Creative Computing Curriculum Guide Scratch 3.0

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Greetings, friends!
Are you excited for Scratch 3.0? We certainly are!
In celebration of Scratch 3.0, we are hard at work developing a new version of our
Creative Computing Curriculum Guide (CCCG). The ﬁrst edition of the CCCG, for
Scratch 1.4, was released in 2011. The second edition, for Scratch 2.0, was
released in 2014. This third edition, for Scratch 3.0, will be released in early 2019.
The new CCCG will be full of activities for playing and designing with Scratch,
exploring the intersection of creativity and computing.
But for those of you who are currently teaching with the CCCG, we wanted to
make sure that you were still well supported while we ﬁnish up the third edition!
So, in the interim, we're delighted to share a version of the second edition. The
changes made to this edition include images of blocks and projects, and minor
content revisions to reﬂect the new Scratch 3.0 website.
We hope that this Scratch 3.0 version of the CCCG is helpful to you, until the next
edition of the CCCG is ready. If you have any questions about the Creative
Computing Curriculum Guide, please contact us at: scratched@gse.harvard.edu
Yours in creativity and computing,
Karen Brennan, Laura Peters, and Alexa Kutler
The Creative Computing Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education

CREATIVE COMPUTING
Karen Brennan | Christan Balch | Michelle Chung
Harvard Graduate School of Education

TABLE OF
CONTENTS
BACKGROUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
What is Creative Computing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
What is Scratch? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
What is this guide? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Who is this guide for? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
What do I need in order to use this guide? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
What is included in this guide? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
How should I use this guide? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Where did this guide come from? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
UNIT 0 – GETTING STARTED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Introducing Scratch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Scratch Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Design Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Scratch Surprise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Scratch Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Critique Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
UNIT 1 – EXPLORING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Programmed to Dance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Step-By-Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
10 Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
My Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Debug It! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
About Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
UNIT 2 – ANIMATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Performing Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Build-A-Band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
Orange Square, Purple Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
It’s Alive! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Debug It! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Music Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

UNIT 3 – STORIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Conversations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
Debug It! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Creature Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Pass It On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 68
UNIT 4 – GAMES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Dream Game List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Starter Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Score . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Debug It! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
UNIT 5 – DIVING DEEPER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Know Want Learn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Round Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Advanced Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Hardware & Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Activity Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
My Debug It! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
UNIT 6 – HACKATHON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Project Pitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Project Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Design Sprint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Project Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Project Check-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Unfocus Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Showcase Prep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139
Computational Thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
For Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

BACKGROUND
To help you dive into the world of creative
computing as quickly as possible, we have
assembled answers to eight common questions:
1. What is Creative Computing?
2. What is Scratch?
3. What is this guide?
4. Who is this guide for?
5. What do I need in order to use this guide?
6. What is included in this guide?
7. How should I use this guide?
8. Where did this guide come from?

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Guide!

WHAT IS CREATIVE COMPUTING?

Creative computing is about creativity.
Computer science and computing-related
ﬁelds have long been introduced to young
people in a way that is disconnected from
their interests and values – emphasizing
technical detail over creative potential.
Creative computing supports the
development of personal connections to
computing, by drawing upon creativity,
imagination, and interests.

Creative computing is about agency.
Many young people with access to
computers participate as consumers, rather
than designers or creators. Creative
computing emphasizes the knowledge,
practices, and fundamental literacies that
young people need to create the types of
dynamic and interactive computational
media that they enjoy in their daily lives.

Creative computing is about computing.
Engaging in the creation of computational
artifacts prepares young people for more
than careers as computer scientists or
programmers. It supports young people’s
development as computational thinkers –
individuals who can draw on
computational concepts, practices, and
perspectives in all aspects of their lives,
across disciplines and contexts.

WHAT IS SCRATCH?
There are many different tools that can be used
for creative computing. In this guide, we use
Scratch, which is a free computer programming
language available at http://scratch.mit.edu.
With Scratch, people can create a wide variety
of interactive media projects – animations,
stories, games, and more – and share those
projects with others in an online community.
Since Scratch’s launch in May 2007, hundreds of
thousands of people all around the world have
created and shared more than 6 million
projects.

WHAT IS THIS GUIDE?
This guide is a collection of ideas, strategies, and activities for an introductory creative computing experience using
the Scratch programming language. The activities are designed to support familiarity and increasing ﬂuency with
computational creativity and computational thinking. In particular, the activities encourage exploration of key
computational thinking concepts (sequence, loops, parallelism, events, conditionals, operators, data) and key
computational thinking practices (experimenting and iterating, testing and debugging, reusing and remixing,
abstracting and modularizing). Learn more about computational thinking – what it is and how to assess its
development in learners – from resources in the appendix or by visiting http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/ct
Inspired by constructionist approaches to learning, the activities in this guide emphasize the following principles:

PRINCIPLE #1:
CREATING

PRINCIPLE #2:
PERSONALIZING

PRINCIPLE #3:
SHARING

PRINCIPLE #4:
REFLECTING

Offer opportunities for
learners to engage in
designing and making, not
just listening, observing,
and using.

Offer opportunities for
learners to engage in
activities that are
personally meaningful and
relevant.

Offer opportunities for
learners to engage in
interactions with others as
audience, coaches, and
co-creators.

Offer opportunities for
learners to review and
rethink their creative
practices.

WHO IS THIS GUIDE FOR?
No matter your current context or prior
experience, this guide was designed with a wide
range of learners and educators in mind. Here are
a few examples of who might use the guide and
how they might use it:

K-12 TEACHER
Scratch is being used in thousands of elementary, middle-school,
and high-school classrooms around the world. The guide can be
used in its entirety as a semester-long computing course, or
selectively as part of other curricular areas. Many educators
introduce creative computing as an after-school or lunch-time
program, using the activities as inspiration and scaffolding for
students’ open-ended explorations.

MUSEUM OR LIBRARY EDUCATOR
In addition to formal learning environments like classrooms,
Scratch has been used in informal learning spaces like museums
and libraries. Whether as a structured workshop experience or a
drop-in play space, these learning environments are ideal for
supporting explorations in creative computing, without some of the
restrictions present in traditional settings.

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COLLEGE INSTRUCTOR
Scratch can serve as an introduction to fundamental computational
concepts and practices, often followed by a transition to more
traditional text-based programming languages in computer science
courses. For example, the CS50 course at Harvard University uses
Scratch as an introductory programming experience before
transitioning to the C programming language. The activities have
also been used as part of education, art, and media literacy courses
at the college level.

YOUNG LEARNER

PARENT
Parents can use the guide in a wide range of ways. From supporting
homeschooling activities, to starting creative computing clubs at
school, to hosting workshops at local community centers, parents
are encouraged to think about how to use the guide to support the
creative computing experiences of young learners.

Over the past seven years since Scratch’s launch, young learners
have been passionate advocates for creative computing in a variety
of settings. From introducing their parents and teachers to
programming, to creating learning opportunities for their peers,
creative computing can be something that is done with them or by
them, rather than just for them.

WHAT DO I NEED IN ORDER TO USE THIS GUIDE?
In addition to time and an openness to adventure, some important resources include:

+ Computers with speakers (and, optionally, microphones and webcams): for the computer-based design activities
+ Network connection: for connecting to Scratch online (if your environment does not offer a network connection, a
downloadable version of Scratch is available)
+ Projector or interactive whiteboard with speakers: for sharing works-in-progress and for demonstrations
+ Design notebooks (physical or digital): for documenting, sketching, and brainstorming ideas and plans

Get comfortable with the key computational concept
of sequence through a series of activities that
provide varying levels of structure – from a
step-by-step tutorial, to a creative challenge using a
limited number of blocks, to open-ended
explorations through making a project about
yourself.
Play with visuals and audio in these activities
focused on animation, art, and music. Explore
Scratch’s focus on media – and the key
computational concepts of loops, events, and
parallelism – by building your own band, designing
animated creatures, and creating a music video for a
favorite song.

UNIT 4 - GAMES
UNIT 5 – DIVING DEEPER

Prepare for the culture of creative computing by
exploring possibilities and setting up technical
infrastructure (e.g., creating Scratch accounts, starting
design journals) and social infrastructure (e.g.,
establishing critique groups). Dive into an initial
creative experience by making something
“surprising” happen to a Scratch character.

UNIT 6 - HACKATHON

UNIT 2 - ANIMATIONS

UNIT 1 - EXPLORING

UNIT 0 – GETTING STARTED

This guide is organized in seven units — from
an initial preparatory unit to a culminating
project-based unit — with each unit typically
including six activities. A summary of each unit
follows:

UNIT 3 - STORIES

WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THIS GUIDE?
Create new interactive worlds through collaborative
storytelling. Begin by developing characters, learning
to code conversations, and then situating those
characters and conversations in shifting scenes.
Combine characters, conversations, and scenes in a
larger story project that is passed along to other
creators to further develop – and possibly reimagine
entirely!
Connect fundamental game mechanics such as
score and levels to key computational concepts,
such as variables, operators, and conditionals.
Analyze your favorite games, imagine new ones, and
practice game design by implementing (and
extending) classic games, like Pong.

Before the culminating unit, take a moment to revisit
work from prior units, further exploring advanced
concepts or helping others by designing new
activities or debugging challenges.

Put all of the computational concepts and practices
into action by designing and developing a project of
your own through iterative cycles of planning,
making, and sharing.

Assessment strategies are described throughout the guide, and several assessment instruments are included in the guide
appendix. Our approach to assessment is process-oriented, with a focus on creating opportunities for students to talk about
their own (and others’) creations and creative practices. There are many forms of process-oriented data that could be collected
and various strategies are suggested throughout the guide, such as:
+ supporting conversations with and among students about their projects, recorded through audio, video, or text
+ examining portfolios of projects
+ maintaining design journals
We view assessment as something that is done with students, to support their understanding of what they already know and
what they still want to learn. Assessment can involve a variety of participants, including the creators, their peers, teachers,
parents, and others.

HOW SHOULD I USE THIS GUIDE?
USE AS MUCH
OR AS LITTLE AS
YOU LIKE

DESIGN
NEW
ACTIVITIES

REMIX
INCLUDED
ACTIVITIES

CHOOSE
YOUR OWN
ADVENTURE!

We encourage you to use as much or as little of the
guide as you like, to design new activities, and to
remix the included activities. No matter your prior
experience or expertise, we think of every educator
as a co-designer of the Creative Computing
experience. We would love to learn about what
you’re doing, so we encourage you to document and
share your experiences with us and with other
educators via the ScratchEd community at
http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu
We are releasing this guide under a Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, which means
that you are completely free to use, change, and share
this work, as long as you provide appropriate
attribution and give others access to any derivative
works.

WHERE DID THIS GUIDE COME FROM?
This guide was developed by members of the ScratchEd research team at the Harvard Graduate School of Education – Christan
Balch, Michelle Chung, and Karen Brennan. Jeff Hawson provided editing support and inexhaustible enthusiasm.
The guide contents draw on a previous version of the Creative Computing Guide (released in 2011) and on the Creative
Computing Online Workshop (hosted in 2013). These were made possible with support from the National Science Foundation
through grant DRL-1019396, the Google CS4HS program, and the Code-to-Learn Foundation.
We are enormously appreciative of the numerous educators who have used the previous version of this guide and participated
in workshops. In particular, we would like to thank the educators who extensively tested the ﬁrst guide (Russell Clough, Judy
Hoffman, Kara Kestner, Alvin Kroon, Melissa Nordmann, and Tyson Spraul) and the educators who extensively reviewed the
current guide (Ingrid Gustafson, Megan Haddadi, Keledy Kenkel, Adam Scharfenberger, and LeeAnn Wells).
We are also greatly appreciative of our collaborators. We would like to thank Wendy Martin, Francisco Cervantes, and Bill Tally
from Education Development Center’s Center for Children & Technology, and Mitch Resnick from the MIT Media Lab for their
extensive contributions in developing the computational thinking framework and resources. We would like to thank the many
amazing Harvard Graduate School of Education interns who have contributed to the guide development over the past several
years since the initial version in 2011, including Vanity Gee, Vanessa Gennarelli, Mylo Lam, Tomoko Matsukawa, Aaron Morris,
Matthew Ong, Roshanak Razavi, Mary Jo Madda, Eric Schilling, and Elizabeth Woodbury.

UNIT 0
GETTING STARTED

YOU ARE HERE
0

WHAT’S INCLUDED
5

INTRODUCING SCRATCH
SCRATCH ACCOUNT
DESIGN JOURNAL
SCRATCH SURPRISE
SCRATCH STUDIO
CRITIQUE GROUP

10
12
14
16
18
20
7

UNIT 0
OVERVIEW
THE “BIG IDEA”
When we shared a draft of this guide with
teachers, a common initial reaction was,
“Unit 0?!? Why 0?”
We hoped to communicate that this is a
preparatory unit, supporting you in establishing
a culture of creative computing through
creating, personalizing, sharing, and reﬂecting.
Our ambition to support this type of learning
culture will be evident throughout the guide.
Creative computing culture has an intellectual
dimension, engaging with a set of
computational concepts and practices. It has a
physical dimension, encouraging interactions
with others through the placement of desks,
chairs, and computers. Most importantly, it has
an affective dimension, cultivating a sense of
conﬁdence and fearlessness.

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

KEY WORDS, CONCEPTS, & PRACTICES

Students will:
+ be introduced to the concept of computational creation, in
the context of Scratch
+ be able to imagine possibilities for their own Scratch-based
computational creation
+ become familiar with resources that support their
computational creation
+ prepare for creating Scratch projects by establishing Scratch
accounts, exploring Scratch studios, creating design
journals, and organizing critique groups

+
+
+
+
+

proﬁle editor
project page
studio
critique croup
red, yellow, green

NOTES
+ Coordinate with your IT department to make sure your
computers can access the Scratch website.
+ Don’t have internet access? An ofﬂine version of Scratch
is available for download:
https://scratch.mit.edu/download

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
Ready to get started? This unit is designed for those who
are completely new to Scratch. From exploring inspiring
projects, to creating a Scratch account, to having an initial
experience playing with the Scratch project editor, each
activity is designed to guide you and your students
through the process of getting started with Scratch.
In each unit, we offer a selection of activities – but we
encourage you to tinker with the choice and order of the
activities. Different contexts and audiences will invite
different experiences. Choose your own adventure by
mixing and matching the activities in ways that are most
compelling for you and the learners you support.
Not sure where to start? For more support, check out the
suggested path through the activities provided below.

POSSIBLE PATH
SESSION 1

SESSION 2

INTRODUCING
SCRATCH

SCRATCH
ACCOUNT

DESIGN
JOURNAL

SCRATCH
SURPRISE

SCRATCH
STUDIO

CRITIQUE
GROUP

Watch the
Scratch overview
video and
imagine what’s
possible with
Scratch.

Set up a Scratch
account to save
and share your
projects.

Create a design
journal to write
down notes and
reﬂections on
the process of
designing
Scratch projects.

Can you make
the Scratch cat
do something
surprising?

Learn how to
create a studio and
add a project to
the studio.

Gather in small
peer groups to
give and receive
feedback on
ideas and
projects drafts.

UNIT 0 ACTIVITY

INTRODUCING
SCRATCH
SUGGESTED TIME

5–15 MINUTES

OBJECTIVES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ be introduced to computational creation with the
Scratch programming environment by watching
the Scratch overview video or exploring sample
projects
+ be able to imagine possibilities for their own
Scratch-based computational creation

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Ask students about their experiences with computers
using the reﬂection prompts to the right.

❑ projector for showing Scratch overview video
(optional)
❑ Scratch overview video
http://vimeo.com/65583694
http://youtu.be/-SjuiawRMU4
❑ sample projects studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/137903

❑ Introduce students to creative computing with Scratch
and the range of projects they will be able to create by
showing the Scratch overview video and some sample
projects that your students will ﬁnd engaging and
inspiring. Explain that over the next several sessions
they will be creating their own interactive
computational media with Scratch.
❑ What will you create? Ask students to imagine what
types of projects they want to create with Scratch.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What are the different ways you interact with
computers?
+ How many of those ways involve being creative with
computers?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Did students brainstorm a diverse range of project
ideas? If not, try showing a wide variety of projects
to give students a sense of the possibilities.

NOTES
+ If you don’t have internet access, download the Scratch
overview video from Vimeo before class, available at
http://vimeo.com/65583694
+ Instead of writing out their answers to the reﬂections
prompts, encourage students to get creative by
drawing their responses. (e.g., “Draw different ways you
interact with computers.”)

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

UNIT 0 ACTIVITY

SCRATCH ACCOUNT
SUGGESTED TIME

5–15 MINUTES

OBJECTIVES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ create a Scratch account
+ explore the Scratch online community and review
the Scratch community guidelines

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Scratch online accounts require an email address. If
students cannot provide a personal or school email
address, a teacher or parent/guardian email address
may be used. Plan in advance if permission slips for
online accounts need to be collected.

❑ Scratch Account handout
❑ Scratch community guidelines
http://scratch.mit.edu/community_guidelines

❑ Help students navigate to the Scratch website at
http://scratch.mit.edu and click on “Join Scratch” to get
started creating a Scratch account. Optionally, have the
Scratch Account handout available to guide students.
Give students time to register, update their Scratch
proﬁle page, and explore the Scratch online
community. Encourage students to practice signing in
and out of their accounts.
❑ To make it easier for members of the class to ﬁnd and
follow one another’s Scratch proﬁles, consider creating
a class list of usernames and names.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What is your Scratch account username?
+ What is a hint to help you remember your password?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Were students able to create Scratch accounts and
successfully sign in and out of the Scratch website?

❑ Examine the Scratch community guidelines as a group
to discuss respectful and constructive behavior. Review
how to report inappropriate posts on the website.

NOTES

+ Teachers may prefer providing their email or creating a
class email address, as notiﬁcations of any
inappropriate behavior on the Scratch website will be
sent to the email that is registered with the account.
+ Check if any students already have an online account.
+ To remember passwords while maintaining privacy,
have students write down their username and
password in sealed envelopes that are kept in a secure
place in the classroom.

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

SCRATCH ACCOUNT
NEW TO SCRATCH? GET STARTED BY
CREATING YOUR SCRATCH ACCOUNT!
You will need a Scratch account to
create, save, and share your Scratch
projects. The steps below will walk you
through creating a new account and
setting up your proﬁle.

START HERE
❑ Open a web browser and navigate to the
Scratch website: http://scratch.mit.edu
❑ On the homepage, click on “Join Scratch” at the
top on the right of the page.
❑ Complete the three steps to sign up for your
very own Scratch account!

FINISHED?
FINISHED?

UNIT 0 ACTIVITY

DESIGN JOURNAL
SUGGESTED TIME

By completing this activity, students will:
+ start a personalized design journal for
documenting their design process and reﬂections

15–30 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Introduce students to the idea of the design journal, a
physical or digital notebook where they can brainstorm
ideas and share personal reﬂections, similar to a
personal journal or diary. Explain that students will be
prompted to update their design journals throughout
their Scratch programming adventures, but encourage
them to add to their journals anytime during the
process of designing projects to capture ideas,
inspiration, notes, sketches, questions, frustrations,
triumphs, etc.

❑ sample design journals
http://bit.ly/designjournal-paper
http://bit.ly/design-journal-digital
http://bit.ly/designjournal-blog
❑ paper and craft materials (for paper journals)

❑ Look through sample design journals to get ideas for
what type of design journals (paper or digital) will
work best for your students. Give students time to start
and personalize their design journals.
❑ Ask students to create their ﬁrst design journal post by
responding to the reﬂection prompts on the right.
❑ Encourage students to share their design journals and
initial reﬂections with a neighbor.

NOTES
+ During other guide activities, facilitate group
discussions around relevant reﬂection prompts.
+ Decide whether design journals should be private or
public. For example, you could maintain one-on-one
feedback with students through private journals or
have students leave comments for peers on shared
journals. Consider the pros and cons of each option.
14

OBJECTIVES

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ How would you describe Scratch to a friend?
+ Write or sketch ideas for three different Scratch
projects you are interested in creating.

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ What do the reﬂection responses tell you about the
types of projects students might be interested in
pursuing?
+ Based on students’ responses, which units in this
guide might appeal to your different students?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

UIT 0
UNIT 0 ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY

SCRATCH SURPRISE
SUGGESTED TIME

15–30 MINUTES

OBJECTIVES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ engage in an exploratory, hands-on experience
with Scratch

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Help students open the Scratch project editor by
navigating to the Scratch website at
http://scratch.mit.edu, signing in to their Scratch
accounts, and then clicking on “Create” at the top of
the page. Optionally, have the Scratch Surprise
handout and Scratch Cards available to guide students
during their explorations.

