Scratch Group for Maryland
There are the activities from prior Scratch Meetups in Maryland
April Highlights:
Thank you to our Scratch Meet-Up crew for coming to our April meeting. We started the meeting by going over some unplugged CS strategies to teach elementary students CT concepts. The unplugged activity was adapted from the CS Unplugged curriculum. We also extended the unplugged activities to other resources available to help students collaborate when coding in an unplugged environment (see the Getting Unstuck curriculum). The second half of the session was dedicatd to discussing Scratch add-ons to add music to Scratch projects and the text-to-speech add-on to create AI. You can see all of the projects and add-ons that we discussed in this PowerPoint. The text-to-speech add-on is a great tool for adding interactivity to a project and helping students understand the program if they are still learning how to read.
Please join us in May for our final Scratch Meet-Up as we discuss all of the topics we have discussed this year and more!
February Highlights:
Thank you to those of you who joined us this month for our Scratch Meet-Up! We had a great time discussing real world applications of Scratch, including physical computing. We learned about add-ons for Scratch such as Makey Makey and Lego WeDo. We also discussed the webcam features of Scratch and the ability for students to act as sprites in their own code! This meet-up ran a little differently and was structured as an opportunity to play around with existing Scratch projects to see these tools in action. We highly recommend checking out the slides from the Meet-Up and exploring everything that Scratch has to offer. As always, there is a list of resources for you to check out and explore to see if any of the real world applications of Scratch might be useful for you and your students.
In addition to physical computing tools, we also talked about what it means to create real world projects in Scratch. Some ideas we came up with were explaining everyday phenomena, connecting personal experiences to computing, and teaching students that coding is all about trial and error and curiosity. If you are interested in learning more about Scratch, especially how to use it when technology is not readily available, please join us for the March Meet-Up!
January Highlights:
Thank you to everyone who joined our January Scratch Meet-Up. We started the new year off by reviewing some Scratch basics such as common blocks used, how to create/edit costumes, and sprite/background features. We also talked about how we could introduce these Scratch features to elementary students and ways that we have done so in the past. Some suggestions were to give students a website where they can review Scratch features or practice using different blocks. Additionally, we went over how to create teacher accounts and classes through Scratch that help to organize student projects. You can create your own teacher account by using this link.
The slides we used for the Meet-Up explain some of the Scratch features that we talked about as well as an activity we worked on together. The activity was a great opportunity for us to get to know one another and figure out ways we could adapt it to match our students' needs. Hopefully some of these resources will be helpful for your own classroom! We are excited for the February workshop and learning ways to connect Scratch to the real world. We hope to see you there!
December Highlights:
Thank you to all of the Maryland Scratchers who joined us for the December Scratch Meet-Up. The December Meet-Up was focused on connecting Scratch learning to world language learning and literacy. We had a great time reviewing Scratch's language and translation features and features that support literacy development and designing personal projects that highlighted a language or country that we each feel connected to personally. We also talked about other future projects to try such as having students create their own book on Scratch and having them practice reading aloud each page using the record/sound block. This resource also provides a lot of fun ways to engage elementary students in Scratch activities/projects that promote their literacy development. The PowerPoint for the Meet-Up can be accessed here. For this Meet-Up, and all Meet-Up's to come, we plan to continue using the TIPP/SEE approach designed by Scratch Encore to become more familiar with the Scratch platform and to teach students how to do the same.
Given feedback that everyone provided on this Padlet, we have scheduled the next set of meetings/topics for the winter and spring. These meetings will be a great opportunity to refresh your Scratch knowledge, learn how to use Scratch when technology may not always be available for your students, and build Scratch projects that are real-world applicable. We hope to see you all at our 2022 meetings!
November Highlights:
Thank you to everyone who participated in our Scratch Meet-Up this month! We want to extend a special thank you to Chuck Trautwein for taking the time to speak to our group about how he uses Scratch to teach mathematics to K-8 students. He taught us how to program Scratch the cat to build number lines, design interactive math games for students, create multiplication tables, and more! All of the different projects that he shared with us can be accessed here. He was also gracious enough to share his presentation on how to use Scratch to teach math. We learned so much from his presentation and, most importantly, we discussed that all students can learn math concepts through Scratch if given the right scaffolding.
