Scratch for the Inclusive Classroom

Inclusive Classroom

Inclusive teaching and learning practices are

instrumental in creating and maintaining
a learning environment in which:
• all participants are fully engaged and
respected.
• all participants are open to ideas,
perspectives, and ways of thinking that are
distinct from their own.
 What is Scratch?
• Free visual programming language and programming environment.
• Project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab.
• Designed especially for ages 8 to 16, but is used by people of all ages.
• An engaging tool for children of any learning style.
• Can be easily personalized by children with their own media content.
They can add their own photos, recorded voices or sounds and graphics.
• Aims to promote cooperation through online communities.
• Scratch 3 is available online and as an offline application for :
– Windows - MacOS
 Scratch in Education
• Scratch enables teachers and pupils to make:
– Educational games
– Simulations of science experiments
– Animation stories for a school subject
• Cultivates pupils’ ability to:
– think creatively
– reason systematically
– work collaboratively
• Encourages
– Sharing, reuse and combination of code
– Communication in a global community
– There is also a special community for
education (ScratchEd) with lesson plans and
other relative information.
 Scratch for the Inclusive Classroom
Scratch provides a friendly environment
which:
• Helps pupils to:
– easily adapt to their learning space.
– get immediate interaction of their
actions or program changes.
• Provides teachers with the ability to:
– easily program engaging applications
for their pupils
– keep their classroom motivated by
using
• Sounds
• Animations
• Images
• Texts
 Blocks of commands
Scratch Environment
Costumes (different Sounds
appearances of the same
sprite)
default sprite

Scripts Area  Here is where

command blocks are put Stage
Groups of commands Active sprites
More groups (Extensions) (Background)
 Sprite Selection

• A sprite is a small graphic that can execute commands.

• One or more sprites can be:
– Drawn or
– Introduced from:
• A Scratch library

• A file
 Sprite Selection
Sprite Costumes

• A sprite has a set of different costumes

(appearances).
• One or more costumes can be:
– Drawn
– Introduced from:
• A Scratch library
• A file
Every time you select a sprite, you have to
check that its costumes have the form you
need.
 Sprite Selection
Sounds, Size
• A sprite may also have been loaded with a set of
sounds.
• A sound can be :
– Loaded from a library.

– Recorded.

– Imported from an audio file.

Check that you have loaded all the sounds that the
sprite is supposed to make.
 Setting the background
• Click on Stage
• Select the "Backdrops" tab
• Each backdrop is a different
appearance (look) of the Stage
• A backdrop can be:
– Drawn
– Added from Scratch library

– Imported from a file

– We can have more than one

backdrops, if a change of
the scene is necessary to be
made in the application i.e.
in a game.
• A backdrop can be modified.
 Exercise 1

• Choose the appropriate backdrop and

sprite so that the screen of your
application will look like this.

• How could we then modify the

backdrop in order to look like this?
 Command blocks

• Various types of blocks associated with:

– Motion
– Looks
– Sound
– Events
– Control
– Sensing etc…
• When a sprite is selected, all types of
blocks are available.
• When the stage is selected, neither
motion nor pen blocks are available.
 Command blocks
You can add more command blocks through extensions button.
 Scratch Stage coordinates
180
y
• The stage is 480 pixels wide and 360
x
pixels high.
-240 240
• Every point is defined by its X-Y
coordinates. X coordinate get values in -180
the range [-240, 240] and Y coordinate
gets values in the range [-180, 180].
• The center of the stage has (0,0) X-Y (200, 100)

coordinates.
• When we refer to a point a sprite should
move to, we actually mean that its
center should reach that point.
 Sprite Information

• The following information

about the sprite is
available:
– The x-y coordinates of
its centre .
– Its direction.
– Its size.
– If it is meant to be
visible when the
application starts.
 Motion blocks

• A sprite can:
– Move a number of steps (pixels) in the specified
direction

– Point towards the mouse pointer or another sprite.

– Move immediately to a point or glide to a point

within a specified time.
 Motion blocks

• A sprite can:
– Change its coordinates.

– Bounce on stage edges (mind the rotation style!)