❑ Scratch Surprise Handout
❑ Scratch Cards
https://scratch.mit.edu/info/cards/

❑ Give students 10 minutes to explore the Scratch
interface in an open-ended way. Prompt students with,
“You have 10 minutes to make something surprising
happen to the Scratch cat.” Or, “Take 10 minutes to
explore the interface fearlessly. What do you notice?”
Encourage students to work together, ask each other
for help, and share what they are ﬁguring out.
❑ Ask for 3 or 4 volunteers to share with the entire group
one thing that they discovered. Optionally, after the
volunteers have shared, offer several challenges to the
students:
- Did anyone ﬁgure out how to add sound?
- Did anyone ﬁgure out how to change the
background?
- Did anyone ﬁgure out how to get help with blocks?

NOTES
+ A major goal of this activity is to establish a culture of
fearlessness, exploration, and peer collaboration. It is
expected that students (and their teachers!) will not
know everything ahead of time – and the environment
becomes a space where everyone is learning together.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What did you ﬁgure out?
+ What do you want to know more about?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Do students know how to initiate a new project?
+ Do students understand the basic mechanism of
snapping Scratch blocks together?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

SCRATCH SURPRISE
CAN YOU MAKE THE SCRATCH CAT
DO SOMETHING SURPRISING?
In this activity, you will create a new
project with Scratch and explore
different Scratch blocks to make the cat
do something surprising!
What will you create?

START HERE
❑ Go to the Scratch website: http://scratch.mit.edu
❑ Sign into your account.
❑ Click on the “Create” tab located at the top left
of the browser to start a new project.
❑ Time to explore! Try clicking on different parts
of the Scratch interface to see what happens.
❑ Play with different Scratch blocks! Drag and
drop Scratch blocks into the scripting area.
Experiment by clicking on each block to see
what they do or try snapping blocks together.

UNIT 0 ACTIVITY

SCRATCH STUDIO
SUGGESTED TIME

5–15 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION
❑ Scratch studios are one way to collect and organize
Scratch projects online. In this activity, help students
understand what studios are and how to add a project
to a studio. Optionally, have the Scratch Studio
handout available to guide students.
❑ First, have students navigate to the Scratch website
and sign in to their accounts. Next, help students ﬁnd
the Scratch Surprise studio or a class studio you’ve
created. Then, let students share their Scratch Surprise
explorations with others by adding their programs to
the studio.
❑ Encourage students to investigate other projects in the
studio. Invite them to add a comment on the project
page of two projects in the collection that they ﬁnd
particularly interesting or inspiring. Engage the group
in a discussion about how to give appropriate and
purposeful feedback.
❑ Ask students to think back on their creative
explorations by responding to the reﬂection prompts
in their design journals or in a group discussion.

NOTES
+ Create your own studio(s) to collect student work. Start
a class Scratch Surprise studio using your Scratch
account and then give students the studio link to “turn
in” projects. Create one dedicated studio to gather all
class projects or distribute activities across separate
studios to track student progress.

OBJECTIVES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ be able to add a project to a studio
+ be able to post comments on other Scratch
projects

RESOURCES
❑ Scratch Studio handout
❑ Scratch Surprise studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/460431

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What are Scratch studios for?
+ What did you ﬁnd interesting or inspiring about
looking at other projects?
+ What two comments did you share?
+ What is “good” feedback?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Did students successfully add their projects to the
studio?
+ Did students comment appropriately on others’
work?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

SCRATCH STUDIO
LEARN HOW TO ADD YOUR PROJECT
TO AN ONLINE SCRATCH STUDIO!
Studios are collections of Scratch projects.
Follow along with the steps below to add
your Scratch Surprise program to the Scratch
Surprise studio on the Scratch website.

START HERE
❑ Go to the Scratch Surprise studio using this link:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/460431
❑ Sign into your account.
❑ Click on “Add Projects” at the bottom of the page
to show your your projects, favorite projects, and
recently viewed projects.
❑ Use the arrows to ﬁnd your Scratch Surprise
project and then click “Add + ” to add your
project to the studio.

UNIT 0 ACTIVITY

CRITIQUE GROUP
SUGGESTED TIME

15–30 MINUTES

OBJECTIVES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ divide into small critique groups in order to give
and get feedback on design ideas and
works-in-progress

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Introduce students to the idea of a critique group, a
small group of designers who share ideas and
projects-in-progress with one another in order to get
feedback and suggestions for further development.

❑ Critique Group handout

❑ Optionally, have the Critique Group handout available
to guide students in giving feedback.
❑ Divide students in smaller groups of 3-4 people.
In these critique groups, ask students to take turns
sharing their ideas, drafts, or prototypes, for example,
Scratch Surprise projects.
❑ Let students gather feedback by having their critique
group members respond to the Red, Yellow, Green
reﬂection prompts or using the Critique Group
handout. Encourage students to record other notes,
feedback, and suggestions in their design journals.

NOTES
+ It can be valuable to have a dedicated group of peers
to give you encouragement and feedback on your
design iterations. Provide opportunities for students to
continue meeting with their critique groups during
Units 1-6.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ RED: What is something that doesn’t work or could
be improved?
+ YELLOW: What is something that is confusing or
could be done differently?
+ GREEN: What is something that works well or you
really like about the project?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Did all students have a chance to share their work
and get feedback?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

CRITIQUE GROUP
FEEDBACK FOR: ______________________________________________________________________
PROJECT
PROJECT TITLE: ______________________________________________________________________
FEEDBACK

FEEDBACK BY

[RED]
What is something that doesn’t work or
could be improved?

[YELLOW]
What is something that is confusing or
could be done differently?

[GREEN]
What is something that works well or
you really like about the project?

PARTS OF THE PROJECT THAT MIGHT BE HELPFUL TO THINK ABOUT:
+ Clarity: Did you understand what the project is supposed to do?
+ Features: What features does the project have? Does the project work as expected?
+ Appeal: How engaging is the project? Is it interactive, original, sophisticated, funny, or interesting? How did you feel as you interacted
with it?

UNIT 1
EXPLORING

YOU ARE HERE
0

WHAT’S INCLUDED
5

PROGRAMMED TO DANCE
STEP-BY-STEP
10 BLOCKS
MY STUDIO
DEBUG IT!
ABOUT ME

26
28
30
32
34
36
23

UNIT 1
OVERVIEW
THE “BIG IDEA”
Many of the educators that we have worked with over the
years wrestle with two questions when getting started with
creative computing: “What’s the best way of helping learners
get started?” and “What do I, as teacher, need to know?” The
writings of Seymour Papert (a renowned mathematician,
educator, and major inﬂuence on the development of Scratch
through the Logo programming language) serve as
inspiration for thinking about these questions.
With respect to the ﬁrst question, two extreme positions tend
to be taken up. Either learners need to be told what to do and
should have highly structured experiences – or learners need
to be left totally alone to explore under their own direction.
Papert, a proponent of the notion that young learners should
act as advocates for and explorers of their own thinking and
learning, encouraged teachers to seek a balance between
teaching and learning. Throughout the guide, we vary the
amount of structure in the activities in an effort to provide
balance.
With respect to the second question, educators sometimes
worry that they don’t “know” enough about Scratch to be able
to help others. We encourage you to take a broad view of
what it means to “know” Scratch. You don’t need to know
everything about the Scratch interface or how to solve every
problem that a learner encounters. But, as Papert noted,
educators can serve as cognitive guides, asking questions and
helping break down problems into manageable pieces.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will:
+ build on initial explorations of the Scratch environment by
creating an interactive Scratch project
+ be introduced to a wider range of Scratch blocks
+ become familiar with the concept of sequence
+ practice experimenting and iterating while creating projects

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he a
en re
engaged
together nd the teache vealed to
r had
incident
in a re
been
is
s
child en poignant. It spea earch project.
tered int
o teache ks of all the tim The
together
es this
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”
collabor all the while mes of “let’s do
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t
h
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t
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cannot b Discovery canno the
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led.
(Papert,
1980, p.
115)

KEY WORDS, CONCEPTS, & PRACTICES
+ experimenting and
iterating
+ testing and debugging
+ sequence
+ sprite

+
+
+
+
+

motion
looks
sound
costume
backdrop

+ tips window
+ remix
+ interactive
collage
+ pair-share

NOTES
+ Make sure students already have a Scratch account for saving
and sharing their projects online.
+ Think about how you plan to access your students’ work. For
example, you can create class studios to collect projects, have
students email you project links, or start a class blog.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
This unit includes a mix of structured and open-ended
activities that engage students in exploration of the key
concept of sequence – identifying and specifying an
ordered series of instructions. This is often a powerful
moment for students: they’re telling the computer what to
do, by translating their ideas into blocks of computer code.
From a step-by-step tutorial, to playing with a constrained
number of blocks, to a debugging challenge, each activity
helps learners build the skills needed to create an About
Me project. In the culminating project, learners will
explore and experiment with sprites, costumes, looks,
backdrops, and sounds to create a personalized, interactive
collage in Scratch.
Take advantage of all the activities or pick a few that cater
to your students’ speciﬁc needs and interests; the choice is
up to you. If you’re not sure where to start, a possible order
for the activities is suggested below.

POSSIBLE PATH
SESSION 2

SESSION 1

SESSION 3

SESSION 4 & SESSION 5

PROGRAMMED
TO DANCE

STEP-BY-STEP

10 BLOCKS

MY STUDIO

DEBUG IT!

ABOUT ME

How can you
express a sequence
of dance moves
using simple verbal
instructions?

New to Scratch?
Create your ﬁrst
Scratch project!

What can you
create with only
10 Scratch
blocks?

What can be
created with
Scratch?

Help!
Can you debug
these ﬁve Scratch
programs?

How can you
combine images and
sounds to make an
interactive collage
about yourself?

UNIT 1 ACTIVITY

PROGRAMMED TO
DANCE

By completing this activity, students will:
+ learn to express a complex activity using a
sequence of simple instructions

SUGGESTED TIME

45–60 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Ask for 8 volunteers – four people who don’t mind
being bossy and four people who don’t mind being
bossed. Create four bossy/bossed pairs. Optionally,
have a projector ready to present the Programmed to
Dance videos.

❑ projector (optional)
❑ Programmed to Dance videos
http://vimeo.com/28612347
http://vimeo.com/28612585
http://vimeo.com/28612800
http://vimeo.com/28612970

❑ For each bossy/bossed pair:
1. Have the bossed partner facing away from the
display and the bossy partner (and the rest of the
group) facing the display.
2. Show the video to the bossy partner and the group,
but NOT to the bossed partner.
3. Ask the bossy partner to describe to their partner
(using only words!) how to perform the sequence of
dance moves shown in the video.
❑ Use this activity to start a discussion about the
importance of sequence in specifying a set of
instructions. You can let students reﬂect individually in
their design journals or facilitate a group discussion by
inviting different bossy/bossed pairs and observers to
share their thoughts.

NOTES
+ This is one of several activities in this guide that are
computer-free. Stepping back from the computer can
support fresh perspectives on and new understandings
of computational concepts, practices, and perspectives.
+ Have students write down step-by-step instructions for
one of the dances. In programming, this is called
“pseudocode”.
26

OBJECTIVES

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+
+
+
+

What was easy/difﬁcult about being the bossy partner?
What was easy/difﬁcult about being the bossed partner?
What was easy/difﬁcult about watching?
How does this activity relate to what we’re doing with
Scratch?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Can students explain what is important about
sequence when specifying instructions?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

UNIT 1 ACTIVITY

STEP-BY-STEP
SUGGESTED TIME

15–30 MINUTES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ create a dancing cat in Scratch by following a
step-by-step tutorial
+ experience building up a program by
experimenting and iterating

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Help students sign in to their Scratch accounts and
click on the Create button at the top of the Scratch
website to open the project editor. Optionally, have the
Step-by-Step handout and Scratch Cards available to
guide students during the activity.

❑ Step-by-Step handout
❑ Step-by-Step studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475476
❑ Scratch Cards
https://scratch.mit.edu/info/cards/

❑ Have students open the Tips window and follow the
Getting Started with Scratch step-by-step tutorial to
create a dancing cat program. Encourage students to
add other blocks and experiment with motion, sprites,
looks, costumes, sound, or backdrops to make the
project their own.
❑ Let students share their ﬁrst Scratch creations with
one another! Optionally, help students share and add
their projects to the Step-by-Step studio or a class
studio.
❑ Ask students to think back on the design process by
responding to the reﬂection prompts in their design
journals or as a group discussion.

NOTES
+ If they don’t have one already, help learners create a
Scratch account using the Unit 0 Scratch Account
activity, so that students can save and share their ﬁrst
Scratch project with friends and family.
+ Remind students how to add a project to a studio with
the Unit 0 Scratch Studio activity or handout.

OBJECTIVES

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What was surprising about the activity?
+ How did it feel to be led step-by-step through
the activity?
+ When do you feel most creative?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Were students able to open Scratch and ﬁnd the Tips
Window?
+ Were students able to create a dancing cat?
+ Were students able to save and share projects?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

STEP-BY-STEP
NEW TO SCRATCH? CREATE YOUR
FIRST SCRATCH PROJECT!
In this activity, you will follow the
Step-by-Step Intro in the Tips Window to
create a dancing cat in Scratch. Once you
have completed the steps, experiment by
adding other Scratch blocks to make the
project your own.

START HERE
❑ Follow the Step-by-Step Intro in the Tips
Window.
❑ Add more blocks.
❑ Experiment to make it your own!

What blocks do you want to experiment with?

THINGS TO TRY
❑ Try recording your own sounds.
❑ Create different backdrops.
❑ Turn your project into a dance party by
adding more dancing sprites!
❑ Try designing a new costume for your
sprite.

FINISHED?
+ Add your project to the Step-by-Step Studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475476
+ Challenge yourself to do more! Play with adding new blocks,
sound, or motion.
+ Help a neighbor!
+ Choose a few new blocks to experiment with. Try them out!

UNIT 1 ACTIVITY

10 BLOCKS

OBJECTIVES
SUGGESTED TIME

15–30 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Help students sign in to their Scratch accounts and
click on the Create button at the top of the Scratch
website to start a new project. Optionally, have the 10
Blocks handout available to guide students during the
activity.

❑ 10 Blocks handout
❑ 10 Blocks studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475480

❑ Give students time to create a project with only these
10 Scratch blocks: go to, glide, say, show, hide, set size
to, play sound until done, when this sprite clicked, wait,
and repeat. Remind students to use each block at least
once in their project and encourage them to
experiment with different sprites, costumes, or
backdrops.
❑ Invite students to share their projects in their critique
groups (see the Unit 0 Critique Group activity).
Optionally, have students add their projects to the 10
Blocks studio or a class studio.
❑ Ask students to think back on the design process by
responding to the reﬂection prompts in their design
journals or in a group discussion.

NOTES
+ It’s surprising how much one can do with just 10
blocks! Take this opportunity to encourage different
ideas and celebrate creativity by inviting a few
students to present their projects in front of the class
or by exploring other projects online in the 10 Blocks
studio.

By completing this activity, students will:
+ create a project with the constraint of only being
able to use 10 blocks

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What was difﬁcult about being able to use only 10
blocks?
+ What was easy about being able to use only 10
blocks?
+ How did it make you think of things differently?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Do projects include all 10 blocks?
+ How do different students react to the idea of
creating with constraints? What might this tell you
about how this student learns?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

10 BLOCKS
WHAT CAN YOU CREATE WITH ONLY
10 SCRATCH BLOCKS?
Create a project using only these 10
blocks. Use them once, twice, or
multiple times, but use each block at
least once.

START HERE
❑ Test ideas by experimenting with each block.
❑ Mix and match blocks in various ways.
❑ Repeat!

G
N
I
L
E
E
F
?
K
C
U
T
S

GS…

E THIN

THES
Y! TRY
A
K
O
’S
THAT

❑ Test ideas by trying out different block combinations.
Mix and match blocks until you ﬁnd something that
interests you!
❑ Try brainstorming ideas with a neighbor!
❑ Explore other projects to see what others are doing in
Scratch. This can be a great way to ﬁnd inspiration!

FINISHED?
+ Add your project to the 10 Blocks Studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475480
+ Play with different sprites, costumes, or backdrops.
+ Challenge yourself to do more! See how many different
projects you can create with these 10 blocks.
+ Swap projects with a partner and remix each others’
creations.

UNIT 1 ACTIVITY

MY STUDIO

OBJECTIVES

SUGGESTED TIME

15–30 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION
❑ Optionally, demonstrate how to create a new studio or
have the My Studio handout available to guide
students.
❑ Optionally, show example inspiration studios using the
links provided. Give students 10 minutes to browse
existing Scratch projects on the Scratch homepage and
search for interesting programs using the Explore
page.
❑ Ask students to identify three or more Scratch projects
that can be used to inform and inspire a project of
their own. Help students create a new studio from
their My Stuff page and add the inspirational projects
to the studio.
❑ Invite students to share their approaches for ﬁnding
inspirational programs. We suggest pair-share: have
students share studios and discuss search strategies in
pairs.
❑ Ask students to think back on the process of discovery
by responding to the reﬂection prompts in their design
journals or in a group discussion.

NOTES
+ If students don’t have individual Scratch accounts,
create a class studio that students can curate.
+ A variety of studios can be created - students could
collect Scratch projects that are similar in theme or
topic to what they want to create or gather programs
that include techniques or assets to incorporate in a
future creation.
32

By completing this activity, students will:
+ investigate the range of creative possibilities with
Scratch by exploring some of the millions of
projects on the Scratch website
+ curate a collection of 3 or more Scratch projects in
a Scratch studio

RESOURCES
❑ My Studio handout
❑ example studios
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/211580
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/138296
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/138297
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/138298

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What search strategies did you use to ﬁnd interesting
projects?
+ How might each example project help with future
work?
+ It’s important to give credit to sources of inspiration.
How can you give credit for inspiration from these
projects?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Are there three or more projects in the studio?
+ What do these projects tell you about your students’
design interests?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

MY STUDIO
WHAT CAN BE CREATED WITH
SCRATCH?
In this activity, you will investigate the
range of creative possibility with Scratch
by exploring some of the millions of
projects on the Scratch website -- and
start a collection of favorites in a Scratch
studio!

START HERE
❑ Browse projects on the Scratch homepage OR
click on “Explore” to search for speciﬁc types of
projects.
❑ Create a new studio from your My Stuff page.
❑ Add three (or more!) inspiring projects to your
studio.

THINGS TO TRY

FINISHED?

❑ Use the search bar to ﬁnd projects that
relate to your interests.
❑ Explore each of the Animations, Art,
Games, Music, & Stories categories on
the Explore page.
❑ Look through the Featured Studios on
the homepage for ideas.

+ Challenge yourself to do more! The more Scratch projects you explore,
the more you learn about what can be accomplished in Scratch!
+ Find studios created by other Scratchers that you ﬁnd interesting!
+ Ask a neighbor what strategies they used to ﬁnd interesting projects.
+ Share your newly created studio with a neighbor!

UNIT 1
UNIT 1 ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY

DEBUG IT!

OBJECTIVES

SUGGESTED TIME

15–30 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Optionally, have the Unit 1 Debug It! handout
available to guide students during the activity.

❑ Unit 1 Debug It! handout
❑ Unit 1 Debug It! studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475483

❑ Help students open the Debug It! programs from the
Unit 1 Debug It! studio or by following the project
links listed on the Unit 1 Debug It! handout. Encourage
students to click on the “Look Inside” button to
investigate the buggy program, tinker with problematic
code, and test possible solutions.
❑ Give students time to test and debug each Debug It!
challenge. Optionally, have students use the remix
function in Scratch to ﬁx the bugs and save corrected
programs.
❑ Ask students to reﬂect back on their testing and
debugging experiences by responding to the reﬂection
prompts in their design journals or in a group
discussion.
❑ Create a class list of debugging strategies by collecting
students’ problem ﬁnding and problem solving
approaches.

NOTES
+ This activity works well in groups! Get students
working in teams of 2-4 people to collectively problem
solve and share debugging strategies.
+ Testing and debugging is probably the most common
activity of programmers. Things rarely work as planned,
so developing a set of testing and debugging
strategies will be beneﬁcial to any computational
creator.
34

By completing this activity, students will:
+ investigate the problem and ﬁnd a solution to ﬁve
debugging challenges
+ explore a range of concepts (including sequence)
through the practices of testing and debugging
+ develop a list of strategies for debugging projects

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+
+
+
+

What was the problem?
How did you identify the problem?
How did you ﬁx the problem?
Did others have alternative approaches to ﬁxing the
problem?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Were students able to solve all ﬁve bugs? If not, how
might you clarify the concepts expressed in the
unsolved programs?
+ What different testing and debugging strategies did
students employ?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

DEBUG IT!
HELP! CAN YOU DEBUG THESE FIVE
SCRATCH PROGRAMS?