In addition to Chuck's presentation, we also started a Scratch Tip of the Month where we expand on a helpful resource or teaching approach to integrating Scratch in the classroom. This month, we talked about the TIPP/SEE approach from the Scratch Encore curriculum. The TIPP/SEE approach is a helpful way for teaching students how to navigate and understand Scratch projects. For additional resources on Scratch or Scratch + Math, you can explore the slides for November's Meet-Up.
October Highlights:
Thanks to everyone who joined us for the October Scratch Meet-Up! It is very exciting to see our Maryland Scratch community continue to grow into a group of teachers who support each other and share creative Scratch project ideas. This month, we focused on using storytelling features of Scratch to teach scientific phenomena and to show student thinking of scientific concepts. We had a great time discussing how different scientific ideas could be expressed using Scratch (see our JamBoard!) and crafting our own Scratch stories about plant growth. We specifically used this resource from Digital Promise to map out our scientific thinking and to structure our plant stories. Building on what we learned about Computational Thinking (CT) during our September Meet-Up, we noticed that our storytelling process engaged various CT concepts such as decomposing the parts of the story, abstracting the information most important to telling the story, and drafting algorithms to express our stories in Scratch.
During this Scratch Meet-Up, we were able to see how Scratch storytelling can be a powerful way to bring student identities into scientific thinking and be a helpful way to make students' scientific thinking visible. We even learned a little more science about plants during the meeting! The slides from the October Meet-Up can be accessed here. In these slides, you will see what resources we used to build our science stories and have access to various resources connecting science with Scratch. We also are brainstorming ideas for what topics to discuss in the winter and spring of 2022 and recommend filling out this padlet to share your ideas!
September Highlights:
Thank you to everyone who showed up for our first Scratch Meet-Up of the year! We had a great time meeting each other and learning a little bit more about how Maryland teachers are using Scratch in their classrooms. The presentation from our first meeting can be found here. This presentation includes images, additional resources, and activities that anyone can use to learn more about Scratch, computational thinking (CT), and the relationship between the two.
During this session, we learned about different ways that Scratch can be used to support student development of CT skills. We first defined what CT might look like and how it can be taught. We then thought about ways that we can connect CT with Scratch. We had a lot of fun practicing CT by writing out step-by-step instructions on how to complete daily activities (like making toast!) and figuring out ways the steps could be represented as Scratch blocks. You can learn more about CT by checking out this CT resource from Harvard and this CT lesson organizer. These resources help explain CT and how it connects to Scratch-centered learning. They also provide additional resources that educators can use in their classrooms.
We are excited to see our Maryland Scratch group grow and to hopefully meet new teachers in the next meetings to come!
2020-2021
May Highlights:
Thanks to everyone who has joined us this year for Scratch Meet-ups! It has been great to work with this community and support Scratch in Maryland! This month, we continued our focus on how to integrate Scratch more equitably within the classroom with a focus on differentiating Scratch learning. The presentation for this month can be found here. We discussed how everyone has a jagged learning profile and how to use Universal Design for Learning to support learners within the classroom. If you are interested in how to use UDL in your computing classroom or activities, check out this TACTICal Teaching Brief on Helpful Strategies for Utilizing the Universal Design for Learning Framework in Computer Science Education. As always, the presentation has many other resources and information that you can check out and use!
We are taking a break from our meet-ups this summer, but make sure to check out summer 2021 professional development opportunities with MCCE including sessions on Scratch programming. We look forward to seeing you in September for another year of Scratch meet-ups!
April Highlights:
Thanks to everyone who joined our meet-up at the new time! We are so glad that more teachers were able to join and we greatly enjoyed our conversation! This month, we focused on how to integrate Scratch more equitably within the classroom with a focus on emerging bilingual students. The presentation for this month can be found here. We discussed the research article “The role of translanguaging in computational literacies: Documenting middle school bilinguals’ practices in computer science” by Sara Vogel and her colleagues. The article highlights ways that students use translanguaging to support their use of Scratch and learning computational thinking. If you want to learn more about translanguaging, check out the CSTA Inclusive Teaching Pedagogies website!
This month we also explored using Scratch in a language other than our own first languages and how to support students to do so including changing the language of the Scratch programming environment adding translation blocks for any text in the project. The presentation has lots of information and resources, so make sure to check it out!