• We can see how direction and the coordinates of a sprite change

while it moves by ticking the appropriate boxes.
 Exercise 2

Extend Exercise 1 as follows:

Provide the appropriate blocks of commands so that the butterfly
1. Points in direction of 90o (right)
2. Goes initially to point (0,0)
3. Glides to the flower in 2 seconds

Hint: To find the x-y coordinates of the flower, position the

sprite (the butterfly) over the flower. From the sprite
information, write down the x-y coordinates.
 Event Blocks

• Event blocks are activated when an

event happens. They are followed
by a set of blocks, which will be
executed. Event blocks are
activated:
– When the green flag has been
clicked.
– When one key is pressed.
– When the user clicks on a
sprite.
– When the backdrop changes to
the one specified.
 Looks and Sound

• A Sprite can:
– speak or think as in a comic book
– Disappear and appear
– Change color, size or costume
– Change the backdrop of the Stage.
• The Stage can:
– Change backdrop or color
• Sprites and Stage can:
– Produce the sounds of instruments.
– Play an imported or recorded
sound.
– Change volume and tempo of the
sound.
 Exercise 3

Extend exercise 2 as follows:

• When the butterfly is at the
center, it should display the
message “I am a butterfly!”
• When the butterfly reaches
the flower it should display
the message “I like
flowers!!!”.
 Exercise 4

Extend exercise 2 as follows:

• Create and save a sound file
with your own voice that says
“I am a butterfly”. The audio
file will be played when the
butterfly is at the center of the
stage.
• Create and save a sound file
with your own voice that says
“I like flowers!!!”. The audio
file will be played when the
butterfly reaches the flower.
 Exercise 5

• Draw 3 sprites:
– A red circle
– A green square
– A brown triangle
• The sprites will be initially placed on the
left side of the screen.
• When someone clicks on a sprite:
– A "cloud" will appear saying its shape
and its color, as in a comic book text.
– A recorded voice will repeat the
above.
– The sprite will glide in a second to the
right side of the screen, and then
return back to its initial position.
 Communication between Sprites
• Sprites can communicate between them and also with the
Stage through messages.
•A sprite or the stage broadcasts a
specific message. In example, a
sprite broadcasts the message
dance.

• The sprites that must react to this

message will have a When I receive
dance event block, with more code
to be executed underneath.
 Exercise 5

• Add the concert backdrop

• Add the balarina sprite.
• Resize the cat to 50% and the balarina to
80%.
• Write code so that when the green flag is
pressed the cat will go to position x: -144,
y=- 86 and the balarina to the center of
the stage.
• Write code so that when the space key is
pressed the balarina will broadcast the
message “startDance” and it will start
dancing by changing its custom 12 times.
• Write code so when the cat receives the
message “startDance” it will start walking
by walking
 Remaining Command Blocks
• We did not cover any blocks that are associated with:
– Control functions (except the ones that we have already
examined)
– Sensing
– Operators (numerical, logical or comparison)
– The programming of custom blocks
– Variables
– and all the extensions.
 Remaining Command Blocks
• These commands though can be also very useful. Par
example, you will have to use sensing blocks and operators
and variables to create a quiz that keeps score of successful
answers.
 Save and load a project
• To save locally at your computer a project select:
File→ Download to your computer
• To load a project from your computer select:
File→ Upload from your computer
 Scratch Applications Examples
• Click and Learn

• What I do
 A Little Project for the inclusive classroom…
• You will need the following sprites:
– The letters A, B, C, D, an apple, a butterfly, a cat, a dog
and an "END" button (when the application starts the
visible sprites will be the letters and the "END" button).
– You can place them on any part of the screen by
choosing a specific point and including the command "go
to x … y ... "
• When letter A is clicked
1. A recorded sound "apple" will be played.
2. The letter will say "apple" (in a cloud) for 3 seconds.
3. An apple will appear for 3 seconds and then disappear.
• A similar process will be followed when the other letters are
clicked.
• When "END" button is clicked, the sound "End of the game"
will be played.
We hope this was a useful session
Please, try to apply your new experience on Scratch
and provide your feedback!
Thank you!

You can email any questions about the material that we

did not have the time to cover (and also about the
material that we covered) at
[email protected].