Scratch and Scratch Jr.Bringing Beginning Coding to Kids Using Scratch or Scratch Jr.

Shannon EastepInstructional Designer, Senior Lecturer, Distance Learning

CoordinatorNorthern Kentucky University

Background• There are many benefits to children learning basic coding skills. Children develop logic

skills, sequencing, computational thinking, and problem solving abilities.

• Article “8 reasons Why Kids Should Learn to Code”

• Learning to code makes kids feel empowered, creative, and confident. ~ Susan Wojcicki (CEO, YouTube)

• “To prepare humanity for the next 100 years, we need more of our children to learn computer programming skills, regardless of their future profession. Along with reading andwriting, the ability to program is going to define what an educated person is.” ~ Sal Khan (Khan Academy)

Scratch Jr. Basics

• Scratch Jr runs on both iPads (2 or later and iPad mini), Android tablets, and Chromebooks.

• Designed as a beginning coding tool for young children.

• Kids learn how to use graphical coding blocks to make characters move, talk, and interact with other characters. They can even insert their own voice into the program, design a background and character, and create games.

Scratch Basics

• Scratch runs on any desktop, laptop or Chromebook. It runs through a browser window.

• Designed as a beginning coding tool for kids

• Kids learn how to use graphical coding blocks to make characters move, talk, and interact with other characters. They can even insert their own voice into the program, design a background and character, and create games.

Let’s Jump In!

Scratch Jr. Resources

• Home page: https://www.scratchjr.org/

• Activities and Curriculum: https://www.scratchjr.org/teach/activities

• Beginning Book: “The Official Scratch Jr. Book: Amazon

• Sample Activities and Starter Stories inside of the app

Scratch Resources

• Home page: https://scratch.mit.edu/• Scratch for Educators: https://scratch.mit.edu/educators/• Coding Cards (Beginning Activities): • Starter Projects: https://scratch.mit.edu/starter-projects• Additional Curriculum: https://bootuppd.org/curriculum-3rd-grade-plus/• Beginner Book: “The Everything Kids Scratch Coding Book”: Amazon • Facebook Support Group “Teaching with Scratch”• Differentiated Challenge Cards

Contact information

• Shannon Eastep

• Email: easteps1@nku.edu

• Twitter: @ShannonEastep