In this activity, you will investigate what
is going awry and ﬁnd a solution for each
of the ﬁve Debug It! challenges.

❑ DEBUG IT! 1.1 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10437040
When the green ﬂag is clicked, both Gobo and Scratch Cat
should start dancing. But only Scratch Cat starts Dancing!
How do we ﬁx the program?

❑ DEBUG IT! 1.2 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10437249
In this project, when the green ﬂag is clicked, the Scratch Cat
should start on the left side of the stage, say something
about being on the left side, glide to the right side of the
stage, and say something about being on the right side. It
works the ﬁrst time the green ﬂag is clicked, but not again.
How do we ﬁx the program?

❑ DEBUG IT! 1.3 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10437366

START HERE
❑ Go to the Unit 1 Debug It! studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475483

The Scratch Cat should do a ﬂip when the space key is
pressed. But when the space key is pressed, nothing happens!
How do we ﬁx the program?

❑ Test and debug each of the ﬁve debugging
challenges in the studio.
❑ Write down your solution or remix the buggy
program with your solution.

❑ DEBUG IT! 1.4 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10437439
In this project, the Scratch Cat should pace back and forth
across the stage, when it is clicked. But the Scratch Cat is
ﬂipping out – and is walking upside down! How do we ﬁx the
program?

❑ DEBUG IT! 1.5 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10437476

G
N
I
L
E
E
F
?
K
C
U
T
S

THES
Y! TRY
A
K
O
’S
THAT

In this project, when the green ﬂag is clicked, the Scratch Cat
should saw ‘Meow, meow, meow!’ in a speech bubble and as a
sound. But the speech bubble happens before the sound –
and the Scratch Cat only makes one ‘Meow’ sound! How do
we ﬁx the program?
GS…

E THIN

❑ Make a list of possible bugs in the program.
❑ Keep track of your work! This can be a useful reminder
of what you have already tried and point you toward
what to try next.
❑ Share and compare your problem ﬁnding and problem
solving approaches with a neighbor until you ﬁnd
something that works for you!

FINISHED?
+ Discuss your testing and debugging practices with a
partner. Make note of the similarities and differences in
your strategies.
+ Add code commentary by right clicking on blocks in your
scripts. This can help others understand different parts
of your program!
+ Help a neighbor!

UNIT 1 ACTIVITY

ABOUT ME

OBJECTIVES

SUGGESTED TIME

45–60 MINUTES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ become familiar with a wider range of Scratch
blocks
+ be able to create an open-ended Scratch project
that is an interactive digital representation of
their personal interests

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Introduce students to the concept of the interactive
collage, a Scratch project that represents aspects of
themselves through clickable sprites. Optionally, show
interactive project examples from the About Me studio.

❑ About Me handout
❑ About Me studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475470
❑ Scratch Cards
http://scratch.mit.edu/help/cards

❑ Have students sign in to their Scratch accounts and
open a new project. Optionally, have the About Me
handout and Scratch Cards available to provide
guidance. Give students time to create an About Me
interactive collage Scratch project, encouraging them
to build up their programs by experimenting and
iterating.
❑ Allow students to share their works-in-progress with
others. We suggest pair-share: have students share and
discuss their projects in pairs. Optionally, invite
students to add their projects to the About Me studio
or a class studio.
❑ Ask students to think back on the design process by
responding to the reﬂection prompts in their design
journals or in a group discussion.

NOTES
+ Example projects can simultaneously inspire and
intimidate, open the creative space and constrain it.
Encourage a wide range of creations; diversity is great!
+ Students can further personalize projects by using a
camera or webcam to bring images into the project.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What are you most proud of? Why?
+ What did you get stuck on? How did you get
unstuck?
+ What might you want to do next?
+ What did you discover from looking at others’ About
Me projects?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Do projects make creative use of sprites, costumes,
looks, backdrops, or sound?
+ Are projects interactive? Can users interact with
various elements within the project?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

ABOUT ME
HOW CAN YOU COMBINE INTERESTING IMAGES
AND SOUNDS TO MAKE AN INTERACTIVE
COLLAGE ABOUT YOURSELF?
Experiment with sprites, costumes, backdrops,
looks, and sounds to create an interactive
Scratch project -- a project that helps other
people learn more about YOU and the ideas,
activities, and people that you care about.

START HERE
Make your sprite interactive by adding scripts that
have the sprite respond to clicks, key presses, and
more!

❑ Create a sprite.
❑ Make it interactive.
❑ Repeat!

THINGS TO TRY
❑ Use costumes to change how your sprite
looks.
❑ Create different backdrops.
❑ Try adding sound to your project.
❑ Try adding movement into your collage.

BLOCKS TO PLAY WITH

TIPS & TRICKS

FINISHED?

+ Add your project to the About
Me Studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios
/475470
+ Challenge yourself to do
more! Play with adding new
blocks, sound, or motion!
+ Help a neighbor!

UNIT 2
ANIMATIONS

YOU ARE HERE
0

WHAT’S INCLUDED
5

PERFORMING SCRIPTS
BUILD-A-BAND
ORANGE SQUARE, PURPLE CIRCLE
IT’S ALIVE!
DEBUG IT!
MUSIC VIDEO

42
44
46
48
50
52
39

UNIT 2
OVERVIEW
THE “BIG IDEA”
Kids have shared more than six million projects in the
Scratch online community – animations, stories, games,
and beyond – and one of our goals with the guide is to
reﬂect this enormous diversity of creations. Within
activities, we support opportunities to personalize and
avoid presenting challenges that have only one “right”
answer; across activities, we engage learners in a
variety of genres. In this unit, we start to explore this
creative diversity with a deep dive into animation, art,
and music.
Creative diversity in Scratch has often been highlighted
by learners. Here are a few quotes from learners who
were asked, “If you had to explain what Scratch is to one
of your friends, how would you describe it?”

It’s jus
t that
endless
there’s
p
not like ossibilities. It’s
make th you can jus
t
is
project a project or this
n
d
t
h
a
t
’s
you can
make. all that
Nevin, 9
years old

It’s reall
yourself y great to expre
could do creatively. You ss
You can anything with
music, ar make video gamit.
The pos t, videos, anyth es,
endless, sibilities are ing.
really. no limitations,
Lindsey,
12 years
old

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will:
+ be introduced to the computational thinking concepts of
loops, events, and parallelism
+ become more familiar with the concepts of sequence
+ experiment with new blocks in the Events, Control, Sound,
and Looks categories
+ explore various arts-themed Scratch programs
+ create an animated music video project

It’s a p
ro
imagina gram that let
tion. You
s
can do w you explore
You can
your
hatever
create a
you
ny
to what
you can thing. There rea want in it.
make. Yo
lly is no
and onc
u des
limit
ey
because ou start you ju ign your own st
uff,
st don’t
as you le
w
a
more p
ossibilitie rn more, you c ant to stop
an see t
s, and
there ar
here’s
the
e, t
you just he more you wa more possibilit
learned.
nt to ex
pand on ies
what
Bradley,
12 years
old

Well, I li
ke
of do an that you can so
r
ything o
n it. It’s t
you can
li
k
e
d
want, re o whatever yo
ally. You
u
ca
creative
as you w n be as
ant
Aaron, 1 to be.
0 years o
ld

KEY WORDS, CONCEPTS, & PRACTICES
+
+
+
+
+

loops
events
parallelism
control
broadcast

+
+
+
+
+
+

scripts
presentation mode
bitmap
vector
animation
gallery walk

NOTES
+ Many activities in this unit include elements of sound and
music. We recommend having headphones readily
available for students.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
Programming in Scratch is like directing theatre. In theatre,
just as in Scratch, there are characters (sprites, in Scratch
parlance), costumes, backdrops, scripts, and a stage. Scratch
programming utilizes cues called “events”, which signal
when things should occur in a project, such as: activating a
project (when green ﬂag clicked), triggering sprites’ actions
(when this sprite clicked), or even sending a silent cue
across sprites or backdrops (broadcast).
Inspired by the theatre metaphor, this unit’s arts-themed
activities are designed to help students explore the
computational concepts of loops, events, and parallelism,
culminating in the design of personalized music videos.

POSSIBLE PATH
SESSION 1

PERFORMING
SCRIPTS

BUILD-A-BAND

Play the part of a
sprite by acting out
different Scratch
blocks and scripts.

Create your own
musical group by
making interactive
instruments.

SESSION 2

ORANGE
SQUARE,
PURPLE
CIRCLE
What project can you
create that includes
an orange square
and a purple circle?

SESSION 3

SESSION 4

SESSION 4 & SESSION 5

IT’S ALIVE!

DEBUG IT!

MUSIC VIDEO

Can you animate it?
Experiment with
multiple costumes to
bring an image to life.

Help!
Can you debug these
ﬁve Scratch
programs?

How can you combine
animation with music
to create your own
Scratch-inspired music
video?

UNIT 2 ACTIVITY

PERFORMING
SCRIPTS
SUGGESTED TIME

30–45 MINUTES

OBJECTIVES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ be introduced to the concepts of events (one thing
causing another thing to happen) and parallelism
(things happening at the same time) through
performance
+ be able to explain what events are and how they
work in Scratch
+ be able to explain what parallelism is and how it
works in Scratch

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Optionally, have a projector connected to a computer
with Scratch open to display which blocks and scripts
will be performed.

❑ projector (optional)
❑ physical Scratch blocks (optional)

❑ Ask for two volunteers.
❑ Prompt the two volunteers to act out a series of
instructions (either by “programming” the volunteers
through the Scratch interface or through printed-out
physical versions of the Scratch blocks).
- Have one person do one thing (like walk across the
room).
- Have that person “reset”.
- Have that person do two things simultaneously (like
walk across the room and talk).
- Add the second person, by having the second person
simultaneously (but independently) do a task, like
talking.
- Have the second person do a dependent task, like
responding to the ﬁrst person instead of talking over.
❑ Reﬂect on the experience as a group to discuss the
concepts of events and parallelism using the reﬂection
prompts to the right.

NOTES
+ This activity highlights the notion of “reset”, which is
something Scratchers often struggle with as they get
started. If they want things to start in a particular
location, with a particular look, etc., students need to
understand that they are completely responsible for
programming those setup steps.
+ This activity can be useful for demonstrating the
broadcast and when I receive block pair.
42

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What are the different ways that actions were
triggered?
+ What are the mechanisms for events in Scratch?
+ What were the different ways in which things were
happening at the same time?
+ What are the mechanisms that enable parallelism in
Scratch?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Can students explain what events and parallelism
are and how they work in Scratch?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

UNIT 2 ACTIVITY

BUILD-A-BAND
SUGGESTED TIME

30–45 MINUTES

OBJECTIVES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ create a program that combines interactive sprites
with interesting sounds
+ develop greater ﬂuency with sequence, loops,
events, and parallelism
+ practice experimenting and iterating in building
up project creations

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Optionally, show example projects from the
Build-a-Band studio and have the Build-a-Band
handout available to guide students.

❑ Build-a-Band handout
❑ Build-a-Band studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475523

❑ Give students time to create interactive instruments by
pairing sprites with sounds. Encourage them to
experiment with different ways to express sounds in
Scratch by exploring other blocks in the Sounds
category or using the editing tools within the Sounds
tab.
❑ Allow students to demonstrate their bands to one
another or let students walk around to interact with
classmates’ instruments. We recommend a gallery walk:
have students put their projects in presentation mode
and then invite them to walk around and explore each
other’s projects. Optionally, have students add their
projects to the Build-a-Band studio or a class studio.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What did you do ﬁrst?
+ What did you do next?
+ What did you do last?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Do projects make creative use of sounds?
+ Are the sprites in the projects interactive?

❑ Ask students to think back on the design process by
responding to the reﬂection prompts in their design
journals or in a group discussion.

NOTES
+ To share as a whole group, have students perform their
Scratch instruments together to form a class band!

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

BUILD-A-BAND
HOW CAN YOU UTILIZE SCRATCH TO
CREATE SOUNDS, INSTRUMENTS,
BANDS, OR STYLES OF MUSIC THAT
REPRESENT THE MUSIC YOU LOVE
MOST?
In this activity, you will build your own
music-inspired Scratch project by pairing
sprites with sounds to design interactive
instruments.

START HERE
❑ Create a sprite.
❑ Add sound blocks.
❑ Experiment with ways to make your instruments
interactive.

Choose instruments from the sprite library or create your
own.

THINGS TO TRY
❑ Use repeat blocks to make a sound play more than once.
❑ Import or record your own sounds or experiment with the
Sounds editor.
❑ Try playing with the tempo blocks to speed up or slow down
the rhythm.

FINISHED?
+ Add your project to the Build-A-Band
Studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475523
+ Challenge yourself to do more! Invent a
new instrument or record your own
sounds.
+ Help a neighbor!

UNIT 2 ACTIVITY

ORANGE SQUARE,
PURPLE CIRCLE
SUGGESTED TIME

30–45 MINUTES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ express their creativity by completing an
arts-themed challenge
+ gain more ﬂuency with Looks blocks and the paint
editor

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Optionally, show example projects from the Orange
Square, Purple Circle studio and have the Orange
Square, Purple Circle handout available to guide
students.

❑ Orange Square, Purple Circle handout
❑ Orange Square, Purple Circle studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475527

❑ Give students time to create a project that includes an
orange square and a purple circle. Invite students to
experiment with Looks blocks and the paint editor to
explore their artistic abilities.

REFLECTION PROMPTS

❑ Encourage students to share their creative work with
others. We recommend gallery walk: have students put
their projects in presentation mode and then invite
them to walk around and explore each other’s projects.
Optionally, have students add their projects to the
Orange Square, Purple Circle studio or a class studio.
❑ Ask students to think back on the design process by
responding to the reﬂection prompts in their design
journals or in a group discussion.

NOTES
+ If students have questions, remind them that they can
open the Tips Window to learn more about speciﬁc
blocks or different parts of the Scratch editor.
+ Scratch supports both bitmap and vector graphics.
Help students navigate to the vector mode or bitmap
mode button in the paint editor to design and
manipulate different types of images and text.
46

OBJECTIVES

+ How did you incorporate an orange square and a
purple circle into your project? Where did this idea
come from?
+ What was challenging about this activity?
+ What was surprising about this activity?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Do projects include an orange square and a purple
circle?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

ORANGE SQUARE,
PURPLE CIRCLE
WHAT PROJECT CAN YOU CREATE
THAT INCLUDES AN ORANGE
SQUARE AND A PURPLE CIRCLE?
In this challenge, you’ll create a project
that includes an orange square and a
purple circle. What will you create?

START HERE
❑ Draw your sprites using the Paint Editor.
❑ Add different Looks and Motion blocks to bring
your sprites to life.
❑ Repeat!

G
N
I
L
E
E
F
?
K
C
U
T
S

THES
Y! TRY
A
K
O
’S
THAT

GS…

E THIN

❑ Try brainstorming with a neighbor!
❑ Create a list of things you would like to try before you
start building your project in Scratch!
❑ Explore other projects to see what others are doing in
Scratch – this can be a great way to ﬁnd inspiration!

FINISHED?
+ Add your project to the Orange Square, Purple Circle Studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475527
+ Explore the difference between bitmap mode and vector
mode, located at the bottom of the paint editor.
+ Challenge yourself to do more! Add another shape or color.
+ Swap projects with a partner and remix each other’s
creations.
+ Help a neighbor!

UNIT 2 ACTIVITY

IT’S ALIVE!

OBJECTIVES

SUGGESTED TIME

30–45 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Optionally, show example projects from the It’s Alive!
studio and have the It’s Alive! handout available to
guide students.

❑ It’s Alive! handout
❑ It’s Alive! studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475529

❑ Introduce the concept of an animation as looping
through a series of incrementally different pictures,
such as in a ﬂipbook or a claymation ﬁlm. Encourage
students to explore loops by changing costumes or
backdrops to create an animation.
❑ Invite students to share their work with others by
hosting a gallery walk: have students put their projects
in presentation mode and then invite them to walk
around and explore each other’s projects. Optionally,
have students add their projects to the It’s Alive studio
or a class studio.
❑ Ask students to think back on the design process by
responding to the reﬂection prompts in their design
journals or in a group discussion.

NOTES
+ The difference between sprites and costumes is often a
source of confusion for Scratchers. The metaphor of
actors wearing multiple costumes can help clarify the
difference.
+ Students can animate their own image by taking
pictures of themselves using a camera or webcam.

By completing this activity, students will:
+ become more familiar with the computational
concepts of sequence and loops by experimenting
with Control blocks
+ be able to explain the difference between sprites
and costumes
+ practice experimenting and iterating through
developing an animation project

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What is the difference between a sprite and a
costume?
+ What is an animation?
+ List three ways you experience loops in real life
(e.g., going to sleep every night).

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Can students distinguish sprites and costumes?
+ Some Scratchers are particularly interested in
developing animation projects and prefer to spend
their time drawing and designing sprites, costumes,
or backdrops. How might you engage students in
both the aesthetic and technical aspects of projects?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

IT’S ALIVE!
HOW CAN YOU TAKE AN IMAGE OR A
PHOTO AND MAKE IT COME ALIVE?
In this activity, you will explore ways of
bringing sprites, images, and ideas to life
as an animation by programming a series
of costume changes.

START HERE
❑ Choose a sprite.
❑ Add a different costume.
❑ Add blocks to make the image come alive.
❑ Repeat!

THINGS TO TRY
❑ Try sketching your animation ideas on paper
ﬁrst – like a ﬂipbook.
❑ Experiment with different blocks and
costumes until you ﬁnd something you enjoy.
❑ Need some inspiration? Find projects in the
Animation section of the Explore page.

FINISHED?
+ Add your project to the It’s Alive studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475529

+ Challenge yourself to do more! Add more features to your project to
make your animations look even more lifelike.
+ Help a neighbor!
+ Share your project with a partner and walk them through your
design process.
+ Find an animated project you’re inspired by and remix it!

UNIT 2 ACTIVITY

DEBUG IT!

OBJECTIVES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ investigate the problem and ﬁnd a solution to ﬁve
debugging challenges
+ explore a range of concepts (including sequence
and loops) through the practices of testing and
debugging
+ develop a list of strategies for debugging projects

SUGGESTED TIME

15–30 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Optionally, have the Unit 2 Debug It! handout
available to guide students during the activity.

❑ Unit 2 Debug It! handout
❑ Unit 2 Debug It! studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475539

❑ Help students open the Debug It! programs from the
Unit 2 Debug It! studio or by following the project
links listed on the Unit 2 Debug It! handout. Encourage
students to click on the “Look Inside” button to
investigate the buggy program, tinker with problematic
code, and test possible solutions.
❑ Give students time to test and debug each Debug It!
challenge. Optionally, have students use the remix
function in Scratch to ﬁx the bugs and save corrected
programs.
❑ Ask students to reﬂect back on their testing and
debugging experiences by responding to the reﬂection
prompts in their design journals or in a group
discussion.
❑ Create a class list of debugging strategies by collecting
students’ problem ﬁnding and problem solving
approaches.

NOTES
+ Facilitate this activity in a whole group by having
students act out the Debug It! programs in a similar
way to the Performing Scripts activity, or introduce
performing scripts as a new strategy for testing and
debugging projects.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+
+
+
+

What was the problem?
How did you identify the problem?
How did you ﬁx the problem?
Did others have alternative approaches to ﬁxing the
problem?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

DEBUG IT!
HELP! CAN YOU DEBUG THESE FIVE
SCRATCH PROGRAMS?
In this activity, you will investigate what
is going awry and ﬁnd a solution for each
of the ﬁve Debug It! challenges.

❑ DEBUG IT! 2.1 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/23266426
In this project, Scratch Cat wants to show you a dance. When you
click on him, he should do a dance while a drum beat plays along
with him. However, as soon as he starts to dance he stops but the
drumming continues without him! How do we ﬁx this program?

❑ DEBUG IT! 2.2 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/24268476
In this project, when the green ﬂag is clicked Pico should move
towards Nano. When Pico reaches Nano, Pico should say “Tag,
you’re it!” and Nano says “My turn!” But something is wrong! Pico
doesn’t say anything to Nano. How do we ﬁx the program?

❑ DEBUG IT! 2.3 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/24268506

START HERE
❑ Go to the Unit 2 Debug It! Studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475539
❑ Test and debug each of the ﬁve debugging

This project is programmed to draw a happy face but something is
not quite right! The pen continues to draw from one of the eyes to
the smile when it should not be doing so. How do we ﬁx the
program?

❑ DEBUG IT! 2.4 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/23267140

challenges in the studio.
❑ Write down your solution or remix the buggy
program with your solution.

