Getting Started with Scratch

Objectives

• Sign into your Scratch account and start a new project or open a saved project.

• Save and share your projects.

• Familiarize yourself with the basics of coding on Scratch.

Materials

• Per Student:

  • Computer or tablet with internet connection
  • Scratch account (you can create one here https://scratch.mit.edu/join)

• Per Class:

  • Computer with projector.

Key Questions

• What thinking skills and strategies are you using to code your project?
• What is coding used for?

What To Do

Signing into your account:

1. Open an internet browser. Any one will work!
2. In the address bar, type scratch.mit.edu and press enter.
3. Sign into your account by clicking on Sign in in the top right corner of the page. Enter your username and password and click the white Sign in button.

Starting a new project:

1. You can start a new project by clicking on Create in the top left corner of the page after you’ve signed in.
2. You can change the name of your project by clicking Untitled and typing a new title. It will automatically save to your account!

Finding a saved project:

1. You can find any of the projects you’ve worked on by clicking on your account in the top right corner of the page and clicking on My Stuff.
2. Click on See inside to continue working on your project.

Sharing your project with others:

1. When you’re ready to share your project, click on the orange Share button on the top next to to your project title. This will bring you to a project page.
2. You can edit Instructions and add Notes and Credits to this page. When it’s ready to share, click on the Copy link button near the bottom right and send that link to someone!

Coding on Scratch:

This video provides an overview of coding on Scratch.

After watching that video and exploring the Tutorials section of Scratch, try to do the following:

*Remember – Scratch does not have a reset button so any changes to your sprites looks or position will stay that way unless you code the starting position and look at the very beginning of your code.

1. Select a backdrop
2. Delete the Scratch Cat sprite
3. Add your own sprite
4. Resize your sprite
5. Tell your sprite to go to a specific starting location
6. Add movement to your sprite
7. Have your sprite say something
8. Add a sound effect to your sprite when you click on it
9. Add a costume change to your sprite
10. Flip or rotate your sprite

Extensions

• An example project can be viewed here: Introduction to Scratch
• Remember to click "See inside" to see how it's done!

Other Resources

Like this activity? Learn more about game design with our friends at SkyBox Labs. This video shows how game designers, artists, and software engineers work together to make games.