Learning Primary Programming with Scratch (Home Learning Book Years 3-4)

Phil Bagge

Description

Scratch teaching and learning made easy thanks to up-to-date, classroom-tested methodologies. Draws on the expertise of Code-IT and HIAS.

Sujets

• Langages
• Computers
• EDUCATION
• Informatique
• General officer
• Programming language
• General

Informations

• Publié par: Legend Press
• Date de parution: 17 octobre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9781915054173
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Learning Primary Programming with Scratch
Home Learning Book Years 3-4
Phil Bagge
Copyright Phil Bagge 2022
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.
Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, copied or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, now known or hereafter invented, save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988, or under terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
ISBN 978-1-91505-4-166
Contents
INTRODUCTION
About these book
Prior Knowledge needed
Resources Needed
Ages
Symbols
CHAPTER ONE
Watch the video and learn about Scratch programming Environment
CHAPTER TWO
Introducing Sequences
Talking Sprites
Joke Time
Jumbled Shapes
Ladybug Munch
CHAPTER THREE
Introducing count-controlled-loops
Toy Give Away
Turning sequences into count-controlled-loops Dragonfly
Dog Chase
CHAPTER FOUR
Introducing Indefinite Loops
Helicopter Game
ANSWERS
About these books
If you picked this book up and are leafing through it you deserve to know what it is and how it works before you buy it.
The front part of this book is the young programmer s work book and the back section is the home educator s guide.
This book is not a text book you just give to a child and let them get on with it on their own. There are plenty of such copy code type books out there-this is not one of them. This book needs an active partnership 1 between you the home educator and your child.
Prior Knowledge Needed
Neither partner needs to know anything about programming before you start. That s my job as the narrator and guide-to help you both learn about programming and be able to use it creatively.
Resources Needed
To use these books you will need either a laptop, PC, Mac or Chromebook. If your budget is tight, I recommend a Chromebook and a free Google account to make it work.
Online
The easiest way to use these resources is with internet access and a free Scratch account. In many chapters, I will be sharing pre-made programs for you both to examine and learn from.
The link to access these resources is https://youtu.be/LDASth9B5o8
Research
This book uses the latest research-driven code comprehension methods. Your child needs to predict what code does, answer questions about it and modify existing code before creating new things. The home educator will be alerted to possible pitfalls and checks via the home educator part of the book.
Away from the computer
Do not be surprised if we work offline to introduce new ideas through roleplay and offline exercises. These sections are really important. Do not let your child race through them. Check their understanding as they go. There is a special home educator symbol which denotes things to do together and in the home educator section of the book there are hints to help your child if they get stuck. At the end of this chapter, there is an explanation of all the symbols used in the book and advice on how to help your child whilst encouraging independence and resilience.
Timing
A word on timing. Every child is different and so this book is not split into lessons. I recommend about an hour a week but you know your child best. Sometimes children will get excited about creating a project at those times a little more time to explore and create is useful. Chapters, apart from the first, follow a pattern of introducing a concept offline followed by code comprehension and then time to create online. When you see a new concept being introduced these are good longer break points.
Ages
These books are designed for pupils between the ages of 7-12. Older pupils will often have a greater advantage as they have greater reading and maths skills. Book one is designed for 7-9 year olds and Book 2 for 10-12 year olds, however, do not jump straight to book 2 if your child is older. They need to cover the information in Book 1 before moving on.
Concepts covered (do not worry if this means nothing as that is part of our journey)
Sequence
Algorithmic notation
Count controlled loops
Indefinite loops
Helping Children who are stuck
Process is more important than outcome. If your child is on task and puzzling something out give them time to do so. It is better to have 60% finished where that work is mainly the children s own work than 100% finished where a home educator solved it for them.
It is very important to establish a positive attitude towards problem solving. Programming is very useful in that it calls errors bugs and finding errors debugging. Although all bugs are caused by humans, the language is much more impersonal than mistakes which imply blame or fault. Using bug and debugging language is helpful. It is also important to let children know that mistakes/bugs are a normal part of computing, that they are to be expected, that professional programmers write code that have bugs all the time and that the home educator will not be cross or upset if their pupil s work/programs has bugs/mistakes in them.
Promote the idea that it is not the home educators job to fix your child s algorithm or debug their code. It is the home educators job to promote useful strategies that they can use to fix things themselves (see hints at the back of the book). So when they ask a home educator for help they know they are looking for strategies to find and fix things themselves rather than solutions.
Children that are moving from dependence on the home educator solving everything to useful problem solving need to understand their work avoidance strategies. Ask your child; are you trying to get me to do your work for you Are you trying to get me to solve the problem for you?
Some children won t be able to move on until they recognise their work avoidance strategy for what it is. Good home educators do this tactfully and with regards to children s known issues, but an element of gentle challenge is inevitable to help the child become an independent problem solver.
A good home educator might rephrase a challenge or provide a hint (the hints in the back of the book will help) but will avoid providing a solution
Try and avoid touching your Child s mouse, keyboard or touchscreen. You can compare this to writing the answers in their maths exercise book.
Move children away from language that personifies digital machines. My computer hates me, is typical. Computers are deterministic which means that if all the inputs are the same you will always get the same output. Personification encourages children to think that an answer might not be available due to the capriciousness of the machine, an attitude that is anti-problem solving and incorrect.
As parents and home educators, we know that children don t do what we say but what we do. This is just as true in computing. Try and model a positive outlook to technology as this will be reflected back in your child s attitude to programming and their wider use of IT.

1 The exception is the first chapter that does use copy code techniques to learn about the Scratch working environment.

Symbols

Important Vocabulary

Information

Something to write or draw

Working with your home educator
90 degrees
Answers are in red in the home educator back part of the book
Insert video link (link 1)

Home educators, why don t you try this on a separate computer alongside your child. That way you can help each other and learn something about the programming environment.

How to use the video
Open Scratch in one browser tab and open the video in another browser tab
Watch a bit
Pause when the video says pause
Build that bit in Scratch
Tick off the skill in the checklist below
If you do not understand something watch that bit of the video again.

Skills Checklist (not in order)

Add sprite

Rename sprite

Change sprite size

Make sprite move

Make sprite steer

Make sprite recovery code

Add pen blocks

Make pen lines rub out

Start drawing

Stop drawing

Change line colour

Add backdrop

Change backdrop using code

Add costume change

Add background change

Make sprite go back to start

Paint instructions

Code instructions
Introducing sequences
Sequence means one thing after another thing.

SEQUENCE
Arrange in an order

The order of things is often important.
This is the same sentence in a different order.

Say SEE kwuhns

Order things the of important is often.
It is hard to understand meaning in the wrong order.

The order of a sequence is often important!

Act these out in order?

Stand
Bow
Wave
Smile
Jump
Sit
Which two actions have to be in this order?
______________
_______________

That s right

Stand
Bow
Wave
Smile
Jump
Sit
Stand and sit have to be at the start and the end as it is di cult to bow and jump if you are sat down but the other actions can be carried out in any order.
How long did you wave for in seconds?
________________

How long did you smile for in seconds?
________________

There was no right answer to the last question as the instructions did not say how long you had to wave or smile for.

ALGORITHM
A set of precise instructi