In this project, when the green ﬂag is clicked an animation of a
ﬂower growing begins and stops once it has fully bloomed. But
something is not quite right! Instead of stopping when all the
petals have bloomed, the animation starts all over. How do we ﬁx
this program?

❑ DEBUG IT! 2.5 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/23267245

G
N
I
L
E
E
F
?
K
C
U
T
S

E THIN
Y THES
R
T
!
Y
A
OK
THAT’S

In this project, the Happy Birthday song starts playing when the
green ﬂag is clicked. Once the song ﬁnishes, instructions should
appear telling us to "click on me to blow out the candles!" But
something is not working! The instructions to blow out the candles
are shown while the birthday song is playing rather than after it
ﬁnishes. How do we ﬁx this program?
GS…

FINISHED?
+ Add code commentary by right clicking on blocks in your
scripts. This can help others understand different parts
of your program!
+ Discuss your testing and debugging practices with a
partner – make notes of the similarities and differences
in your strategies.
+ Help a neighbor!

UNIT 2 ACTIVITY

MUSIC VIDEO
SUGGESTED TIME

45–60 MINUTES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ be able to create a project that combines
animation and music by working on a self-directed
music video project
+ gain more familiarity with sprites, costumes, and
sounds

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Introduce students to the idea of creating a music
video in Scratch that combines music with animation.
Optionally, show a few project examples from the
Music Video studio.

❑ Music Video handout
❑ Music Video studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475517

❑ Give students open-ended time to work on their
projects, with the Music Video handout available to
provide guidance and inspiration. Encourage students
to give credit on the project page for using others’
ideas, music, or code.

REFLECTION PROMPTS

❑ Help students give and receive feedback while
developing their projects. We suggest checking in with
a neighbor: have students stop midway and share their
works-in-progress with one other person or in their
critique groups (see the Unit 0 Critique Group activity)
to ask for feedback. Optionally, invite students to add
their projects to the Music Video studio or a class
studio.
❑ Ask students to think back on the design process by
responding to the reﬂection prompts in their design
journals or in a group discussion.

NOTES
+ To further personalize projects, help students include a
favorite song or record themselves singing or playing
an instrument, using features under the Sounds tab.
+ Questions about remixing and plagiarism may arise
during this activity. Take this opportunity to facilitate a
discussion about giving credit and attribution using
the Scratch FAQ about remixing:
https://scratch.mit.edu/info/faq#remix/
52

OBJECTIVES

+ What was a challenge you overcame? How did you
overcome it?
+ What is something you still want to ﬁgure out?
+ How did you give credit for ideas, music, or code that
you borrowed to use in your project?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Did the projects combine sprites and sound?
+ What parts of the projects did students choose to
animate?
+ Are there certain blocks or concepts introduced up
until now that students might still be struggling
with? How might you help?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

MUSIC VIDEO
HOW CAN YOU COMBINE ANIMATION
WITH MUSIC TO CREATE YOUR OWN
SCRATCH-INSPIRED MUSIC VIDEO?
In this project, you will explore ideas
related to theatre, song, dance, music,
drawing, illustration, photography, and
animation to create a personalized music
video!

START HERE
❑ Add sound.

take a photo

❑ Create and animate a sprite.
❑ Make them interact together!

upload sprite from ﬁle
receive a surprise sprite

upload sounds from a ﬁle
receive a surprise sound

paint your own sprite

record your own sounds

choose sprite from library

choose sounds from library

THINGS TO TRY

TIPS & TRICKS

BLOCKS TO PLAY WITH

❑ Use costumes to help bring your animations to life!
❑ Make your sprite interactive by adding scripts that have the
sprite respond to clicks, key presses, and more.
❑ Add instructions on the project page to explain how people
can interact with your program.

FINISHED?
FINISHED?
FINISHED?
+ Add your project to the Music Video
studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475517
+ Be sure to give credit to any music, code,
or other work used in your project.
+ Challenge yourself to do more! Create
your own sprites, sounds, or costumes!

UNIT 3
STORIES

YOU ARE HERE
0

WHAT’S INCLUDED
5

CHARACTERS
CONVERSATIONS
SCENES
DEBUG IT!
CREATURE CONSTRUCTION
PASS IT ON

58
60
62
64
66
68

UNIT 3
OVERVIEW
THE
“BIG
IDEA”IDEA”
THE
“BIG
In the introduction to his doctoral dissertation
exploring remix culture, Andres Monroy-Hernandez
(the lead designer of the initial version of the
Scratch online community) included three quotes:
Building on other people’s work has been a
longstanding practice in programming, and has only
been ampliﬁed by network technologies that
provide access to a wide range of other people’s
work. An important goal of creative computing is to
support connections between learners through
reusing and remixing. The Scratch authoring
environment and online community can support
young designers in this key computational practice
by helping them ﬁnd ideas and code to build upon,
enabling them to create more complex projects
than they could have created on their own.
The activities in this unit offer initial ideas and
strategies for cultivating a culture that supports
reusing and remixing. How can you further support
sharing and connecting?

We are
like dwa
rfs
the sho
ulders o standing upon
f
able to
giants, a
see mor
e and se nd so
than the
e farthe
ancie
r
– Bernar nts.
d of Cha
rtres, cir
ca 1130

A dwarf
on
shoulder a giant’s
s sees fa
rther
of the tw
o.
– George
Herbert,
1651

If I have
see
by stand n further it is
ing
shoulder on the
s of gian
ts.
– Isaac N
ewton, 1
676

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

KEY WORDS, CONCEPTS, & PRACTICES

Students will:
+ gain familiarity in and build understandings of the beneﬁts
of reusing and remixing while designing
+ develop greater ﬂuency with computational concepts
(events and parallelism) and practices (experimenting and
iterating, testing and debugging, reusing and remixing)
+ explore computational creation within the genre of stories
by designing collaborative narratives

+
+
+
+

reusing and remixing
make a block
backpack
stage

+
+
+
+

pass-it-on story
pair programming
scratch screening
design demo

NOTES
+ Reusing and remixing support the development of critical
code-reading capacities and provoke important questions
about ownership and authorship. Consider different
strategies for how you might facilitate, discuss, and assess
cooperative and collaborative work.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
This unit focuses on helping students develop their
storytelling and remixing abilities through a variety of
hands-on and off-computer design activities, providing
opportunities for students to work collaboratively and
build on the creative work of others. Building on initial
experiences from Unit 2, the activities in this unit are
designed to help students develop deeper ﬂuency in the
computational concepts of events and parallelism and the
computational practices of experimenting and iterating
and reusing and remixing. Each capacity-building activity is
designed to help students build up storytelling projects by
discovering new blocks and methods for programming
interactions between sprites and backdrops, culminating in
a Pass It On project.

POSSIBLE PATH
SESSION 1

SESSION 2

SESSION 3

SESSION 4

SESSION 5

CHARACTERS

CONVERSATIONS

SCENES

DEBUG IT!

CREATURE
CONSTRUCTION

PASS IT ON

Create your own
Scratch blocks
using Make a
Block.

How do you coordinate
interactions between
sprites using timing and
broadcasting?

What's the difference
between the Stage
and sprites?

Help!
Can you debug these
ﬁve Scratch
programs?

What can we
create by building
on others’ work?

UNIT 3 ACTIVITY

CHARACTERS
SUGGESTED TIME

30–45 MINUTES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ experiment with deﬁning behaviors for characters
using Scratch’s Make a Block feature
+ gain more familiarity with the computational
concepts of events and parallelism and the
practice of experimenting and iterating

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Optionally, show example projects from the Characters
studio and have the Characters handout available to
guide students.

❑ Characters handout
❑ Characters studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475545

❑ Give students time to create their own Scratch blocks
using the Make a Block feature found in the More
Blocks category. Help them design two sprites or
“characters” that each have two behaviors. Optionally,
conduct a walkthrough of the Make a Block feature
together as a class.

REFLECTION PROMPTS

❑ Allow students to share their characters and behaviors
with one another. We suggest the design demo
activity: invite a few students to present their work to
the class and demonstrate how they implemented the
Make a Block feature. Optionally, have students add
their projects to the Characters studio or a separate
class studio.
❑ Ask students to think back on the design process by
responding to the reﬂection prompts in their design
journals or in a group discussion.

NOTES
+ If students are struggling with ﬁguring out how to use
the Make a Block feature, invite them to explore how
others implemented the feature by investigating the
code of projects in the Characters studio.
+ Learn more about the Make a Block feature in this
video tutorial: http://bit.ly/makeablock

OBJECTIVES

+ How would you explain Make a Block to someone
else?
+ When might you use Make a Block?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Do projects include two sprites that each have two
behaviors using the Make a Block feature?
+ Can students explain how to use the Make a Block
feature to each other and to you?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

CHARACTERS
DO YOU WANT TO CREATE YOUR
OWN SCRATCH BLOCKS?
Experiment with the Make a Block feature in
Scratch! In this project, you will create your
own blocks that deﬁne two behaviors for two
different characters.

START HERE
❑ Choose from the library, paint, or upload two
sprite characters.
❑ Click on the Make a Block button in the My
Blocks category to create and name your block.
❑ Add blocks under the Deﬁne block to control
what your custom block will do.
❑ Experiment with using your block to program
your characters’ behaviors.
❑ Repeat!

THINGS TO TRY
❑ Feeling stuck? That’s okay! Check out this video to get started with
the Make a Block feature: http://bit.ly/makeablock
❑ Explore other projects in the Characters Studio to see what new
blocks others have created.
❑ Sometimes there can be more than one way of deﬁning the same
behavior. Experiment with different block combinations to try out
multiple options and outcomes.

FINISHED?
+ Add your project to the Characters Studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475545
+ Challenge yourself to do more! Experiment
with adding different characters and
behaviors using the Make a Block feature.
+ Help a neighbor!

UNIT 3 ACTIVITY

CONVERSATIONS
SUGGESTED TIME

30–45 MINUTES

OBJECTIVES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ explore two different strategies for synchronizing
interactions between sprites (timing and
broadcasting) by remixing a joke project
+ develop greater familiarity with the computational
concept of events and parallelism and the practice
of reusing and remixing

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Optionally, explore the Penguin Joke starter project as
a group and have the Conversations handout available
to guide students.

❑ Conversations handout
❑ Penguin Joke starter project
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10015800
❑ Conversations studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475547

❑ Invite students to see inside the Penguin Joke starter
project to observe how the conversation is animated
using wait blocks. Have students use the remix
function and redesign the Penguin Joke project to
coordinate the conversation using the broadcast,
broadcast and wait, and when I receive blocks.
❑ Encourage students to share their joke projects with
one another. We suggest the design demo activity:
invite a few students to present their work to the class
and demonstrate how they implemented broadcast.
Optionally, have students add their projects to the
Conversations studio or a class studio.
❑ Ask students to think back on the design process by
responding to the reﬂection prompts in their design
journals or in a group discussion.

NOTES
+ If students are having trouble understanding how to
use the broadcast and when I receive block pair, invite
them to explore the code of example projects in the
Broadcast Examples studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/202853

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ How would you describe broadcast to someone else?
+ When would you use timing in a project? When
would you use broadcasting?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Do projects use the broadcast and when I receive
blocks?
+ Can students explain how to use the broadcast,
broadcast and wait, and when I receive blocks?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

CONVERSATIONS
WHAT ARE DIFFERENT WAYS TO COORDINATE
INTERACTIONS BETWEEN SPRITES?
In this activity, you'll explore different ways
to program sprites to have conversations!
Experiment with timing and explore using
broadcast by remixing a joke project.

START HERE
❑ Look inside the Penguin Jokes project:
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10015800
❑ Investigate the code to see how the wait and
say blocks are used to coordinate the
conversation.
❑ Remix the project to use the broadcast and
when I receive blocks instead of wait blocks.

G
N
I
L
E
FE
?
K
C
U
T
S
RY
OKAY! T
THAT’S
…
THINGS

THESE

❑ Brainstorm ideas with a neighbor! Generate a list of
possible solutions and test them out together.
❑ Try using the broadcast and when I receive blocks in
different parts of your project.
❑ Explore projects in the Conversations studio to get
inspiration for different ways to coordinate
conversations between sprites.

FINISHED?
+ Add your project to the Conversations studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475547
+ Challenge yourself to do more! Add other characters and
conversations.
+ Share your project with a neighbor and walk them
through your process of exploration and design.
+ Help a neighbor!

UNIT 3 ACTIVITY

SCENES

OBJECTIVES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ be able to create a project that experiments with
changing backdrops, like a story with multiple
scenes or a slideshow
+ gain more familiarity with the computational
concepts of events and parallelism and the
practice of experimenting and iterating

SUGGESTED TIME

30–45 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Optionally, show example projects from the Scenes
studio and have the Scenes handout available to guide
students.

❑ Scenes handout
❑ Scenes studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475550

❑ Give students time to develop a project that includes
multiple scene changes using different backdrops, such
as in a slideshow. Challenge students to explore and
manipulate scripts in the Stage to initiate backdrop
changes.
❑ Allow students to share their projects with one
another. We suggest the design demo activity: invite a
few students to present their work to the class and
demonstrate how they implemented switching
backdrops. Optionally, have students add their projects
to the Scenes studio or a class studio.
❑ Ask students to think back on the design process by
responding to the reﬂection prompts in their design
journals or in a group discussion.

NOTES
+ If students are having trouble ﬁguring out how to
switch backdrops, encourage them to tinker with
blocks under the Looks category, especially the switch
backdrop to, switch backdrop to and wait, and next
backdrop blocks.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+
+
+
+

What does the Stage have in common with sprites?
How is the Stage different from sprites?
How do you initiate a sprite’s actions in a scene?
What other types of projects (beyond animations)
use scene changes?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Do projects successfully coordinate multiple scenes
using changing backdrops?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

SCENES
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
THE STAGE AND SPRITES?
In this activity, you will create a project that
experiments with backdrops, like a story
with multiple scenes or a slideshow.

START HERE
❑ Choose from the library, paint, or upload
multiple backdrops into your project.
❑ Experiment with blocks from the Looks and
Events categories to initiate switching
backdrops.
❑ Add scripts to the stage and sprites to
coordinate what happens when the backdrop
changes in your project!

THINGS TO TRY
❑ Look for blocks under the sprites and
the stage related to backdrop and test
them out to see what they do!
❑ Need more inspiration? Explore the
Scratch online community to discover
projects that use multiple backdrops.

FINISHED?
+ Add your project to the Scenes Studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475550
+ Challenge yourself to do more! Add more backdrop changes to your
project.
+ Help a neighbor!
+ Return to one of your previous projects or ﬁnd a project you are
inspired by and remix it by adding switching backdrops.

UNIT3
UNIT 3 ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY

DEBUG IT!

OBJECTIVES

SUGGESTED TIME

15–30 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Optionally, have the Unit 3 Debug It! handout
available to guide students during the activity.

❑ Unit 3 Debug It! handout
❑ Unit 3 Debug It! studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475554

❑ Help students open the Debug It! programs from the
Unit 3 Debug It! studio or by following the project
links listed on the Unit 3 Debug It! handout. Encourage
students to click on the “Look Inside” button to
investigate the buggy program, tinker with problematic
code, and test possible solutions.
❑ Give students time to test and debug each Debug It!
challenge. Optionally, have students use the remix
function in Scratch to ﬁx the bugs and save corrected
programs.
❑ Ask students to reﬂect back on their testing and
debugging experiences by responding to the reﬂection
prompts in their design journals or in a group
discussion.
❑ Create a class list of debugging strategies by collecting
students’ problem ﬁnding and problem solving
approaches.

NOTES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ investigate the problem and ﬁnd a solution to ﬁve
debugging challenges
+ explore a range of concepts (including events and
parallelism) through the practices of testing and
debugging

+ Being able to read others’ code is a valuable skill and
is critical for being able to engage in the practices of
reusing and remixing.
+ This activity is a great opportunity for pair
programming. Divide students into pairs to work on the
debugging challenges.
+ Students can explain their code revisions by
right-clicking on Scratch blocks to insert code
comments.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+
+
+
+

What was the problem?
How did you identify the problem?
How did you ﬁx the problem?
Did others have alternative approaches to ﬁxing the
problem?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

DEBUG IT!

❑ DEBUG IT! 3.1 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/24269007
In this project, the Scratch Cat teaches Gobo to meow. But when it's
Gobo's turn to try -- Gobo stays silent. How do we ﬁx the program?

HELP! CAN YOU DEBUG THESE FIVE SCRATCH
PROGRAMS?
In this activity, you will investigate what is going
awry and ﬁnd a solution for each of the ﬁve
Debug It! challenges.

❑ DEBUG IT! 3.2 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/24269046
In this project, the Scratch Cat is supposed to count from 1 to the
number the user provides. But the Scratch Cat always counts to 10.
How do we ﬁx the program?

❑ DEBUG IT! 3.3 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/24269070

START HERE
❑ Go to the Unit 3 Debug It! Studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475554

In this project, the Scratch Cat is doing roll call with Gobo's friends:
Giga, Nano, Pico, and Tera. But everything is happening all at once!
How do we ﬁx the program?

❑ Test and debug each of the ﬁve debugging
challenges in the studio.
❑ Write down your solution or remix the buggy
program with your solution.

❑ DEBUG IT! 3.4 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/24269097
In this project, the Scratch Cat and Gobo are practicing their
jumping routine. When Scratch Cat says "Jump!", Gobo should jump
up and down. But Gobo isn't jumping. How do we ﬁx the program?

❑ DEBUG IT! 3.5 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/24269131

G
N
I
L
E
E
F
?
K
C
U
T
S

GS…
E THIN

THES
Y! TRY
A
K
O
’S
THAT

In this project, the scene changes when you press the right arrow
key. The star of the project -- a dinosaur -- should be hidden in
every scene except when the scene transitions to the auditorium
backdrop. In the auditorium, the dinosaur should appear and do a
dance. But the dinosaur is always present and is not dancing at the
right time. How do we ﬁx the program?

FINISHED?
+ Add code commentary by right clicking on blocks in your
scripts. This can help others understand different parts
of your program!
+ Discuss your testing and debugging practices with a
partner, and make note of the similarities and
differences in your strategies.
+ Help a neighbor!

UNIT 3 ACTIVITY

CREATURE
CONSTRUCTION

By completing this activity, students will:
+ be introduced to the computational practice of
reusing and remixing by contributing to a
collaborative drawing

SUGGESTED TIME

15–30 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ In this activity, students will draw a “creature” in three
parts.

❑ blank paper (approximately 8.5” by 11”), folded into
thirds
❑ things to sketch with (pencils, pens, markers, etc.)

❑ Give each student a tri-folded sheet of blank paper and
one minute to draw a “head” for their creature. Next,
have them fold the paper over so that the head is
hidden, with little prompts for where to continue the
drawing. After the head is hidden, students will pass
the creature to another student. Then, give students
one minute to draw a “middle” for their creature, using
the guides from the head, but without peeking! After
the middles are hidden (and prompts drawn), pass the
creatures. Finally, give students one minute to draw a
“bottom” for their creature. When ﬁnished, unfold the
papers to reveal the collaboratively constructed
creatures!
❑ Post drawings on a wall or board and let students
explore the outcome of their creative contributions.
❑ Facilitate a group discussion about co-authorship,
collaboration, and reusing and remixing work.

NOTES
+ This activity is a perfect warm-up activity for the Pass
It On project! We recommend facilitating Creature
Construction directly before Pass It On.
+ Optionally, have students sign their names at the
bottom of each creature drawing they worked on to
identify the contributing artists.

OBJECTIVES

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What is your deﬁnition of remixing?
+ Think about the creature you started (drew the
“head” for). How did your ideas become extended or
enhanced by others’ contributions?
+ Considering the creatures you extended (drew the
“middle” or “bottom” sections for), how did your
contributions extend or enhance others’ ideas?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Can students explain remixing and its beneﬁts?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

UNIT 3 ACTIVITY

PASS IT ON

OBJECTIVES

SUGGESTED TIME

45–60 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Divide the group into pairs. Introduce students to the
concept of a pass-it-on-story, a Scratch project that is
started by a pair of people, and then passed on to two
other pairs to extend and reimagine. Optionally, print
out the Pass It On handout.

❑ Pass It On handout
❑ Pass It On studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475543
❑ Projector and screen to present student work (optional)

❑ Encourage students to start in whatever way they want
– focusing on characters, scene, plot, or whatever
element excites them. Give each pair 10 minutes to
work on their collaborative story before having them
rotate to extend another story by remixing the project.
Encourage students to give credit for reusing or
remixing content.
❑ After two rotations, allow students to revisit story
projects with their contributions. We suggest hosting a
Scratch screening: with projector and screen, present
the story projects with students gathered around to
watch. Optionally, invite students to add their projects
to the Pass It On studio or a class studio.
❑ Ask students to respond to the reﬂection prompts in
their design journals or in a group discussion.

