Introducing a New Product

An Introduction to

Selwa ShamySomerset County Library SystemBridgewater, NJ

NJLA ConferenceApril 27, 2010

Overview & Objectives

What is Scratch?

Who uses the program?

What skills does Scratch teach?

Organizing a Scratch library program.

Staying Connected with ScratchEd

What is Scratch?

http://scratch.mit.edu/

A programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web.

flickr, Lorri37

Just as hip hop djs scratch by mixing pieces of music together in creative ways, Scratch makes it possible for people to mix graphics, photos, music, sounds, and words into their own unique creations.

Who Uses Scratch?

As of April 13, 2010

481,657 registered members

115,712 project creators

975,638 projects uploaded

18,199,505 scripts

5,932,647 sprites

As of April 27, 2010

493, 201 registered members

120,403 project creators

1,003,462 projects uploaded

18,824,362 scripts

6,084,099 sprites

10 to 20 year olds make up the majority of members with those ages 11 to 16 at the top range.

What skills does Scratch teach?

Mathematical and computational ideas

Creative thinking

Systematic reasoning

Collaboration

Scratch Vocabulary

Block: A color-coded object that contains instructions.

Script: A set of blocks linked together that contain the instructions to make something happen.

Sprite: An object which you control using a script.

Costume: Used to change the way a sprite looks. It could be the same sprite in a different position.

The Basics

Snap blocks together

Make a sprite move, change and say something

Add sound

Change the background

Add another sprite

Basic interactive commands

Building a Script

Creating Animation Using Costumes

A Simple Interactive Game

By You Tube user prappleizerhttp://www.youtube.com/user/prappleizer#p/search/4/2p1ly0A0L9Q

Scratch at the Library

Tried age range 8-10

Ages 10-12 worked better

One hour format

Bring a flash drive or CD to save work

Having teen volunteers helped!

Workshop Format

Explain briefly what you can do with Scratch.

Show a simple project example.

Demonstrate the basics & have them follow along :

Sprites

Blocks

Scripts

Sound

Background

Adding another sprite

Begin making a project!

Teaching a Scratch Workshop

By Karen Brennanhttp://scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/designing-scratch-workshop

Engage in design activities

Pursue personal interests

Interact through creative collaborations

Reflect on experiences

Contact Information

Scratch website:http://scratch.mit.edu

Selwa's email address:sshamy@sclsnj.org

Where to find the presentationwww.slideshare.netScratch Demonstration NJLASearch using the tags scratch njla