March Highlights:
Thanks to our small but mighty group of teachers who joined us for the March meet-up! The presentation for this month can be found here. This month, we focused on how to integrate Scratch and CS more equitably within the classroom. We discussed the research article “Engaging Equity Pedagogies in Computer Science Learning Environments” by Madkins, Howard, and Freed. Use the linked title to access and download this article for free! It was written with teachers in mind and has some great information for having a more equitable CS classroom. The presentation also has an overview of the article and information for teachers about what equity pedagogies in CS can look like. As always, there are lots of other resources for teachers in the presentation, so make sure to check it out!
February Highlights:
Thanks to everyone who joined our February meet-up! I know it is a busy time to year and a lot of schools are transitioning between learning modalities, so it was great to catch-up with those of you who were able to be here! The presentation for the month can be found here.
This month we talked about integrating Scratch into math classes. We talked about synergies between math and Scratch and some example projects showing them: coordinate grids, drawing geometric shapes, angles and properties of shapes, and formulas like area, perimeter, and volume. To make sure everyone has the skills to use Scratch in math, we talked about how to use operators, variables, and the pen tool. We also discussed the benefits of giving students starter projects like these ones. The presentation has lots of resources for the classroom, so make sure to check them out.
January Highlights:
Thanks to everyone who joined us for the January meet-up! It was great to meet some new Maryland Scratchers and to catch-up with those of you who have been coming for a few months! The presentation for the month can be found here.
This month we talked about integrating Scratch into ELA classes. Tim Dixon, a PGCPS teacher, shared his experiences integrating Scratch into RELA classes and ideas that he has used. We also created a Jamboard brainstorming the skills students need to write a story in Scratch and ideas for integration. A few resource options include: the Scratch Story Guide, Common Sense Media’s article on using Scratch for Digital Storytelling, the Google CS First Storytelling activities, and the ScratchEd posting about Scratch and Literacy.
We ended our time by creating our own stories using a Scratch Sprite & Backdrop Randomizer. This Scratch project starts with a blank backdrop and two question marks, but when you click “Pick” it will randomly select a backdrop and two sprites. Students can use this to do a quick write or get ideas to create stories in Scratch!
December Highlights:
Since our December meetup would have occurred in the middle of winter break, this month’s meetup comes by way of some Scratch resources! Below are some great Scratch curricula and lessons that you can use in your classroom (there are even some winter activities at the end if you are looking for a pre-winter break Scratch idea!).
Need a place to start? Scratch provides some basic getting started resources. Try giving students a Scratch Coding Card or a Starter Project to get them thinking.
Looking for something more long-term? You might have probably heard about Google CS First and maybe you have used it to teach Scratch in your classroom. CS First is great for allowing students to move through the curriculum on their own, but many teachers have asked for more! If you are looking for other tools and curricula, check some of these out!
ECSNet
ECSNet is a Maryland database of computing resources. There is now a special part of ECSNet that is focused specifically on Scratch Lessons. From this report you can view all of the Scratch lessons that are available in the database by rating, grade level, or whether the lesson is integrated into a subject area! A huge thanks to Kathy Benson for putting this together!
Curricula
Scratch Act 1 (Grades 3 & 4)
Scratch Encore (Grades 5-8)
CT and Math [Scratch integration in Math] (Grades 1-5)
Action Fractions [Scratch integration in Math] (Grades 3 & 4)
SFUSD's CS curriculum (Grades 3-5)
Lessons/Lesson Sets
ScratchEd Resources (lots of lessons from teachers around the world)
Need some integration inspiration? Check out this list of Scratch Projects Across the Curriculum compiled by the Scratch Ed Team
As you are getting started, check out these CS Teaching Tips for teaching with Scratch. Interested in creating a more equitable computing classroom? There are also Teaching Tips for Reducing Bias and Inclusivity.
Have you seen the CSTA CS Ed Week website? Check out their lesson ideas. They also created an AWESOME set of posters (or trading cards?) with some incredible CS Social Justice advocates and inspirational computer scientists to look up to.
Need an activity before Winter Break?