NOTES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ be able to create a Scratch project that tells a
story by reusing and remixing the work of others
+ experience pair programming by working in pairs
to develop a collaborative storytelling project

+ Consider organizing your Scratch screening as an
event! Invite students from other classes to the
viewing, offer snacks and drinks, or host the event in
an auditorium or room with a large wall or screen for
displaying projects.
+ Introduce students to the backpack (located at the
bottom of the Scratch project editor) as another way to
remix projects. Learn more about this tool in the
Backpack video tutorial: http://bit.ly/scratchbackpack

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ How did it feel to remix and build on others’ work? How
did it feel to be remixed?
+ Where else in your life have you seen or experienced
reusing and remixing? Share two examples.
+ How was working with someone else different from your
prior experiences of designing your Scratch projects?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ What parts of projects did students contribute to?
+ Do students seem comfortable with the concepts of
events and parallelism and practices of reusing and
remixing?
If not, in what ways can these be further clariﬁed?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

PASS IT ON
WHAT CAN WE CREATE BY BUILDING
ON OTHERS’ WORK?
In this project, you will start developing
an animated story project, and then you
will pass the story on to others to remix,
extend, or reimagine!

START HERE
❑ Work on a story project that focuses on
characters, scene, plot, or whatever element
excites you.
❑ After 10 minutes, save and share your project
online.
❑ Rotate & extend another story project by
remixing it.
❑ Repeat!

THINGS TO TRY
❑ Brainstorm different possibilities for
remixing, extending, or reimagining a story.
Do you want to add a new scene to the end?
Could you imagine what happens before the
story begins? What if a new character was
added? How about inserting a plot twist?
What else?

❑ Adding comments in your code can help others understand
different parts of your program. To attach a comment to a script,
right click on a block and add a description.

BLOCKS TO PLAY WITH

FINISHED?
FINISHED?
+ Add your project to the Pass It
On studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/4
75543
+ Help a neighbor!
+ Return to all the projects you
contributed to and check out
how the stories evolved!

UNIT 4
GAMES

YOU ARE HERE
0

WHAT’S INCLUDED
5

DREAM GAME LIST
STARTER GAMES
SCORE
EXTENSIONS
INTERACTIONS
DEBUG IT!

74
76
80
82
84
86

UNIT 4
OVERVIEW
THE
“BIG
IDEA”IDEA”
THE
“BIG
Personalization is an important guiding principle in the design of the creative computing experience. By “personalization”, we
mean both connecting to personal interests and acknowledging that personal interests can vary considerably. There are many
ways of knowing and doing – and exploring these multiple ways can help support interest, motivation, and persistence among
young learners. In this unit, learners explore some of the advanced concepts and challenging problems associated with game
design. An advanced concept or challenging problem can be made more accessible if rooted in activities that are personally
meaningful. As an example of the power of context, we turn to a story shared by Mitch Resnick – the director of the Scratch
project at MIT.
A few years ago I was at one of our Computer Clubhouse after
school centers and I saw a 13-year-old boy working on creating his
own game. He was able to control a character, in this case, a ﬁsh. He
wanted the game to keep track of the score, so you could see how
many little ﬁsh had been eaten by the big ﬁsh, but he didn’t know
how.
I saw this as an opportunity to introduce the idea of variables. I
showed this to him and he immediately saw how he could use this
block to keep track of how many ﬁsh had been eaten in his game. He
took the block and put it in the script right where the big ﬁsh eats
the little ﬁsh. He quickly tried it. Sure enough, every time the big
ﬁsh ate a little ﬁsh, the score goes up by 1.
I think that he really got a deep understanding of variables because
he really wanted to make use of it. That's one of our overall goals of
Scratch. It's not just about variables, but for all types of concepts. We
see that kids get a much deeper understanding of the concepts they
learn when they are making use of the concepts in a meaningful KEY WORDS, CONCEPTS, & PRACTICES
and motivating way.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will:
+ be introduced to the computational concepts of
conditionals, operators, and data (variables and lists)
+ become more familiar with the computational practices of
experimenting and iterating, testing and debugging, reusing
and remixing, and abstracting and modularizing by building
and extending a self-directed maze, pong, or scrolling game
project
72 + identify and understand common game mechanics

+
+
+
+
+

abstracting and modularizing
conditionals
operators
data
variables and lists

+
+
+
+
+

sensing
feedback fair
arcade day
puzzle jar
brain dump

NOTES
+ Many new concepts are explored in this unit, so we’ve
included added support in the form of example project
studios, new programming puzzles for extra practice, and
starter game projects that we encourage you to remix
and reuse as needed.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
In this unit, learners will become game designers and
experience creating their own game project. Guided by the
activities in this unit, students will be introduced to game
mechanics and game development while building
understandings of computational concepts (conditionals,
operators, data) and computational practices (abstracting
and modularizing).
You could get students started on their game projects with
the Starter Games activity and then support further
development through other activities. From learning
common game mechanics such as keeping score and
side-scrolling, to the creation of multiplayer games
(e.g., Pong), Unit 4 activities offer students multiple
opportunities to practice game development.

POSSIBLE PATH
SESSION 1

SESSIONS 1 - 5

SESSION 2

SESSION 3

SESSION 4

SESSION 5

DREAM GAME
LIST

STARTER
GAMES

SCORE

EXTENSIONS

INTERACTIONS

DEBUG IT!

What do all games
have in common?

How can you use
Scratch to build an
interactive game?

How can you add
score to a game
using variables?

What are different
ways of extending
and increasing
difﬁculty in a game?

Tackle nine Scratch
programming
puzzles.

Help!
Can you debug
these ﬁve Scratch
programs?

UNIT 4 ACTIVITY

DREAM GAME
LIST

OBJECTIVES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ identify common design elements of games

SUGGESTED TIME

15–30 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Divide students into small groups of 2-3 people.

❑ paper to write down game design elements
❑ things to sketch with (pencils, pens, markers, etc.)

❑ In their small groups, ask students to generate a list of
games that they enjoy playing. They can compose the
list using their design journals or a sheet of paper. We
suggest facilitating the brain dump brainstorming
activity: give students a short time period (1-2
minutes) to write down as many games as they can.
Then, have students narrow down their favorites from
the brain dump list.
❑ After a few minutes, ask groups about their list of
games:
What do the games have in common?
What features of their design make them a game?
❑ Facilitate a class discussion about what characteristics
make up a game and generate a class list of common
game mechanics. Next, ask students to imagine their
dream game and write a list of design elements for
that game.
❑ Invite students to share their dream game lists in their
small groups or critique groups (see Unit 0 Critique
Group activity) to get feedback and suggestions.

NOTES
+ Invite students to refer back to this dream game list
while programming games in other Unit 4 activities.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+
+
+
+

Make a list of your favorite games.
What do the games have in common?
What features of their design make them a game?
Create a list of design elements for your dream
game.

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Do the dream game lists include features of games?
+ What design elements are similar or different from
the class group list?
+ What do the lists tell you about the kinds of games
and the types of play your students enjoy?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

UNIT 4 ACTIVITY

STARTER GAMES
SUGGESTED TIME

45–60 MINUTES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ develop greater ﬂuency with computational
concepts (conditionals, operators, data) and
practices (experimenting and iterating, testing and
debugging, reusing and remixing, abstracting and
modularizing) by working on a self-directed game
project

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ In this activity, students will create a starter game
project that can be revisited and extended during the
Score, Extensions, and Interactions activities.
Optionally, show the Maze, Pong, and Scrolling
example starter projects, and have the Maze, Pong, and
Scrolling handouts available to guide students.

❑ Maze handout
❑ Maze example starter project
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/11414041
❑ Pong handout
❑ Pong example starter project
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10128515
❑ Scrolling handout
❑ Scrolling example starter project
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/22162012
❑ Games studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/487504

❑ Choose one game project to facilitate as a class or let
students choose which game they want to create:
maze, pong, or scrolling. Give students time to start
building their games or let them remix one of the
starter projects.
❑ Encourage students to get feedback on their
games-in-progress. We suggest the feedback fair
activity: half of the students stay in their seats with
their projects open while the other half walks around
exploring projects, asking questions, and giving
feedback, then switch sides. Optionally, have students
add their ﬁnal game projects to the Games studio or a
class studio.
❑ Ask students to respond to the reﬂection prompts in
their design journals or in a group discussion.

NOTES
+ To celebrate and share ﬁnal game creations, we
recommend hosting an Arcade Day. Final game projects
are placed in presentation mode; students walk around
and play each other’s games.
+ The Scrolling game option introduces cloning. Help
students learn more about the cloning blocks with the
Cloning handout from Unit 5 Advanced Features.
76

OBJECTIVES

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What was challenging about designing your game?
+ What are you proud of?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Do games include conditionals, operators, and data?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

MAZE
HOW CAN YOU USE SCRATCH TO BUILD
AN INTERACTIVE GAME?
In this project, you will create a game. This
game includes interactions between sprites,
score, and levels. You move a sprite from the
start of a maze to the end without touching
the walls.

START HERE
❑ Draw a maze-like background and use different
colors for the walls and end-of-maze marker.
❑ Add a sprite.
❑ Make your game interactive!

These scripts give the player control over sprite movement in the
maze.

THINGS TO TRY
❑ Add multiple levels to your game! This can
be done through the use of different
backdrops and using broadcast blocks to
trigger the next level.
❑ Use the make a variable block to keep score!
❑ Experiment with timer blocks to add new
challenges to your maze!

This tells your sprite where to begin
and marks the start of the maze.
This tells the end-of-maze sprite
that players win when the ball
touches this sprite.

This will cause your sprite to bounce off
the blue walls of the maze.

BLOCKS TO PLAY WITH

FINISHED?
FINISHED?
+ Add your project to the
Games Studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios
/487504
+ Swap games with a partner
and walk each other through
your creations.

PONG
HOW CAN YOU USE SCRATCH TO BUILD
AN INTERACTIVE GAME?
In this project, you will create a game. This
game includes interactions between
sprites, score, and levels. The game is
similar to the classic game of pong, where
the goal is to keep the sprite from getting
past you.

START HERE
❑ Create two sprites: a paddle for the user to
control and a ball the user will be playing with.
❑ Make your paddle sprite interactive.
❑ Bring your game to life!

THINGS TO TRY
❑ How do you add difﬁculty to your game?
Creating different levels, using a timer, or
keeping score are a few examples of things
you could do.
❑ Experiment with changing the look of your
game by editing the backdrops!
❑ Explore using different key presses to control
your sprites!

BLOCKS TO PLAY WITH

Interacts with the walls
Interacts with the paddle
These control the ball - if touching the paddle or a wall, it continues moving. If
touching red (meaning the ball moved past the paddle) the game ends.

FINISHED?
FINISHED?
FINISHED?
+ Add your project to the
Games Studio:

http://scratch.mit.edu/studios
/487504

+ Swap games with a partner
and walk each other
through your creations.

SCROLLING
HOW CAN YOU USE SCRATCH TO BUILD AN
INTERACTIVE GAME?
In this project, you will create a game. This game
includes interactions between sprites, score, and
levels. The game is similar to Flappy Bird, where
the goal is to keep an object from falling to the
ground or touching certain objects.

START HERE
Controls sprite movement

❑ Create two sprites: one for the player to control
(helicopter) and one to avoid (gliding bars).
❑ Make the helicopter interactive.
❑ Bring your game to life by adding scripts to
make the gliding bars scroll across the stage!

This creates clones, which are used in the
script below to make the bars scroll across
the screen:

BLOCKS TO PLAY WITH

Causes sprite to constantly fall downward

Speciﬁes when the game ends

FINISHED?
FINISHED?
+ Add your project to the
Games Studio:

http://scratch.mit.edu/studios
/487504

+ Swap games with a partner
and walk each other
through your creations.

UNIT 4 ACTIVITY

SCORE

OBJECTIVES

SUGGESTED TIME

30–45 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Optionally, explore the Fish Chomp starter project as a
group and have the Score handout available to guide
students.

❑ Score handout
❑ Score examples studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/218313
❑ Fish Chomp starter project
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10859244
❑ Fish Chomp remix studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475615

❑ Help students open the Fish Chomp starter project.
Give students time to explore variables by remixing
the Fish Chomp Starter Project to add score to the
game. Optionally, give students time to incorporate
score into their previously started maze, pong, or
scrolling game projects.
❑ Allow students to share their Fish Chomp remixes or
game projects with added score. We suggest the
Design Demo activity: invite a few students to present
their projects to the group and demonstrate how they
implemented score using variables. Optionally, have
students add their remixes to the Fish Chomp Remix
studio or a class studio.
❑ Ask students to think back on the design process by
responding to the reﬂection prompts in their design
journals or in a group discussion.

NOTES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ be able to describe what a variable is and why
variables are useful
+ be introduced to the computational concept of
data
+ experience remixing and reusing a project or part
of a project

+ Encourage students to clarify their understanding of
variables by exploring code from sample projects in
the Score examples studio.
+ Variables are an important mathematical and
computational concept. Students are taught about
variables in their math and science classes, but many
students have a difﬁcult time learning them. Games
are one way to make the usefulness of variables more
concrete.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ How would you explain variables to someone else?
+ What are variables good for?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Can students explain what a variable is and what
variables are good for?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

SCORE
HOW CAN YOU KEEP SCORE IN A
SCRATCH PROJECT?
Fish Chomp is a game where players try
to catch as many ﬁsh as they can by
guiding a sprite with the mouse. In this
activity, you will remix Fish Chomp by
adding a score with variables.

START HERE
❑ Go to the Fish Chomp project page:
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10859244
❑ Click on the Make a Variable button in the Data
category to create and name a variable for
score.
❑ Experiment with your new variable blocks to
incorporate score into your project!

G
N
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L
E
E
F
?
K
C
U
ST

GS…

E THIN

THES
Y! TRY
A
K
O
’S
THAT

❑ Not sure how to work with variables? Check out this project for
more information: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/2042755
❑ Or take a look at this video: http://youtu.be/uXq379XkhVw
❑ Explore and study code in games that use score to learn more
about creating variables and incorporating score into a project.

FINISHED?
+ Add your project to the Fish Chomp
Remix studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475615

+ Challenge yourself to do more! How can
you use score to add difﬁculty to your
game design?
+ Find a game you are inspired by and
remix it!

UNIT 4 ACTIVITY

EXTENSIONS
SUGGESTED TIME

30–45 MINUTES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ become more familiar with the concepts of
conditionals, operators, and data by exploring
programs that illustrate common game mechanics

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Optionally, show example projects from the Extensions
studio and have the Extensions handout available to
guide students.

❑ Extensions handout
❑ Extensions studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475619

❑ Give students time to explore the code of programs in
the Extensions studio to investigate different ways
games can be increased in difﬁculty or extended. Ask
students to select one or more extensions to add to
their previously started maze, pong, or scrolling game
projects. Give students time to experiment and
incorporate the extension(s) into their games.
❑ Allow students to share their extended game projects
with one another. We suggest facilitating the
pair-share or design demo activity to let students
share their games and demonstrate what they learned.
❑ Ask students to think back on the design process by
responding to the reﬂection prompts in their design
journals or in a group discussion.

NOTES
+ To provide more scaffolding for students needing extra
support, we suggest walking through one extension
sample program (e.g., levels) as a class and helping
students add the extension to their game projects.
+ The backpack tool is one way students can incorporate
parts of the extension projects into their starter
games. Learn more about backpack at
http://bit.ly/scratchbackpack
82

OBJECTIVES

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What are different ways of increasing difﬁculty in a
game?
+ Which extensions did you add to your game project?
+ Describe your process for including the extension(s)
in your game?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Were students able to incorporate extensions into
their original game projects?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

EXTENSIONS
HOW CAN YOU EXTEND AND
REIMAGINE GAMES IN SCRATCH?
Get into game design by adding extended
features within your Scratch project!
Choose at least one (or more!) of the
following extensions and add it to your
previously started maze, pong, or
scrolling games.

START HERE
❑ Go to the Extensions studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475619
❑ Choose one (or more) of the extensions to
explore.
❑ Incorporate your choice into your previously
started game projects!

+ SCORE http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1940443

Demonstrates how to set and change a score. Receive 10 points
every time the Scratch cat is clicked.

+ LEVELS http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1940453

Demonstrates how to change levels. Score increases by 1 every time
the space bar is pressed. Level increases by 1 for every 10 points.

+ TIMER http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1940445

Demonstrates how to use a timer. Use the mouse to navigate the
Scratch cat to Gobo.

+ ENEMIES http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1940450

Demonstrates how to add an enemy. Avoid the tennis ball by using
the up and down arrow keys.

+ REWARDS http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1940456

Demonstrates how to collect items. Use the arrow keys to move
the Scratch cat around to collect quest items.

+ MOUSE http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/25192659

Demonstrates how to program the mouse to control game play.
Move the mouse to move the paddle.

+ RESTART http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/25192935

Demonstrates how to make a button to restart the game. Click on
the RESTART button to restart.

+ MENU http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/25192991

Demonstrates how to display a menu screen at the beginning of
the game. Click START or DIRECTIONS on the menu screen.

+ MULTIPLAYER http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/25192711

Demonstrates how to add another player to the game. Player 1
uses the arrow keys to navigate Pico through the maze, and player
2 uses the W, A, S, D keys to navigate Nano through the maze.

THINGS TO TRY
+ The backpack can be an extremely useful tool while
programming in Scratch. It can store everything from
lines of code, to music ﬁles, to sprites, and more. Try using
it to incorporate extensions into your game projects.
+ Alternatively, sketching out ideas and bits of code in your
design journal is another great method for planning how
to incorporate your extensions.

FINISHED?
+ Add another extension to your maze, pong, or scrolling
game.
+ Challenge yourself to do more! Continue going through
each of the extensions and add them to your games.
+ Help a neighbor!
+ Share your project with a neighbor and give each other
feedback on your games.

UNIT 4 ACTIVITY

INTERACTIONS

By completing this activity, students will:
+ explore different approaches to making projects
interactive by solving a series of nine
programming puzzles
+ gain more ﬂuency in the concepts of conditionals,
operators, and data, and the practice of testing and
debugging

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ On their own or in small groups of 2-3 people,
challenge students to further explore Scratch by
creating Scratch programs that solve each of the nine
Interactions programming puzzles. These Interactions
puzzles explore Sensing blocks, engaging some of the
more advanced concepts in Scratch related to
interactivity. Optionally, have the Interactions handout
available to guide students during the activity.

❑ Interactions handout
❑ Interactions studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/487213

❑ Each puzzle can have several possible solutions. Invite
students or groups to share different solutions and
strategies. We suggest the Pair-Share or Design Demo
activity to allow students to share their work and
describe their process. Optionally, have students add
their projects to the Interactions studio or a class
studio.
❑ Ask students to think back on the challenge by
responding to the reﬂection prompts in their design
journals or in a group discussion.

NOTES

OBJECTIVES

+ Choose particular challenges that highlight new blocks
or concepts that you would like students to explore. Or
let students invent their own interaction puzzle
prompts.
+ Repurpose these puzzles as an unstructured activity for
students who ﬁnish other activities early or as a
warm-up challenge. Create a puzzle jar: print out, cut,
fold, and place copies of each puzzle description in a
jar. Then, let students pick puzzles from the jar to
solve.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ Which puzzles did you work on?
+ What was your strategy for solving the puzzles?
+ Which puzzles helped you think about your game
project?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Are the puzzles solved?
+ Did students explore other approaches for solving
the puzzles?
+ Are there certain blocks or concepts students are
still struggling with? How might you help?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

INTERACTIONS
WHAT DIFFERENTIATES A SCRATCH
PROJECT FROM A STILL IMAGE OR A VIDEO?
Tackle these nine puzzles that engage some of
the more advanced concepts in Scratch related to
interactivity. Each of these challenges has several
possible solutions.

❑ PUZZLE 1: Whenever you press the B key, the sprite gets a little
bigger. Whenever you press the S key, the sprite gets a little smaller.

❑ PUZZLE 2: Whenever the sprite hears a loud sound, it changes color.

❑ PUZZLE 3: Whenever the sprite is in the top 25% of the screen, it
says "I like it up here."
❑ PUZZLE 4: When the sprite touches something blue, it plays a high
note. When it touches something red, it plays a low note.

START HERE
❑ Create a Scratch program for each of the nine
interactivity puzzles.

❑ PUZZLE 5: Whenever two sprites collide, one of them says: "Excuse
me.”
❑ PUZZLE 6: Whenever the cat sprite gets near the dog sprite, the dog
turns and runs from the cat.
❑ PUZZLE 7: Whenever you click on the background, a ﬂower appears
at that spot.
❑ PUZZLE 8: Whenever you click on a sprite, all other sprites do a
dance.

