Scratch
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#1 2009-06-16 07:00:22
- The_wagster
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2009-06-16
- Posts: 2
Scratch in Education
I am currently taking part in the student associates scheme at a school in Southampton and I am working on my project. I have been looking into using Scratch to teach the pupils some basic programming skills, as the school I am working at is interested in developing this in the future.
It would be appreciated it if you could give me any idea about how to traial scratch in a classroom enviroment, and how a lesson can be planned particulaly in the area of small games development for exaple packman.
Also it would be good to get any feedback or lesson plans if anyone is willing to share these.
Thank you
Last edited by The_wagster (2009-06-16 07:00:34)
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#3 2009-06-17 07:51:26
Re: Scratch in Education
What age group are you teaching?
I would likely approach this based on the national curricular ICT requirements for the given age group.
For example at KS2 I would substitute scratch for the "control sytems" element, which in the past has used LOG, not because LOGO is particularly good but purely because it is what schools had...
Scratch allows you to carry out the same excercises but its block based nature means that children with lower ability in writing (specifically spelling) are not handicapped by having to spell commands correctly, similarly children whose typing is not as swift are able to perform at an equal level with others, meaning that you can assess their performance based purely on the lesson criteria of building a block of commands to carry out a certain task without there performance being affected by these other factors.
Web-spinning Spider: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Mayhem/18456
3D Dungeon Adventure: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Mayhem/23570
Starfighter X: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Mayhem/21825
Wandering Knight: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Mayhem/28484
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#4 2009-06-17 13:19:15
- The_wagster
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2009-06-16
- Posts: 2
Re: Scratch in Education
Hi thanks for your help, I have only just started playing around with scratch but ive been programming for years so the logic behind the programmes is fairly easy to get to grips with, im just not sure how to explain it to others yet.
The age group its being aimed at is years 7-8 so replacing the control systems makes sense, thanks
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#5 2009-06-17 15:36:19
Re: Scratch in Education
There is a link on these very forums to a set of LOGO style projects to be completed with Scratch.
Another option is an integrated animation project - write a script in literacy and animate the story in scratch.
Web-spinning Spider: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Mayhem/18456
3D Dungeon Adventure: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Mayhem/23570
Starfighter X: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Mayhem/21825
Wandering Knight: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Mayhem/28484
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