Meow! Catch Scratch Fever! Me-wow!

Who am I? Erin Spencer Instructional Designer – curriculum writing and professional development Center for P20 Outreach and Engagement Northern Illinois University NIU Instructional Technology Graduate, May 2016

What is Scratch? Scratch is a free interactive website that teaches students the basics of programming and emphasizes the importance of language and step-by-step sequencing during the programming process. Scratch allows students to be creative while programming their own animations, games, and more. Scratch is designed for ages 8-16, but can be used at nearly any age. Website: scratch.mit.org

Why teach programming? Programming allows students to bring their ideas to life, it encourages creativity and drives innovation There are currently tons of available jobs and opportunities for those who can code, and the need for computer programmers will only grow in the future Every field involves the use of computers, at the very least it is important to be able to speak to the IT specialists who help us with our computers Programming is considered by many to be the new language of the 21 st Century, programming is just another form of literacy When students are learning programming, they are also learning logic and problem-solving skills There are plenty of resources available that can make learning to code easy, especially learning the general rules of the language “Learning to speak the language of information gives you the power to transform the world.” Peter Denning, former President Association of Computing Machinery

Stats

Stats

What can Scratch do? Star Wars Rey Dress Up – Interactive Sea Turtles with Physics – Game How to Make Belgian Waffles – Instructional Let’s Try!

Other great resources Scratch Ed Codecademy Code.org Tynker Code School Khan Academy Girls Who Code

Wait, there’s more! For more lesson plans, activity ideas, and other free resources check out: and