G
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FE
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U
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❑ PUZZLE 9: Whenever you move the mouse-pointer, the sprite follows
but doesn't touch the mouse-pointer.

GS…

E THIN

HES
! TRY T
Y
A
K
O
THAT’S

❑ Before getting started in Scratch, write down ideas in
your design journal for possible ways of programming
each of the interactivity puzzles.
❑ Work with a neighbor. Collaborating with a partner can
be a great way to solve problems and gain new
perspectives on ways of programming in Scratch!

FINISHED?
+ Add each of the projects you create to the Interaction
Studio: http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/487213
+ Help a neighbor!
+ Discuss your strategies for approaching each puzzle with
a partner. Take notes about the similarities and
differences in your methods.

UNIT 4 ACTIVITY

DEBUG IT!

OBJECTIVES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ investigate the problem and ﬁnd a solution to ﬁve
debugging challenges
+ explore a range of concepts (conditionals,
operators, and data) through the practices of
testing and debugging

SUGGESTED TIME

15–30 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Optionally, have the Unit 4 Debug It! handout
available to guide students during the activity.

❑ Unit 4 Debug It! handout
❑ Unit 4 Debug It! studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475634

❑ Help students open the Debug It! programs from the
Unit 4 Debug It! studio or by following the project
links listed on the Unit 4 Debug It! handout. Encourage
students to click on the “Look Inside” button to
investigate the buggy program, tinker with problematic
code, and test possible solutions.
❑ Give students time to test and debug each Debug It!
challenge. Optionally, have students use the remix
function in Scratch to ﬁx the bugs and save corrected
programs.
❑ Ask students to reﬂect back on their testing and
debugging experiences by responding to the reﬂection
prompts in their design journals or in a group
discussion.
❑ Create a class list of debugging strategies by collecting
students’ problem ﬁnding and problem solving
approaches.

NOTES
+ This activity provides an opportunity to check in with
students who might need some additional attention or
support, particularly around the concepts of
conditionals (e.g., if), operators (e.g., arithmetic,
logical), and data (e.g., variables, lists).

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+
+
+
+

What was the problem?
How did you identify the problem?
How did you ﬁx the problem?
Did others have alternative approaches to ﬁxing the
problem?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

DEBUG IT!
HELP! CAN YOU DEBUG THESE FIVE SCRATCH
PROGRAMS?
In this activity, you will investigate what is going
awry and ﬁnd a solution for each of the ﬁve
Debug It! challenges.

START HERE

❑ DEBUG IT! 4.1 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/24271192
In this project, the "Inventory" list should be updated every time
Scratch Cat picks up a new item. But Scratch Cat can only pick up
the laptop. How do we ﬁx the program?

❑ DEBUG IT! 4.2 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/24271303
In this project, Scratch Cat gets 10 points for collecting Yellow
Gobos and loses 10 points for colliding with Pink Gobos. But
something isn't working. How do we ﬁx the program?

❑ DEBUG IT! 4.3 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/24271446

❑ Go to the Unit 4 Debug It! Studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475634/
❑ Test and debug each of the ﬁve debugging

In this project, Scratch Cat is thinking of a number between 1 and
10. But something is wrong with the guess checking -- it doesn't
work consistently. How do we ﬁx the program?

challenges in the studio.
❑ Write down your solution or remix the buggy
❑ DEBUG IT! 4.4 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/24271475

program with your solution.

In this project, the "# of hits" display should increase by 1 every
time the Scratch Cat is hit by a tennis ball. But the "# of hits"
increases by more than 1 when Scratch Cat is hit. How do we ﬁx
the program?

G
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F
?
K
C
U
ST

E THIN
Y THES
R
T
!
Y
A
OK
THAT’S

❑ DEBUG IT! 4.5 http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/24271560
In this project, Scratch Cat is navigating a maze to get to the
yellow rectangle. But Scratch Cat can walk through walls. How do
we ﬁx the program?
GS…

❑ Make a list of possible bugs in the program.
❑ Keep track of your work! This can be a useful reminder of
what you have already tried and point you toward what to
try next.
❑ Share and compare your problem ﬁnding and problem
solving approaches with a neighbor until you ﬁnd
something that works for you!

FINISHED?
+ Add code commentary by right clicking on blocks in your
scripts. This can help others understand different parts of
your program!
+ Discuss your testing and debugging practices with a partner.
Make note of the similarities and differences in your
strategies.
+ Help a neighbor!

UNIT 5
DIVING DEEPER

YOU ARE HERE
0

WHAT’S INCLUDED
5

KNOW WANT LEARN
ROUND TWO
ADVANCED CONCEPTS
HARDWARE & EXTENSIONS
ACTIVITY DESIGN
MY DEBUG IT!

92
94
96
100
102
106
89

UNIT 5
OVERVIEW
THE
“BIG
IDEA”IDEA”
THE
“BIG
After the release of the previous version of the
guide, a common piece of feedback that we received
from teachers was that they (and the learners they
support) wanted more “catch-up” time, time to
linger, revisit, and extend the ideas and projects
they had created in previous units. In response, we
added this “Diving Deeper” unit.
Whether pushing ahead with advanced concepts
and practices or revisiting previous experiences, this
is an opportunity for learners to engage in a
moment of contemplation and reﬂection. What isn’t
as clear as it could be? What do they still want to
know about Scratch? How might others help them –
and how might they help others?
This is also an opportunity for you, as educator, to
engage in similar acts of contemplation and
reﬂection. What has surprised you? What has made
you uncomfortable? What would you want to do
differently next time? Why?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

KEY WORDS, CONCEPTS, & PRACTICES

Learners will:
+ reﬂect on past experiences to self-assess current learning
goals and needs
+ create a self-remix by extending a previously started project
+ be introduced to various hardware extensions that connect
Scratch to the physical world
+ gain more ﬂuency in computational concepts and practices
by exploring the newest Scratch features (video sensing,
cloning)
+ experiment with designing learning experiences for others

+ video sensing
+ cloning
+ peer interviews

+ hardware
+ extensions

NOTES
+ Not ﬁnding what you’re looking for? Feel free to remix,
reuse, and reimagine any of the activities in this guide to
make it work best for you and your learners.
+ Search for lesson plans, activities, and resources designed
for a speciﬁc curricular area on the ScratchEd website:
http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
Rather than focusing on a particular theme or genre like
the three previous units, this unit is intended to create a
space for reviewing and reﬂecting on prior work. This unit’s
activities are especially ﬂexible, diving deeper into creative
computing by revisiting challenges, extending skills, or
reﬁning practices.
Begin by inviting students to review their past work and
engage in self-assessment of their learning goals in the
Know Want Learn activity.
Then, encourage students to dive deeper into Scratch by
choosing which follow-up activities to pursue.

POSSIBLE PATH
SESSION 1

SESSION 2

KNOW
WANT LEARN

ROUND TWO

What do you know?
What do you
want to know?
What have you
learned?

Remix a past project,
go back to a missed
activity, or challenge
yourself to learn
something new.

SESSION 4

SESSION 3

HARDWARE &
EXTENSIONS

Creating with Scratch
can go beyond what
happens on the
screen.

ADVANCED
CONCEPTS

Create a project
that explores
video sensing
or cloning.

SESSION 5

ACTIVITY
DESIGN

MY DEBUG IT!

Design a learning
experience for
others to try.

Create your own
Debug It! program
and see if others can
solve it.

UNIT 5 ACTIVITY

KNOW WANT
LEARN

OBJECTIVES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ reﬂect on past projects and experiences
+ self-assess current knowledge and learning goals
+ pursue personal learning interests in a
self-directed research activity

SUGGESTED TIME

30–45 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ In this self-directed learning activity, students will
reﬂect on current understandings and build new
knowledge based on their interests. Optionally, have
the Know Want Learn worksheet available to guide
students.

❑ Know Want Learn worksheet
❑ Scratch Wiki
http://wiki.scratch.mit.edu
❑ Scratch Discussion Forums
http://scratch.mit.edu/discuss
❑ Scratch FAQ
http://scratch.mit.edu/info/faq

❑ Ask students to reﬂect on what they know already and
what they want to know next about Scratch and
creative computing. Guide students in answering the
ﬁrst two reﬂection prompts in their design journals or
using the Know Want Learn self-assessment
worksheet. Next, give students time to pursue learning
interests from their “What do you want to know?”
responses. Finally, have students respond to the third
and fourth reﬂection prompts in their design journals
or using the Know Want Learn worksheet.
❑ Help students share their reﬂections and learning
interests with one another. We recommend peer
interviews: divide students into pairs and have them
take turns interviewing one another about their
processes of reﬂection, self-assessment, and research.

NOTES
+ Help students ﬁnd and use other resources during
their research such as leveraging knowledgeable
peers, posing questions to family members and friends,
or posting a question in the Scratch discussion forums.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+
+
+
+

What do you know?
What do you want to know?
What did you learn?
What were your strategies for investigating what you
wanted to know?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Were students able to learn what they wanted to know?
+ What strategies and resources did they employ?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

KNOW
WANT
LEARN

NAME: ____________________________________________________

What do you know about creative computing & scratch? What do you want to know
next? This activity is an opportunity for you to consider which areas of Scratch you
feel comfortable navigating (What do I know?) and which areas you would like to
explore further (What do I want to know?). Use different resources around you to
investigate what you want to know, and then share your ﬁndings (What did I learn?).

WHAT DO I KNOW?
Reﬂecting on your design experiences so far, write down what you know about Scratch and creative computing.

WHAT DO I WANT TO KNOW?
Based on your personal interests, generate a list of things you want to ﬁnd out more about or discover next.

WHAT DID I LEARN?

TIPS & TRICKS

Gather resources to investigate items from the list you created above, and then share what you learned from your research.

UNIT 5 ACTIVITY

ROUND TWO

OBJECTIVES

SUGGESTED TIME

45–60 MINUTES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ have the opportunity to create a self-remix of past
work or spend time on a unit activity that was
previously skipped or not completed

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Optionally, have the activity handouts from Units 0-5
available to guide students.

❑ Units 0-5 handouts

❑ Give students self-directed time to:
1. reimagine or extend a past project by creating a
self-remix: a remix of one’s own project.
2. revisit and work on a previous unit activity that was
either skipped or not completed.

REFLECTION PROMPTS

❑ Encourage students to share their self-remixes or
activity outcomes with one another. We suggest using
pair-share or design demo.
❑ Invite students to think back on the design process by
responding to the reﬂection prompts in their design
journals or in a group discussion.

NOTES
+ Invite students to review their design journals and
Scratch proﬁles to reﬂect back on previous work and
activities.
+ Encourage students to review their Unit 1 My Studio
inspiration projects for ideas.

+ Why did you choose that project or activity to work
on?
+ What would you do if you had more time?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Did students create self-remixes or work on activities?
+ What did you learn about your students’ interests?
+ What further support might your students need?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

UNIT 5 ACTIVITY

ADVANCED
CONCEPTS

OBJECTIVES

SUGGESTED TIME

30–45 MINUTES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ gain more ﬂuency with computational concepts
(events, parallelism, data) and practices
(experimenting and iterating, testing and
debugging, reusing and remixing, abstracting and
modularizing) by creating a project exploring
video sensing or cloning

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Use the Advanced Concepts, Video Sensing examples,
and Cloning examples studios to show examples and
help students get familiar with blocks that control
video sensing and cloning. Optionally, have the
Advanced Concepts handout available to guide
students.

❑ Advanced Concepts studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/221311
❑ Video Sensing handout
❑ Video Sensing examples studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/201435
❑ Cloning handout
❑ Cloning examples studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/201437

❑ Give students time to explore the code of example
programs to create a project that experiments with
one or more of the advanced concepts (video sensing,
cloning).
❑ Encourage students to share their explorations with
others. We suggest hosting design demo presentations.
Optionally, have students add their projects to the
Advanced Concepts studio or a class studio.
❑ Ask students to think back on the design process by
responding to the reﬂection prompts in their design
journals or in a group discussion.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ Which advanced concept(s) did you choose to explore?
+ What was your strategy for learning more about the
concept(s) you selected?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Do projects explore one or more of the advanced
concept(s)?

NOTES
+ Students who want to explore the video sensing
feature will require a computer with a webcam.
+ Remind students that the backpack tool can be used to
borrow and remix code from example projects.

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

VIDEO SENSING
HOW CAN YOU USE VIDEO SENSING
IN YOUR SCRATCH PROJECTS?
Did you know that you can make your
Scratch projects interactive through a
webcam? Explore this advanced Scratch
concept by creating a project that
incorporates the video sensing feature.

START HERE
❑ Open an existing Scratch project or start a new
project to add video sensing.
❑ Click on Extensions.
❑ Click on Video Sensing.
❑ Check out blocks for video sensing in the
Sensing category.
❑ Experiment with video on, turn video, and set
video transparency to blocks to program your
project to sense video motion.

THINGS TO TRY

FINISHED?

❑ Make sure your webcam is connected! Test it out using the turn video on
block.
❑ If you’re feeling a little stuck, that’s okay! Explore some of the other
projects in the Video Sensing studio to see how they use the video blocks or
use the Tips Window to learn more about video sensing.

+ Add your project to the Advanced Concepts
studio: http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/221311
+ Add video sensing to one of your past projects!
+ Help a neighbor!
+ Remix a project in the Video Sensing studio.

CLONING
HOW CAN YOU USE CLONING IN
YOUR SCRATCH PROJECTS?
Cloning is an easy way to create
multiples of the same sprite. You can use
cloning to make many objects and create
cool effects in a project.
Explore this advanced Scratch concept by
creating a project that incorporates the
cloning feature.

START HERE
❑ Open an existing Scratch project or start a new
project to experiment with cloning.
❑ Check out blocks for cloning in the Control
category.
❑ Experiment with the blocks to create clones of
your sprite. Deﬁne behaviors for what your
cloned sprites will do.

THINGS TO TRY
❑ If you can’t see your clone initially, check if the original sprite is in the same
location – it might be covering the clone! Program your original sprite or
the clone to move or go to different locations so you can see them.
❑ Stuck? That’s okay! Explore some of the other projects in the Cloning
Studio to see how they use cloning or search in the Tips Window to learn
more about the Create Clone and When I start as a Clone blocks.

FINISHED?
+ Add your project to the Cloning studio:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/201437
+ Add cloning to one of your past projects!
+ Help a neighbor!
+ Remix a project in the Cloning studio.

UNIT 5 ACTIVITY

HARDWARE &
EXTENSIONS

OBJECTIVES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ be introduced to various hardware extensions that
connect the digital world of Scratch with the
physical world

SUGGESTED TIME

45–60 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ (IMPORTANT: This activity requires access to one or
more of these hardware products.) Introduce students
to ways Scratch can connect to other technologies and
hardware extensions including the LEGO WeDo, MaKey
MaKey, and PicoBoard. Optionally, show examples from
the How can I connect Scratch with other
technologies? video playlist.

❑ LEGO WeDo construction set
http://bit.ly/LEGOWeDo
❑ MaKey MaKey
http://makeymakey.com
❑ PicoBoard
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10311
❑ How can I connect Scratch with other technologies?
videos: http://bit.ly/hardwareandextensions

❑ Divide students into small groups of 2-4 people. Give
the groups time to explore creating a Scratch project
that incorporates a physical world component using
one or more available hardware extensions.
❑ Allow each group to share their creations with others.
We suggest facilitating a gallery walk or feedback fair.
❑ Ask students to think back on the design process by
responding to the reﬂection prompts in their design
journals or in a group discussion.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ Which hardware or extension did you explore?
+ How did you incorporate the digital and the
physical?
+ What was difﬁcult?
+ What was surprising?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Does the work have a digital and a physical
component?

NOTES

100

+ Make this a group-wide activity! Using the LEGO WeDo and
Scratch, challenge students to connect their projects to
create a chain of reactions in the style of a Rube Goldberg
machine. See this video for an example:
http://bit.ly/ScratchChainReaction
+ Activate the Scratch blocks that control hardware
extensions by clicking on the Add an Extension button
located under the More Blocks category in the Scratch
project editor.

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

UNIT 5 ACTIVITY

ACTIVITY
DESIGN

OBJECTIVES

SUGGESTED TIME

30–45 MINUTES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ design an activity or resource for supporting
others in learning more about Scratch and
computational creativity

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Let students experience what it’s like to be in your
teaching shoes! Challenge students to create, remix, or
reimagine an activity or resource designed to support
others' explorations of creative computing. Optionally,
have the Activity Design handout available for
additional support.

❑ Activity Design handout
❑ Scratch Cards
http://scratch.mit.edu/info/cards
❑ Scratch Design Studio list
http://scratch.mit.edu/users/ScratchDesignStudio/

❑ Help students brainstorm and imagine different kinds
of creative learning experiences. Optionally, review
example project ideas and activities from this guide, or
encourage students to explore the Scratch Cards
resource and Scratch Design Studio list for inspiration.
Then, give students time to design their own learning
activity or resource.

REFLECTION PROMPTS

❑ Give students opportunities to test out their activity or
resource with learners. Encourage them to share their
activity or resource with family or friends, or invite
students to be peer mentors for other classes, clubs, or
events.
❑ Ask students to think back on the design process by
responding to the reﬂection prompts in their design
journals or in a group discussion.

NOTES
+ Students particularly interested in supporting others’
learning can be great candidates for becoming peer
mentors during class or at an afterschool or lunchtime
Scratch Club.

+ Who do you envision using your activity or resource?
+ What do you hope people will learn from using your
activity or resource?
+ What challenges might learners experience in doing
the activity or using the resource? How might you
further support them in dealing with these
challenges?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Does the activity or resource facilitate an
introduction or exploration into creative computing?
What feedback can you offer the student?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

102

ACTIVITY
DESIGN

NAME: _________________________________________________

How can you help others learn more about Scratch and creative computing? Design an
activity that helps other people learn Scratch. It can be an off-computer activity (like
Creature Construction), project idea (like Build-a-Band), or challenge activity (like Debug
It!). You could even develop a new type of activity or handout! Brainstorm using the
questions below, and then use the activity and handout planners to give more detail.

WHO IS THIS FOR?
Who is your audience? Who do you want to help learn more about Scratch and creative computing?

WHAT WILL THEY LEARN?
What are the learning goals? What new things do you hope people will learn from using your activity?

WHAT
NEED?
TIPSDO
& THEY
TRICKS
What supplies will people need? What other types of support will help people successfully engage in your activity?

(TITLE)

MY ACTIVITY

OBJECTIVES

(2 LEARNING GOALS)
By completing this activity, learners will:
+
+

SUGGESTED TIME

__–__ MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION
(PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS)

❑ What will learners create? How will they do this?

RESOURCES
(2 PROJECT RESOURCES - studios, handouts, etc.)
❑
❑

REFLECTION PROMPTS

❑ How will learners share their work with others?

(3 REFLECTION QUESTIONS)
+
+
+

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
❑ How will learners reﬂect on their designs?

(2 WAYS TO CHECK IF A LEARNER COMPLETED THE ACTIVITY)

+
+

NOTES

NOTES TO SELF

(TIPS AND TRICKS)

❑ _______________________

(TITLE)
(PROJECT PICTURE)

(PROJECT
OVERVIEW)

(PROJECT
DESCRIPTION)

START HERE
(PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS)

(ILLUSTRATED PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS)

❑

THINGS TO TRY
(3 THINGS TO DO IF THEY GET STUCK)

FINISHED?
(3 THINGS TO DO IF THEY HAVE EXTRA TIME)

❑

UNIT 5 ACTIVITY

MY DEBUG IT!
SUGGESTED TIME

15–30 MINUTES

OBJECTIVES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ become more ﬂuent with computational practices
(experimenting and iterating, testing and
debugging, reusing and remixing, abstracting and
modularizing) by designing a debugging challenge

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Optionally, have the My Debug It! handout available to
guide students during the activity.

❑ My Debug It! handout
❑ My Debug It! studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475637

❑ Give students the opportunity to create their own
debugging challenge for others to solve. Bugs can
focus on a speciﬁc computational concept, Scratch
block, interaction, or some other programming
challenge. Encourage students to take inspiration from
their own experiences of getting stuck and unstuck
while developing Scratch projects.
❑ Let students swap and try testing and debugging one
another’s buggy projects. Optionally, have students add
their debug-it program to the My Debug It! studio or a
class studio.
❑ Ask students to reﬂect back on their problem-creating
approaches by responding to the reﬂection prompts in
their design journals or in a group discussion.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What was the problem?
+ Where did your inspiration come from?
+ How did you imagine others investigating and
solving the challenge?
+ Did others have alternative approaches to ﬁnding
and ﬁxing the problem than what you expected?
What were their strategies?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Do projects include a debugging challenge to solve?
+ What different testing and debugging strategies did
students employ?

