Ideas from the Computing classroom: Coding

Scratch Primary Progression

14:53 JEcomputing 1 Comments Category : Coding , Computational Thinking , Computing curriculum , Scratch , Scratch Jnr

Note: This post is best read through a desktop computer rather than a mobile device. This will enable you to view the Scratch projects.

Scratch is probably the most effective and commonly used programming software used in Primary schools. If you haven’t come across Scratch, it is basically a visual programming language, used to easily create games, animations and simulations. The range of things that you can do with Scratch is immense and provides an ideal stepping stone to the more advanced world of computer programming.

You can download various versions of the software or access Scratch 2.0 online, through a web browser such as Google Chrome or Firefox. I have pupils creating their projects through the online version and they then save them to our generic account. However, I would ideally recommend pupils creating their own, individual accounts. This could either be done with their parents at home or with you in class. If your pupils don't have their own email address, you could use one class Gmail address to create your pupils' accounts. This video shows you how. As always, ensure that you have gained necessary parental consent before you create any online accounts for pupils though. Also, bear in mind that if you are using a shared Scratch account, pupils can view each other’s work and could accidentally delete each others projects!

***UPDATE: Since originally writing this post, Scratch have now added Scratch Teacher Accounts. This makes it easier to create accounts for groups of students and to manage your students’ projects and comments. More information about Scratch Teacher accounts here.

Scratch in EYFS/KS1

If you have access to iPads, younger pupils should be given the opportunity to program using the iPad app version, Scratch Jnr. It is less intensive than the desktop version and it's simpler user interface, means that even pupils in EYFS should be able to create something with relative ease.

In unit 2.2 of my Computing scheme of work, pupils use Scratch Jnr to program an informative animation based on a topic or theme. The detailed tutorial video which accompany's the unit, shows you how to do it...

This could link to any current topic that pupil's are studying. For example,

Reception class created some Space animations. Here is what one groups finished project looked like...

Even pupils in Nursery class were able to program a simple animation to show what they had learnt during their 'healthy eating' topic...

Scratch in upper KS1/Lower KS2

Sprite Conversations

Once pupils are ready to move on to the PC version of Scratch, a nice, simple activity for them to start off with, is to program 2 'sprites' (characters) to have a conversation. I originally came across this idea on Phil Bagge's excellent website here. I find that using the 'two person conversation algorithm planner' by Gary Setchell really helps. Also providing a clear cross curricular focus helps keep pupils engaged. In the example below, Year 3 were studying Ancient Egypt and had been learning about Lord Carnavon and Howard Carter (Lord Carnavon being the person who financed Carter's search for King Tutankhamun's body). The pupils loved programming the conversation that they imagined would have taken place when Howard Carter asked Lord Carnavon to continue financing the search...



As part of their Ancient Greece topic, pupils in Year 3 also programmed a conversation involving the two Ancient Greek characters, Icarus and Daedalus...



In Year 4, pupils really enjoyed applying what they had learnt in their French lessons. After importing a relevant stage and two sprites, they then programmed their conversation - this time in French! To help them they also used the Google translate tool when they weren't sure of any exact translations!

Animations

Pupils should them move on to incorporating some of the other blocks (e.g. 'motion' blocks) and perhaps experiment with using the 'broadcast block' as well (this will enable them to link together different scenes). This could be done through programming a simple animation such as this one...

You can see here that pupils are also learning about the importance of using repetition (a key programming concept that pupils need to learn the importance of).

Scratch in Upper KS2

I have previously blogged here about using Scratch to program interactive quizzes. Pupils love this activity. The activity is great for older pupils as it introduces them to the more complex programming concepts of selection and variables. However, I have even had Year 2 pupils make them with equal success too! Here is an example one made by a Year 5 pupil. Have a go!

'De-bugging'

The beauty of saving projects to an online Scratch account is that you can 'remix' other people's projects. If you have an account, why not log in and then press the 'remix' button on this project here. Can you identify the mistakes within the script and then fix it so that it runs correctly? Challenge your pupils to create their own, improved version of it!

