stage, backgrounds, costumes, scripts)
- If/Then/Else logic statements
- Loops
- Initiation of programs
We also took some time to access and explore personal student network drives and discussed the use of the server to save and access files.
More Boolean
1381 days
by Jac de Haan
in 6th Grade
Taking Boolean operators to the next level this week: students began using AND, OR & NOT in conjunction with IF/THEN/ELSE statements to make complex programs in Scratch. Examples will be posted when projects are complete.
We also took some time to try adding parentheses to our Boolean statements and examine the effects. For example:
(4 + 7) x 3 = 33
4 + (7 x 3) = 25
(ultimate AND hiking) OR softball
ultimate AND (hiking OR softball)
Some students discovered that if there is an “OR” in a statement, then there are 2 conditions that meet criteria. That means that we will have 2 instances (or “x”s) in our Venn diagrams when we use an OR statement.
Boolify.org actually helps you build a Boolean search, although our 6th grade students don’t need the extra assistance any more!
Boolean operators
1387 days
by Jac de Haan
in 6th Grade
Today we began working with Boolean operators, a new concept that ties in nicely with our earlier work on Venn diagrams, sets/subsets and programming.
Isabel defined Boolean operators as “a way of constructing your research question and finding the connections between your research terms. also connection between words and phrases.”
Almost everyone knew the 3 most useful operators: AND, OR, NOT
We solidified our learning with a Boolean worksheet that made all of our brains hurt and then discussed our answers.
Next week we will use Boolean operators to refine search engine requests and also to build a simple program in Scratch.
Scratch Game goes live
1424 days
8th grade student Sinclair just released his first video game, created using Scratch.
Players can choose to play the game in easy, medium or hard mode. Every game gets more difficult as the score increases. Backgrounds change colors, there are sounds when you intersect the goals or obstacles and the baddies move faster the longer you play. Try your hand at, “GAME”:
It’s Scratch Fever!
1480 days
One week back to school and it is official – students love programming! Every break, every free moment in the tech lab involves one or more sessions of Scratch an open-source, totally free introduction to programming games and animations. So far students have used the program to create fractalized art work, tell stories and introduce characters, explore complex logic statements through game creation and are really pushing themselves and others to build the coolest and most imaginative products.
First project by Michael (8th grade)