NOTES
+ Remind students to include a challenge description in
the notes of the project page on the Scratch website.
+ Got extra time or need a warm-up activity?
Let students exercise their problem-seeking and
problem-solving skills on other contributed debug-it
programs in the My Debug It! studio.

106

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

MY DEBUG IT!
IT’S TIME TO DESIGN YOUR OWN
DEBUG IT PROGRAM. WHAT WILL
YOU CREATE?
In this activity, you will create your own
Debug It! challenge for others to
investigate, solve, and remix.

START HERE
❑ Reﬂect back on the different kinds of bugs
you’ve encountered in creating and debugging

PLANS FOR MY DEBUG IT!

your own projects.
❑ Generate a list of possible debugging
challenges you could create. A Debug It! can
focus on a speciﬁc concept, block, interaction, or
some other programming challenge.
❑ Build your Debug It! program.

NOTES
F
L
E
S
TO
❑
❑
❑
❑

FINISHED?
+ Add your debugging challenge to the My Debug It!
studio: http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475637
+ Swap Debug It! programs with a neighbor and try to
solve each other’s buggy programs.
+ Help a neighbor.
+ Try debugging other programs in the My Debug It!
studio.

108

UNIT 6
HACKATHON

YOU ARE HERE
0

WHAT’S INCLUDED
5

PROJECT PITCH
PROJECT PLANNING
DESIGN SPRINT
PROJECT FEEDBACK
PROJECT CHECK-IN
UNFOCUS GROUP
SHOWCASE PREP
SHOWCASE

114
116
120
122
124
126
128
130

109

UNIT 6
OVERVIEW
THE “BIG IDEA”
In this ﬁnal unit, students will build on their creative
computing experiences by engaging in the design of an
open-ended project of their choosing. To help you and
your students tackle this open-ended design experience,
we were inspired to frame this unit as a hackathon. With
its ethos of embracing just-in-time learning and problem
solving, encouraging iterative planning-making-sharing,
and celebrating a connected and collaborative
environment, the hackathon is an ideal creative computing
culminating experience.

110

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A team etch game.
ffort.
@Sheen
a1010

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

KEY WORDS, CONCEPTS, & PRACTICES

Students will:
+ be introduced to the format of a hackathon event
+ demonstrate knowledge of computational concepts
(sequence, loops, events, parallelism, conditionals,
operators, data) and practices (experimenting and iterating,
testing and debugging, reusing and remixing, abstracting
and modularizing) by deﬁning, developing, and presenting a
personally meaningful, self-directed project
+ have multiple opportunities for collaboration by working in
peer teams, sharing skills, and giving and receiving multiple
rounds of feedback

+ hackathon
+ design sprint
+ project pitch

+ unfocus group
+ showcase

NOTES
+ This unit can accommodate either independent or
collaborative group projects. Pick one option or allow
students to choose.

WHAT IS A HACKATHON?
“Hack” has a negative connotation to some – but it has a long history of standing for playfulness, curiosity, persistence, and
creativity. One of our favorite deﬁnitions frames “hack” as “an appropriate application of ingenuity”. With this deﬁnition, what
better capacity for young learners than learning how to “hack”?
A hackathon takes the playful ingenuity of hacking – and situates it in an intensely focused and time-limited context. In this
unit, learners will brainstorm an idea, develop a project, and showcase a ﬁnal prototype using an iterative plan-make-share
cycle.

THE “BIG IDEA”

Hackathons provide excellent opportunities for learners to invent their own personally meaningful and relevant projects to
work on, which can be developed as independent ﬁnal projects or in collaborative teams. It is a chance for students to
demonstrate their knowledge in Scratch, expand upon current skills, and develop and test ideas within a collaborative, creative,
ﬂexible, and playful learning environment.

PLAN

PLAN
What do you want to work on?
Brainstorm ideas and prepare a plan
of action!

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Throughout the duration of the
hackathon, students will engage in
iterative cycles in which they
PLAN, MAKE, and SHARE. This
iterative cycle encourages students
to engage in meaningful acts of
ideation, creation, and reﬂection.

MAKE

Design and develop project creations
with resources and help from others.

Share your project with others and
gather feedback to guide your next
steps!

111

POSSIBLE PATH
The hackathon-inspired activities for this unit are designed to challenge students to build up a more complex project within an
open-ended and collaborative learning environment. All of the important culture-building we’ve been doing – encouraging
risk-taking and persistence, recognizing failures as learning opportunities, focusing on process over product, and cultivating a
culture of cooperation and fun – culminates in this unit.
To help you get started, we have included a suggested sequence of activities that follow the plan-make-share design cycle.

PLANNING
PROMPTS

DESIGN
SPRINT

Before diving into
your project, take
some time to prepare
a plan of action.

Dive into your project
creation with this
open-ended design
sprint.

PROJECT
PITCH

START
HERE

Pitch your ideas,
interests, or skills to
form a project team!

DESIGN
SPRINT

Keep making
progress with your
project as you
move into the
second round of
design.
UNFOCUS
GROUP

Formulate and share
project feedback with
your critique group.

112

PROJECT
CHECK-IN

PROJECT
FEEDBACK

Take a moment to
reﬂect on your
project feedback
and regroup before
continuing.

What is going well
in your project and
what still needs
adjustment?
DESIGN
SPRINT

PROJECT
CHECK-IN

Take a moment to
reﬂect on your project
feedback and regroup
before continuing.

SHOWCASE

SHOWCASE
PREP

An event to celebrate
all of your hard work
and ﬁnished projects!

Use this time to make
last-minute project
edits and to prepare
for the hackathon
showcase.

Final round
of design!

UNIT 6 ACTIVITY

PROJECT
PITCH

OBJECTIVES

SUGGESTED TIME

30–45 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Introduce students to the concept of a pitch. With a pitch,
students can either announce a project idea in order to
recruit other team members, or they can promote their
interests, skills, or talents, in order to be recruited by other
teams.

❑ Pitch handout
❑ sticky notes (optional)

❑ Distribute the Pitch handout, giving students time to
brainstorm and to respond on the handout. Some students
already may have a project idea or have identiﬁed a speciﬁc
interest or skill they want to share or further explore. Let
students know that if they don’t have a speciﬁc project idea
or interest, they will have an opportunity to join another
team. Optionally, have students review inspiration projects
identiﬁed during the Unit 1 My Studio activity.
❑ Give each student a chance to pitch to the rest of the group.
Ask people to line up if they want to pitch, and give them
thirty seconds each to describe their project, interest, or
skill.
❑ Provide time for students to form project groups of 3 or 4
people. Optionally, have students write their names and
project interests on sticky notes that can be arranged and
sorted on a wall to facilitate team-building.

NOTES
+ Students can be enormously valuable in providing
support and guidance to each other throughout all of
the Scratch sessions, and particularly during the
hackathon sessions. Encouraging young people to
share their knowledge and skills with others makes
things easier for the facilitator, but can also
signiﬁcantly deepen creators’ learning and
understanding.
114

By completing this activity, students will:
+ brainstorm project ideas based on personal
interests
+ pitch ideas, interests, and skills to form project
teams

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What has been your favorite project to work on so
far?
+ What kinds of projects are you interested in creating
next?
+ What knowledge, skills, or talents could you
contribute to a project?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Did each student get a chance to pitch their idea or
interests?
+ Did each student ﬁnd a project team to join?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

PROJECT
PITCH

PROJECT PITCH BY: __________________________________________________

Use the prompts below to brainstorm ideas for projects you’re interested in working on during
the hackathon. You will have 30 seconds to pitch your ideas, interests, and skills to the rest of
the group!

MY FAVORITE PROJECT
What has been your favorite project to work on so far? What made this project stand out for you?

MY HACKATHON PROJECT IDEA
What kinds of projects are you interested in creating next?

MY SKILLS
AND INTERESTS
SKILLS
IN SCRATCH
What knowledge, skills, or talents would you like to contribute to a project?

UNIT 6 ACTIVITY

PROJECT
PLANNING

OBJECTIVES

SUGGESTED TIME

30–45 MINUTES

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Taking some time at the start of the ﬁnal project to
explore ideas, identify tasks involved in completing the
project, and list what is (and isn’t) already known can
be very beneﬁcial for successful project completion.

❑ Project Planning handout
❑ Project Sketches handout

❑ Divide the group into project teams. Optionally,
distribute the Project Planning and Project Sketches
handouts to each team or individual.
❑ Review different elements for planning projects
(project sketches, outline of tasks, list of resources,
storyboards/wireframes). Give the teams 15 minutes to
brainstorm ideas, plans, and resources for their
projects. Students who already have a clear concept
and plan are welcome to start working on their project
design.
❑ Optionally, collect the completed Project Planning and
Project Sketches handouts at the end of this activity to
return to students at the beginning of Design Sprint
sessions.

NOTES
+ Although planning is helpful, it shouldn’t be
all-consuming or the only way of doing things.
Different students will want and need to plan and
tinker to different extents – and different phases of
the project will require different approaches. Multiple
design and development styles should be encouraged
and accommodated.
116

By completing this activity, students will:
+ identify an appropriately-scoped project to work
on
+ develop an outline of activities or tasks required
to complete the project
+ generate a preliminary list of resources required to
complete the project

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What project do I want to create?
+ What steps will I take to develop my project?
+ What resources (e.g., people, sample projects) do I
already have to develop my project?
+ What resources (e.g., people, sample projects) might
I need to develop my project?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Is the project appropriately scoped for the amount of
time and resources available for this hackathon?
+ How can you make resources accessible to students
who need them?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

PROJECT
PLANNING

PROJECT PLANS BY: _________________________________________________

Use the prompts below to start thinking about the elements needed to develop your project.

MY PROJECT
Describe the project you want to create.

List the steps needed in order to create your project.

MY RESOURCES
What resources (e.g., people, sample projects) do you
already have?

What resources (e.g., people, sample projects) might
you need to develop your project?

PROJECT
SKETCHES

PROJECT SKETCHES BY: _______________________________________________

Use the space below to draw sketches of what your project will look like!

MY PROJECT SKETCHES

What’s happening? What are the important elements?

UNIT 6 ACTIVITY

DESIGN SPRINT
SUGGESTED TIME

45–60 MINUTES

OBJECTIVES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ use computational concepts and practices to
further develop a Scratch project of their choosing

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Introduce students to the concept of a design sprint, which
is a speciﬁed amount of time dedicated to working
intensely on developing projects.

❑ additional resources (e.g., sample projects, handouts,
Scratch Cards, craft material)

❑ Ask students to write down goals for this session using the
Project Check-In activity or by responding to the reﬂection
prompts in their design teams or in their design journals.
Give students their completed Project Planning, Project
Feedback, and Unfocus Group handouts to guide them in
reﬂecting on original project goals and to encourage them
to make plans for reﬁnement based on feedback.
❑ Give students self-directed time to work on their projects.
Introduce and distribute additional support resources as
needed. In addition to peer support, having a collection of
readily-available support resources can help students
continue to make progress. Sample projects on the Scratch
website (http://scratch.mit.edu) can provide ideas, and
additional resources can be found on the ScratchEd website
(http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu).

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What part of your project will you be working on
today?
+ What might you need help with in order to make
progress?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Are individuals or groups making reasonable
progress?
+ What feedback or suggestions do you have for the
projects?

❑ Optionally, ask students to post their project drafts in a
class studio.

NOTES
+ All design activities are constrained – by time, by
resources, by our own abilities at a given moment –
and compromises may need to be made. The
open-ended designing sessions are a great opportunity
to have conversations with students about the
essential elements of their projects. What are the most
important aspects of the projects? What can
reasonably be accomplished in the remaining time?
120

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

UNIT 6 ACTIVITY

PROJECT
FEEDBACK

OBJECTIVES

SUGGESTED TIME

30–45 MINUTES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ will work together in small critique groups to give
each other preliminary feedback on their projects
+ test projects-in-progress
+ formulate and share feedback for others

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Divide the group into feedback teams of 3-4 people, so that
their feedback team members are not also members of their
project team. Optionally, have students gather in their
critique groups from the Unit 0 Critique Group activity.

❑ Project Feedback handout

❑ Distribute the Project Feedback handout to each person,
and review the different handout elements. Ask students to
ﬁll out the top portion of the handout with their name and
project title.
❑ Ask students to spend 10 minutes reviewing each project in
their feedback team and critiquing the project draft using
the Red, Yellow, Green feedback questions. When the review
is complete, each student will have received feedback on
their project from the other members of their feedback
group.
❑ After all the feedback rounds have ended, give students
time to meet with their project team members to review the
feedback and reﬂect on which suggestions they want to
incorporate into their project during the next Design Sprint
session. Optionally, collect the completed Project Feedback
handouts at the end of this activity to return to students at
the beginning of the Project Check-In activity or Design
Sprint sessions.

NOTES
+ Different people will provide different perspectives on
the project-in-progress. Create opportunities for
learners to get feedback from a variety of sources,
including themselves!

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What aspects of your project could someone give
you feedback about?
+ What feedback, if any, do you plan to incorporate
into your project next?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Did each student have opportunities to give and
receive feedback from various sources?
+ Did each student complete the Project Feedback
handout?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

122

PROJECT
FEEDBACK

FEEDBACK FOR: ___________________________________________________
PROJECT TITLE: ___________________________________________________

RED, YELLOW, GREEN
FEEDBACK BY

[RED]
What is something that doesn’t work or
could be improved?

[YELLOW]
What is something that is confusing or
could be done differently?

[GREEN]
What is something that works well or you
really like about the project?

UNIT 6 ACTIVITY

PROJECT
CHECK-IN

OBJECTIVES

SUGGESTED TIME

15–30 MINUTES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ review project progress and feedback
+ develop an outline of activities or tasks required
to complete the project
+ generate a list of resources required to complete
the project

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ In this activity, students will perform a project
check-in, where they will update fellow team members
about their design progress so far and outline a plan
for an upcoming design sprint based on feedback
received. Optionally, give students or groups a Project
Check-In handout to guide them during this activity.

❑ Project Check-In handout

❑ Divide the group into project teams. Optionally,
redistribute to students their completed Project
Planning, Project Feedback, and Unfocus Group
handouts.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What has been your favorite part of the process so far?
+ What parts of your project still need to be worked on?
+ What parts of your project will you be working on
next?
+ What might you need help with in order to make
progress?

❑ Give teams time to reﬂect back on original project
goals and acquired feedback. Invite students to outline
next steps and plans for project reﬁnement for an
upcoming design sprint.

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK

NOTES

NOTES TO SELF

+ The Project Check-In is a short planning activity. We
recommend using it as a warm-up activity at the
beginning of each Design Sprint session.

+ Are teams making reasonable progress and plans?
+ Are group members working cooperatively and
collaboratively while discussing and sharing project
responsibilities?

❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

124

PROJECT
CHECK-IN

CHECK-IN BY: _____________________________________________________

Discuss your design progress with your team and outline a plan for next steps based
on feedback.

PROJECT PROGRESS
What has been your favorite part of the process so far?

What parts of your project still need to be worked on?

NEXT STEPS
What parts of your project will each group member be
working on next?

What might you need help with in order to make progress?

UNIT 6 ACTIVITY

UNFOCUS GROUP
SUGGESTED TIME

30–45 MINUTES

OBJECTIVES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ interview, observe, and ask others for feedback on
projects-in-progress

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Hosting an unfocus group is an idea we borrow from
IDEO. Introduce the unfocus group concept, where
students will share their projects-in-progress and
request feedback from a diverse collection of people.

❑ Unfocus Group handout

❑ Optionally, distribute the Unfocus Group handout to
each person.
❑ Help students brainstorm possible unfocus group
participants. Encourage them to consider their target
audience as well as unusual users or unexpected cases
who can offer a unique perspective or interesting
feedback (e.g., parents, teachers, siblings, other
students, community members).
❑ Give students time to identify, interview, observe, and
record feedback from two unfocus group members.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ Describe your unfocus group participants and why
you chose them.
+ How might their ideas inﬂuence your project?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Did students identify and interview two unfocus
group participants?

❑ Allow students time to meet with their project team
members to share feedback collected from different
unfocus group sources. Optionally, collect the
completed Unfocus Group handouts at the end of this
activity to return to students at the beginning of the
Project Check-In or Design Sprint sessions.

NOTES
+ Help students get creative in researching and
discovering feedback sources. Is there a local game
design company that might be interested in helping?
Could projects be shared with students from another
school?
+ If unfocus group members are not available to be
interviewed during the session (e.g., teachers, parents,
siblings, community members), you can organize this
activity for outside of class time or assign it as
126
homework.

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

UNFOCUS
GROUP

PROJECT TITLE: ___________________________________________________
INTERVIEW BY: ___________________________________________________

In this activity, you will interview and observe others to get feedback on your
project-in-progress.

IDENTIFY
IDENTIFY
+ What kinds of people
might be able to
offer you a unique
perspective on your
project?
+ Who are two unfocus
group members you
plan to share your
project draft with?

OBSERVE
Share your project with your
unfocus group and observe
their reactions.
+ What are they getting
stuck on?
+ Are they interacting with
your project the way you
imagined?
+ Are they doing anything
surprising?

INTERVIEW
SKILLS
IN SCRATCH
After you observe, interview
your group about their
experience.
+ What feedback did you
receive from your
interview?
+ What suggestions, if any,
do you plan to
incorporate into your
project next?

UNIT 6 ACTIVITY

SHOWCASE PREP
SUGGESTED TIME

30–45 MINUTES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ work on their ﬁnal project drafts and prepare for
the ﬁnal project showcase

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Remind students that they will be sharing their
projects with each other (and possibly guests) as a way
of acknowledging the hard work that has taken place
and of reﬂecting on their experiences. Explain that this
session is an opportunity for ﬁnalizing their
works-in-progress and coming up with a strategy for
sharing their projects with others.

❑ Project Reﬂections handout
❑ Hackathon studio
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/488267

❑ Give students time to work on their projects and
prepare for presenting ﬁnal drafts at the project
showcase. Optionally, collect ﬁnal works-in-progress
into a class studio for ease in presenting. Optionally,
invite students to add their projects to the Hackathon
studio.
❑ Distribute the Project Reﬂections handout to students
and discuss the What?, So what?, Now what?
framework as a way for them to present their
experiences to others.

NOTES
+ Students may be feeling anxious or stressed about
completing their projects. This is an opportunity to
remind them that: (1) this experience is just a
waypoint on their paths as computational creators, and
(2) some types of stress can be good, helping us to
focus on our goals and get things done!

128

OBJECTIVES

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ What is your project?
+ What was your process for developing the project?
+ What do you want to create next?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Did each group or individual complete a Project
Reﬂections handout?

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

PROJECT
REFLECTIONS

PROJECT REFLECTIONS BY: ____________________________________________

Use the prompts below to reﬂect on your design process.

FEEDBACK
WHAT?
FOR:
What is your project?

How does it work? How did you come up with the idea?

SO WHAT?
What was your process for developing the project?
What was interesting, challenging, and surprising? Why?
What did you learn?

NOW WHAT?
What are you most proud of about your project?
What would you change?

WHAT D
YOU W O
A
TO CRE NT
ATE
NEXT?

UNIT 6 ACTIVITY

SHOWCASE

OBJECTIVES

SUGGESTED TIME

45–60 MINUTES

By completing this activity, students will:
+ share their ﬁnal projects with others and reﬂect
on their overall design process and computational
creation experiences

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES

❑ Create a celebratory mood in the space by inviting
guests, playing music, hanging decorations, and/or
providing snacks.

❑ projector and screen for presentations (optional)

❑ Optionally, use a projector and screen to display
projects.
❑ Invite students to share their ﬁnal projects and discuss
their design processes with others. Optionally, make
student progress visible by having design notebooks
and prior projects available.
❑ Give students time to reﬂect on all of their creative
computing experiences by reviewing their design
journals and responding to the reﬂection prompts in
their design journals or in a group discussion.

REFLECTION PROMPTS
+ Look through your design notebook. What types of
notes did you take?
+ Which notes were most helpful?
+ What has been your favorite Scratch project to work
on so far? Why is it your favorite?
+ What do you want to create next?

REVIEWING STUDENT WORK
+ Did each team or individual have the opportunity to
share their work and be celebrated?