Create Winter Themed Scratch Games with these Tutorials (and starter projects) from Raspberry Pi:
Scratch Cat Skiing Game: https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/projects/scratch-cat-goes-skiing
Snowball Fight: https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/projects/snowball-fight
Ugly Christmas Sweater Memory Game: https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/projects/jazzy-jumpers
Use the pen tool to draw snowflakes by coding! Need some ideas? Check out this teacher's tutorial or this Medium blog post with some directions
Create a holiday card using this tutorial from Scratch Ed.
Have students create an animation telling about their family's holiday traditions. Make sure to purposefully include students who might not celebrate Christmas. If students' families don't celebrate holidays in December (or they prefer a non-December holiday), have them pick your favorite holiday to celebrate with your family or their family's most important holiday. This is a great opportunity for students to learn about holidays from different cultures that their peers celebrate!
Hopefully these resources are helpful now and in the coming months!
November Highlights:
Thanks for joining us for our November meet-up! This month we focused on integrating Scratch and computational thinking into science! The presentation for the month can be found here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1B6uwqmF8zcYWLdqUzI8WlG450DrJ3LxO99G90fcfdGY/edit?usp=sharing.
Kelly Mills (a native Marylander!) from Digital Promise shared the Computational Thinking for Next Generation Science Toolkit that she developed in collaboration with school districts across the country. The toolkit showcases “Look Fors” and resources for teachers to integrate all computational thinking practices including algorithms (with Scratch!). If you want to watch the 15 minute presentation she gave, you can find it here.
After her presentation, we brainstormed ways that teachers could integrate Scratch into their science classrooms in the next month. For example, we discussed students making illustrations or models of the food web.
We won’t be meeting during the month of December because of winter break, but we will see you at our meet-up in January! In the meantime, keep your eye here and on your email where we will be sharing Scratch resources for you and your classroom!
As a bonus, here are some Thanksgiving themed Scratch ideas:
Use this template to create a Turkey and Feather game. Here is a video walkthrough of how to create one game, but students could also create their own variation.
Have students create a project sharing a family recipe that they cook each year for Thanksgiving. You will be amazed at the variety of foods families eat for the holiday!
Teaching Scratch Encore? Modify the create project instructions for the Module 1 create project to tell about a person students are grateful for or wish they could see this socially distanced Thanksgiving. If you are on Module 2, one of the create prompts is already to share about students' favorite holiday!
Have students create a visual gratitude journal: Each day for a week have students write down something they are grateful for. Then, they can create a project showing the things they are grateful for. Encourage students to use speech bubbles, speech to text, or recordings to share about what they are grateful for and make sure their items don't just sit still on the screen, they can be animated! Students can share their projects with their families before Thanksgiving dinner!
Draw a Thanksgiving Food - Add the pen tool from the more blocks section located at the bottom left of the Scratch screen and have students write a program that draws a Thanksgiving food!
October Highlights:
Thanks to everyone who joined us for the October meet-up! We had some great conversations about how Maryland teachers are currently using Scratch and how we can work together to overcome challenges people are facing.
The focus this month was on getting started with Scratch and resources for use in your classroom. The presentation for the month has a lot of links and can be found here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xmztOJaFAl8N3203MOHvB8VljGfE9znact6kf1r0DXA/edit?usp=sharing.
A few highlights:
Make sure to sign up for a Scratch Educator account at https://scratch.mit.edu/educators/register. Once you have an educator account you can create classes and accounts for your students!
One thing teachers have been struggling with is how to use Scratch on mobile devices. We talked about some workarounds to not having all events available for students working on mobile devices. Think about having students remix this project to use the provided on-screen buttons: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/284854162/. There are also other resources in the presentation!
Look into the presentation for resources on pages to follow on Facebook and Twitter, teacher groups, and lesson ideas!
We also had fun making projects using the Scratchtober prompt “Upside down.” Check out prompts for the rest of the month at: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/433242236/.
We voted on a new meeting date for November/December which will be announced soon. Stay tuned for details!
September Highlights:
Thanks to everyone who joined us for the September meet-up! It was great to meet some Marylanders who are excited about incorporating Scratch into their classrooms!
Looking for some quick project ideas? We spent part of the meet-up exploring sensing blocks in Scratch using an idea from The Getting Unstuck Archive. Check out our projects in this studio and try out some of these quick project ideas in your classroom!