If you would like to learn more about Computer Programming in the new curriculum, I am available to run inset training to support your staff. More information can be found here

Programming maths games in Scratch

13:39 JEcomputing 15 Comments Category : Coding , Computational Thinking , Computing curriculum , Maths , Programming , Scratch

Having used the programming software Scratch a lot recently I have come to realise just how much it compliments work done in maths. I believe it really helps develop key mathematical concepts such as logical reasoning as well as more obvious, specific skills, such as reading coordinate positions. With this in mind and after reading this excellent site by @BaggiePr, I have been helping some year 5s with making their own times tables games.

We began by playing some games that I had created myself such as this number bonds game, this subtraction game and finally this 4x table game. In their Kagan groups and with talk partners, the children then spent quite a substantial amount of time analysing these games in depth. I really wanted them to develop a clear understanding of the key programming concepts used to create them before starting to plan and then ultimately, make their own. Having uploaded some games to my Scratch account, we then clicked on the "see inside" button to look at the programming scripts used to create each game. The children also had paper based copies of the scripts to look at and make notes on. We looked at the similarities and differences within each game and identified the common structure running throughout each game as thus:

The player presses the green flag ----- the sprite (character) welcomes the player to the game ----- the variable(s) such as score or lives are set ----- a question is asked ------ the player types in their answer ------ the sprite responds accordingly by saying (either through text or sound) that it is correct or incorrect (selection) ------ the variable(s) changes according to the players response (selection) ------ the sprite asks the next question - the process is repeated (repetition)

I then explained the 3 main programming concepts involved, relating this to the pupils' experiences of playing popular games such as Flappy birds.

I explained this as;

1. VARIABLES - i.e. the thing which changes - this could be the player's score (either up or down), the number of lives left, the level the player is on etc. There may be a number of these depending on the complexity of the game.

2. SELECTION - i.e. what happens when the player does something. So in this instance, If the player types the answer x the score goes up by 1 and the quiz master says "that is correct" or else the score goes down -1 and the quiz master says "that is incorrect."

3. REPETITION - i.e. a part of the code which is repeated. Programmers in Scratch, often used a forever block to do this, so as to shorten the amount of code needed. Here is an example...

After "decomposing" (breaking down) a number of these scripts and after I was sure that the pupils had a good understanding of these three main programming concepts, we then identified the specific programming blocks used and where to find them from. This didn't take very long as before christmas the pupils had used Scratch to make their own animations with me.

The KS2 PoS for Computing highlights the importance of decomposition:

I then asked pupils to plan their own maths game, based on the ones that I had shown them. Once planned, the pupils then applied their knowledge of how these games were made as they set about making their own. Some, more advanced pupils even added extra bits of code that I showed them, such as changing to a different background when the player answers a question correct, by using a "broadcast" block.

Overall, I was really impressed with the pupils efforts and in particular how they really developed their understanding of the main programming concepts used to make games such as these. I think it helped that many of the children already spend a lot of time playing games and were able to relate and transfer this game playing experience to making their own.

Below is a video which goes through the process of making a times table game in Scratch (version 1.4), which will be useful to watch before teaching it to pupils...

Finally, please have a look at some of the games they made by clicking on the school blog here http://ourladyswhalleyrange.primaryblogger.co.uk/2015/02/12/year-5-times-tables-games-made-in-scratch/. I'm sure the children themselves would be really pleased if you took the time to leave any constructive comments about their work.

If you would like any staff training on using Scratch or would like me to deliver a similar project with your pupils please check out my website for more details and use the contact page to get in touch.

Scratch Primary Progression

Scratch in EYFS/KS1

Scratch in upper KS1/Lower KS2

Sprite Conversations

Animations

Scratch in Upper KS2

'De-bugging'

Programming maths games in Scratch

JAMIE EDMONDSON

LIKE THE IDEAS HERE? CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO MY COMPUTING SCHEME OF WORK

Pages

Labels

recent posts

Scratch Primary Progression

Scratch in EYFS/KS1

Scratch in upper KS1/Lower KS2

Sprite Conversations

Animations

Scratch in Upper KS2

'De-bugging'

Programming maths games in Scratch

JAMIE EDMONDSON

LIKE THE IDEAS HERE? CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO MY COMPUTING SCHEME OF WORK

Pages

Labels

recent posts

Subscribe to this blog!