NOTES
+ Sharing can take place in a variety of ways: individuals
presenting to the entire group, concurrent subsets of
students presenting, live demos, accessing projects
from the web, etc.
+ Project portfolios, design journals, ﬁnal project
feedback handouts, and ﬁnal project reﬂection
handouts are a few (of many different possible) types
of artifacts that may be collected for assessment
purposes. (See Appendix.)
130

NOTES TO SELF
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________
❑ _______________________

132

APPENDIX

133

134

GLOSSARY

A guide to the key words, concepts, and practices in the curriculum guide:
Visit the Scratch help pages at http://scratch.mit.edu/help or the community-generated Scratch Wiki at
http://wiki.scratch.mit.edu for additional, Scratch-speciﬁc terminology.
abstracting and modularizing: The computational practice of exploring connections between the whole and the parts.
animation: An illusion of continuous motion created by the rapid display of a sequence of still images with incremental
differences.
arcade day: A strategy for sharing student work and whole group activity. Students place their ﬁnished projects in Presentation
Mode and then walk around and engage with each other’s work.
backdrop: One out of possibly many frames, or backgrounds, of the Stage.
backpack: A Scratch feature that can be used to conveniently transfer media and/or scripts between projects.
bitmap: An image that is deﬁned by a two-dimensional array (grid) of discrete color values (a.k.a. “pixels”). Contrast with vector
graphics.
broadcast: A message that is sent through the Scratch program, activating receiving scripts.
cloning: A Scratch feature that allows a sprite to create duplicates of itself while the project is running.
computational concepts: The concepts designers engage with as they program, such as sequence, loops, conditionals, events,
parallelism, operators, and data.
computational perspectives: The broader perspectives that designers may form about world around them through computing
– such as expressing themselves, connecting with others, and posing questions about technology’s role in the world.
computational practices: The distinctive habits of mind that programmers develop as they work, such as experimenting and
iterating, testing and debugging, remixing and reusing work, and abstracting and modularizing.
conditionals: The computational concept of making decisions based on conditions (e.g., current variable values).
control: One of the ten categories of Scratch blocks. They are color-coded gold, and are used to control scripts.
costume: One out of possibly many “frames” or alternate appearances of a sprite. A sprite can change its look to any of its
costumes.
critique group: A group of designers who share ideas and test projects-in-progress with one another in order to get feedback
on how to further develop their projects.
data: The computational concept of storing, retrieving, and updating values.
design demo: An activity in which students are invited to present their work to the class and demonstrate how they
implemented a particular block, skill, or design strategy within their project.
design sprint: A speciﬁed amount of time dedicated to working intensely on developing projects.
events: The computational concept of one thing causing another thing to happen.
experimenting and iterating: The computational practice of developing a little bit, then trying it out, then developing some
more.
feedback fair: A sharing activity in which half of your students stay in their seats with their projects open while the other half
walks around exploring projects, asking questions, and giving feedback. Once complete, the students then switch sides and
start the process over.

135

gallery walk: A sharing activity in which students put their projects in presentation mode and then walk around and explore
each other’s projects.
hardware and extensions: Supplemental materials that connect the digital world of Scratch with the physical world. Examples
of hardware extensions include: LEGO WeDo, PicoBoard, and MaKey MaKey.
interactive collage: A Scratch project that incorporates a variety of clickable sprites.
looks: One of the ten categories of Scratch blocks. They are color-coded purple, and are used to control a sprite's appearance.
loops: The computational concept of running the same sequence multiple times.
make a block: A feature found within the More Blocks category that allows students to create and deﬁne their own custom
block or procedure.
motion: One of the ten categories of Scratch blocks. They are color-coded medium-blue, and are used to control a sprite’s
movement.
operators: The computational concept of supporting mathematical and logical expressions.
paint editor: Scratch's built-in image editor. Many Scratchers create their own sprites, costumes, and backdrops using it.
pair programming: A programming methodology in which developers pair up and work side-by-side on a project.
parallelism: The computational concept of making things happen at the same time.
pass-it-on story: A Scratch project that is started by a pair of people, and then passed on to two other pairs to extend and
reimagine.
peer interviews: A sharing activity in which students take turns interviewing one another about their processes of reﬂection,
self-assessment, and research.
pitch: An activity in which students either announce a project idea in order to recruit other team members, or promote their
interests, skills, and talents in order to be recruited by other teams.
presentation mode: A display mode in Scratch that allows projects to be viewed at an enlarged size. It is accessed by pressing
the button on the top left of the Scratch program. This mode is also called full screen mode or enlarged screen.
proﬁle page: A page on the Scratch online community dedicated to displaying information about a Scratch user, such as
projects they have created or bookmarked (a.k.a. “favorited”).
project editor: A feature of the Scratch online community that allows projects to be modiﬁed. This includes the script area
(where scripts are assembled), the sprite area (where sprites can be manipulated), and the stage area (where sprites are
positioned and where backgrounds can be accessed).
red, yellow, green: A reﬂection and sharing activity in which individuals identify aspects of their projects as not going well or
still needing work (“red”), confusing or contentious (“yellow”), or working well (“green”).
remix: A creative work that is derived from an original work (or from another remix). A remix typically introduces new content
or stylistic elements, while retaining a degree of similarity to the original work.
reusing and remixing: The computational practice of making something by building on existing projects or ideas.
Scratch screening: A sharing activity in which students gather around to observe each other’s Scratch projects.
scripts: One or more Scratch blocks connected together to form a sequence. Scripts begin with an event block that responds to
input (e.g., mouse click, broadcast). When triggered, additional blocks connected to the event block are executed one at a
time.
sensing: One of the ten categories of Scratch blocks. They are color-coded light-blue, and are used to detect different forms of
input (e.g., mouse position) or program state (e.g., sprite position).
sequence: The computational concept of identifying a series of steps for a task.
136

showcase: A strategy for sharing in which students present their ﬁnal projects to others and reﬂect on their design processes
and computational creation experiences.
sound: An audio ﬁle that can be played in a Scratch project, available by importing from Scratch's built-in sound library, or
creating a new recording. Sounds are played by using sound blocks, which control a sound's volume, tempo, and more.
sprite: A media object that performs actions on the stage in a Scratch project.
stage: The background of a Scratch project. The stage can have scripts, backdrops (costumes), and sounds, similar to a sprite.
studio: A user-created gallery in the Scratch online community that can be used to highlight projects contributed by one or
many users.
testing and debugging: The computational practice of making sure things work – and ﬁnding and solving problems when they
arise.
theatre metaphor: A way of describing the design of Scratch that emphasizes its intentional similarity to theatre, with actors
(sprites), costumes, backdrops, scripts, and a stage.
tips window: Built directly into the Project Editor, the Tips Window is a form of getting help in Scratch.
unfocus group: An activity in which students share their projects-in-progress and request feedback from a diverse collection of
people.
variables and lists: A changeable value or collection of values recorded in Scratch’s memory. Variables can store one value at a
time, while lists can store multiple values.
vector graphic: An image that is deﬁned by a collection of geometric shapes (e.g., circles, rectangles) and colors. Contrast with
bitmap.
video sensing: A Scratch feature that makes use of video from a webcam to detect motion or display video input on the stage.

137

138

STANDARDS

The activities in this guide make connections to several different K-12 curriculum standards, including the
Common Core State Standards, the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards, and ISTE NETS. We have
included connections to Common Core Standards as an example.
For more connections, please visit the guide site at http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/guide
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics 2010
http://www.corestandards.org/wp-content/uploads/Math_Standards.pdf
+ Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them – Many guide activities engage students in solving debugging
challenges, which encourage students to discover different ways of ﬁnding and solving problems. Example activity: Unit 1 4 Debug It!
+ Reason Abstractly and Quantitatively – Students can express abstract concepts and demonstrate their understandings of
quantitative relationships such as variables through visual representations designed in Scratch. Example activity: Unit 4
Score
+ Model with Mathematics – Certain activities in the guide challenge students to represent previously learned equations,
data comparisons, or other mathematical relationships as Scratch programs. Example activity: Unit 4 Interactions
+ Attend to precision – On- and off-screen activities help students recognize the importance of attending to detail when
specifying instructions or a sequence of code intended to elicit a particular outcome. Example activity: Unit 1 Programmed
to Dance
+ Look for and Make Use of Structure – Looking through scripts during a debugging challenge, reading through someone
else’s project code while remixing a project, or reviewing work to build up more complex programs can engage students in
looking closely to discern repeated patterns or structure within their own or others’ Scratch programs. Example activity:
Unit 3 Conversations
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts/Literacy 2010
http://www.corestandards.org/wp-content/uploads/ELA_Standards.pdf
+ They demonstrate independence. – Most activities and projects in the guide are designed to be self-directed or can be
easily adjusted to accommodate independent work, although collaborative projects and group work are encouraged.
Example activity: Unit 1 About Me
+ They respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and discipline. – Students are made aware of varying types
of audience, task, purpose, and discipline when sharing projects to the worldwide Scratch online community or designing
projects and activities for others. Example activity: Unit 5 Activity Design
+ They comprehend as well as critique. – A variety of feedback exercises and collaborative projects engage students in
sharing works-in-progress, asking questions, and exchanging constructive critique. Example activity: Unit 0 Critique Group
+ They use technology and digital media strategically and capably. – During self-directed activities, students learn to navigate
to different parts of the Scratch website to develop projects, search for inspiration, connect with others, and pursue
personal learning goals. Example activity: Unit 5 Know Want Learn
+ They come to understand other perspectives and cultures. – In remixing others’ projects, students need to read, understand,
and interpret the code and intention of work that is not their own. When building up collaborative projects, students learn
to cooperate, compromise, and share work with others. Example Activity: Unit 3 Pass It On

139

140

COMPUTATIONAL THINKING
Over the past several years, we have been captivated by “computational thinking” as a way to describe the learning and
development that take place with Scratch. In this section, we share: (1) our deﬁnition of computational thinking as a set of
concepts, practices, and perspectives, (2) an instrument for assessing student proﬁciency with computational practices, and (3) a
self-reﬂection instrument to help teachers assess how they support computational practices in the classroom.
These deﬁnitions and instruments were developed in collaboration with Wendy Martin, Francisco Cervantes, and Bill Tally from
Education Development Center’s Center for Children & Technology, and Mitch Resnick from MIT Media Lab. Additional
computational thinking resources are available at http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/ct

COMPUTATIONAL CONCEPTS
CONCEPT

DESCRIPTION

sequence

identifying a series of steps for a task

loops

running the same sequence multiple times

parallelism

making things happen at the same time

events

one thing causing another thing to happen

conditionals

making decisions based on conditions

operators

support for mathematical and logical expressions

data

storing, retrieving, and updating values

COMPUTATIONAL PRACTICES
PRACTICE

DESCRIPTION

experimenting and iterating

developing a little bit, then trying it out, then developing some more

testing and debugging

making sure things work – and ﬁnding and solving problems when they arise

reusing and remixing

making something by building on existing projects or ideas

abstracting and
modularizing

exploring connections between the whole and the parts

COMPUTATIONAL PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVE

DESCRIPTION

expressing

realizing that computation is a medium of creation
“I can create.”

connecting

recognizing the power of creating with and for others
“I can do different things when I have access to others.”

questioning

feeling empowered to ask questions about the world
“I can (use computation to) ask questions to make sense of (computational things in) the
world.”

141

ASSESSING DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTATIONAL PRACTICES
The following instrument can be used to assess students’ development of ﬂuency with computational
thinking practices (experimenting and iterating, testing and debugging, reusing and remixing, abstracting
and modularizing). The ﬁrst column indicates a question for the student (as part of a design journal prompt
or interview, for example). The second, third, and fourth columns indicate how low, medium, and high levels
of proﬁciency might be manifested.

142

EXPERIMENTING AND ITERATING

LOW

MEDIUM

HIGH

Describe how you built your project
step by step.

Student provides a basic
description of building a
project, but no details
about a speciﬁc project.

Student gives a general
example of building a
speciﬁc project in a certain
order.

Student provides details
about the different
components of a speciﬁc
project and how they were
developed in a certain
order.

What different things did you try out as
you went along with your project?

Student does not provide
speciﬁc examples of what
s/he tried.

Student gives a general
example of trying
something in the project.

Student provides speciﬁc
examples of different
things s/he tries in a
project.

What revisions did you make and why
did you make them?

Student says s/he made no
revisions, or only states
s/he made revisions but
gives no examples.

Student describes one
speciﬁc revision s/he made
to the project.

Student describes the
speciﬁc things s/he added
to the project and why.

Describe different ways you tried to do
things in your project, or when you tried
to do something new.

Student provides no
examples of trying
something new.

Student provides an
example of trying
something new in the
project.

Student describes speciﬁc
new things s/he tried in a
project.

TESTING AND DEBUGGING

LOW

MEDIUM

HIGH

Describe what happened when you ran
your project that was different from
what you wanted.

Student does not describe
what was different when
s/he ran the project from
what s/he wanted.

Student describes what
went wrong in the project,
but not what s/he wanted
it to do.

Student gives a speciﬁc
example of what happened
and what s/he wanted to
have happen when s/he
ran the project.

Describe how you read through the
scripts to investigate the cause of the
problem.

Student does not describe
a problem.

Student describes reading
through the scripts but
does not provide a speciﬁc
example of ﬁnding a
problem in the code.

Student describes reading
through the scripts and
provides a speciﬁc example
of ﬁnding a problem in the
code.

Describe how you made changes and
tested to see what happened.

Student does not describe
what problems s/he had or
the solution.

Student provides a general
example of making a
change and testing it out
to see if it worked.

This student provides a
speciﬁc example of making
a change and testing it out
to see if it worked.

Describe how you considered other
ways to solve a problem.

Student does not provide
an example of a solution to
a problem.

Student provides a general
example of a solution to
the problem.

This student provides a
speciﬁc example of a
solution to the problem.

REUSING AND REMIXING

LOW

MEDIUM

HIGH

Describe if/how you found inspiration
by trying other projects and reading
their scripts.

Student does not describe
how s/he found ideas or
inspiration from other
projects.

Student provides a general
description of a project
that inspired him/her.

Student provides a speciﬁc
example of project that
inspired him/her and how.

How did you select a piece of another
project, and adapt it for your project?

Student does not describe
how s/he adapted scripts,
ideas or resources from
other projects.

Student identiﬁes scripts,
ideas or resources s/he
adapted from other
projects.

Student provides speciﬁc
examples of scripts, ideas
or resources s/he adapted
from other projects and
how.

How did you modify an existing project
to improve it, or enhance it?

Student does not describe
modifying another project.

Student provides a general
description of
modiﬁcations s/he made to
another project.

Student provides speciﬁc
examples of modiﬁcations
s/he made to other
projects and why.

How did you give credit to people
whose work you built on or are inspired
by?

Student does not give
credit to others.

Student names people
whose work inspired
him/her.

Student documents in
project and/or on the
Scratch website the people
whose work inspired
him/her.

ABSTRACTING AND MODULARIZING

LOW

MEDIUM

HIGH

How did you decide what sprites are
needed for your project, and where they
should go?

Student provides no
description of how s/he
selected sprites.

Student provides a general
description of deciding to
choose certain sprites.

Student provides a speciﬁc
description of how s/he
made decisions about
sprites based on goals for
the project.

How did you decide what scripts are
needed for your project, and what they
should do?

Student provides no
description of how s/he
created scripts.

Student provides a general
description of deciding to
create certain scripts.

Student provides a speciﬁc
description of how s/he
made decisions about
scripts based on goals for
the project.

How did you organize the scripts in
ways that make sense to you and
others?

Student does not describe
how s/he organized scripts.

Student provides a general
description of how s/he
organized the script.

Student provides speciﬁc
examples of how s/he
organized the script and
why.

143

SUPPORTING COMPUTATIONAL PRACTICES IN THE CLASSROOM
The following instrument can be used to help you reﬂect on how you are supporting computational practices
in your learning environment – which may be a classroom, a library, or another learning environment. The
purpose of the instrument is to help you notice the types of opportunities to learn that you are designing and
supporting.

EXPERIMENTING AND ITERATING: developing a little bit, then trying it out, then developing
some more
The activity provided opportunities for students to…

NONE

SOME

LOTS

build a project step by step
try things out as you go
make revisions based on what happens
try different ways to do things, or try new things
NOTES FOR NEXT TIME:
If none, how can I make room, or build time, for more?
If some, how can I deepen, or strengthen, those activities?
If lots, what have I noticed, or learned?

TESTING AND DEBUGGING: making sure things work – and ﬁnding and solving problems
when they arise
The activity provided opportunities for students to…

NONE

SOME

LOTS

observe what happens when you run your project
describe what is different from what you want
read through the scripts to investigate the cause of the problem
make changes and test to see what happens
consider other ways to solve the problem
NOTES FOR NEXT TIME:
If none, how can I make room, or build time, for more?
If some, how can I deepen, or strengthen, those activities?
If lots, what have I noticed, or learned?

144

REUSING AND REMIXING: making something by building on existing projects or ideas
The activity provided opportunities for students to…

NONE

SOME

LOTS

ﬁnd ideas and inspiration by trying other projects and reading the scripts
select a piece of another project, and adapt it for your project
modify an existing project to improve or enhance it
give credit to people whose work you build on or are inspired by
NOTES FOR NEXT TIME:
If none, how can I make room, or build time, for more?
If some, how can I deepen, or strengthen, those activities?
If lots, what have I noticed, or learned?

ABSTRACTING AND MODULARIZING: exploring connections between the whole and the parts
The activity provided opportunities for students to…

NONE

SOME

LOTS

decide what sprites are needed for your project, and where they should go
decide what scripts are needed for your project, and what they should do
organize the scripts in ways that make sense to you and others
NOTES FOR NEXT TIME:
If none, how can I make room, or build time, for more?
If some, how can I deepen, or strengthen, those activities?
If lots, what have I noticed, or learned?

145

146

FOR FURTHER READING
A selection of readings to further support your explorations of creative computing:
Books
+ Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. New York, NY: Basic Books.
+ Papert, S. (1993). The children’s machine: Rethinking school in the age of the computer. New York, NY: Basic Books.
+ Kafai, Y. B. (1995). Minds in play: Computer game design as a context for children’s learning. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Available at http://www.yasminkafai.com/minds-in-play/
+ Margolis, J., & Fisher, A. (2002). Unlocking the clubhouse: Women in computing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
+ Margolis, J., Estrella, R., Goode, J., Holme, J.J., & Nao, K. (2008). Stuck in the shallow end: Education, race, and computing.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
+ Kafai, Y. B., Peppler, K. A., & Chapman, R. N. (2009). The computer clubhouse: Constructionism and creativity in youth
communities. New York: Teachers College Press.
+ Rushkoff, D. (2010). Program or be programmed: Ten commands for a digital age. New York, NY: OR Books.
+ Kafai, Y. B., & Burke, Q. (2014). Connected code: Why children need to learn programming. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Dissertations
+ Monroy-Hernandez, A. (2012). Designing for remixing: Supporting an online community of amateur creators.
Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
+ Brennan, K. (2013). Best of both worlds: Issues of structure and agency in computational creation, in and out of schools.
Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Papers
+ Brennan, K., & Resnick, M. (2012). New frameworks for studying and assessing the development of computational thinking.
American Educational Research Association meeting, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
+ Brennan, K. (2013). Learning computing through creating and connecting. IEEE Computer, Special Issue: Computing in
Education.
doi:10.1109/MC.2013.229

147

148

LINKS
Links to helpful creative computing resources:

TYPE

DESCRIPTION

LINK

Website

Scratch

http://scratch.mit.edu

Website

ScratchEd

http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu

Resource

Ofﬂine Version of Scratch

http://scratch.mit.edu/scratch2download

Resource

Scratch Cards

http://scratch.mit.edu/info/cards

Resource

Scratch Community Guidelines

http://scratch.mit.edu/community_guidelines

Resource

Scratch Remix FAQ

https://scratch.mit.edu/info/faq#remix

Resource

Scratch Wiki

http://wiki.scratch.mit.edu

Resource

Scratch Discussion Forums

http://scratch.mit.edu/discuss

Resource

Scratch FAQ

http://scratch.mit.edu/info/faq

Resource

LEGO WeDo Construction Set

http://bit.ly/LEGOWeDo

Resource

MaKey MaKey

http://makeymakey.com

Resource

PicoBoard

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10311

Resource

Scratch Design Studio List

http://scratch.mit.edu/users/ScratchDesignStudio

Video

Scratch Overview Video

http://vimeo.com/65583694
http://youtu.be/-SjuiawRMU4

Video

Unit 1 Programmed to Dance Videos

http://vimeo.com/28612347
http://vimeo.com/28612585
http://vimeo.com/28612800
http://vimeo.com/28612970

Video

Backpack Video Tutorial

http://bit.ly/scratchbackpack

Video

Make a Block Video Tutorial

http://bit.ly/makeablock

Video

Variables Video Tutorial

http://bit.ly/scratchvariables

Video

How can I connect Scratch with other
technologies? Video Playlist

http://bit.ly/hardwareandextensions

Video

Scratch Chain Reaction Video

http://bit.ly/ScratchChainReaction

149

Developed by the ScratchEd team at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
and released under a Creative Commons license.

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Creative Computing Curriculum Guide Scratch 3.0

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