Recommendations and curriculum resources for teaching programming to kids in Grades 1-12. Tips for programming using Scratch Jr, Scratch, HTML, and Python.
Games should be fun and just the right level of challenge. They shouldn’t be too easy, so that the player finishes quickly and has no incentive to play again. And games should not be too hard. Then the player may give up and abandon play. One way to inspire and motivate players is to script […]
Game Development: How to Script Obstacles Read More »
Teachers, are you assessing your students’ Scratch coding projects? How do you know that they understand the code that they have written? Here’s a quick tip to have your students demonstrate their learning: ask them to write brief comment notes in Scratch. In this way, they will confirm that they recognize the function of the
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If you are teaching a game development or coding unit, you may want to know how to build player controls in Scratch. The good news is that it is easy to have the player move around the stage using arrow keys. Discover the blocks you will need, sample scripts, and time saving tips. Why Build
How to Build Game Player Controls in Scratch Read More »
When teaching a game development curriculum unit use a Game Development Rubric. A rubric is an efficient way to consistently grade student work. Especially when teaching multiple classes. Moreover, this tool makes it easy to rate students’ performance from beginner to expert. What is a Rubric? To clarify, a rubric is an assessment tool that
Game Development Rubric Read More »
Do you want to freeze a sprite in Scratch when the player hits an obstacle? You can! It is one line of code, with a combination of three blocks. Quickly and easily, you can add this feature to your game. Please note, this solution works best if arrow keys control the player. If your player
How to Freeze a Sprite in Scratch Read More »
Do you need Scratch how-to tips? You are in luck! This article provides tricks for mastering the Paint Editor tools. Specifically, how to mix color to fill an object or text. Scratch is an online platform that empowers beginners to learn essential coding skills. By snapping together blocks you can build scripts. These can be used
How to Pick a Color in the Scratch Paint Editor Read More »
To teach computer science concepts to kids one option is to sign up for Scratch student accounts. Scratch is an online coding platform designed especially for children. The registration process has only a few steps. Students are asked to provide a nickname, country, gender, and email address. That’s it! However, there are pitfalls. In this
4 Ways to Simplify Setting Up Scratch Student Accounts Read More »
Teachers, here is a free Scratch lesson for elementary students! Use it to ignite an interest in Scratch programming. Students learn coding skills as they showcase their creativity too. Each student game will be unique! Free Scratch Lesson for Elementary Grades Hide and Seek is excerpted from TechnoArcade, TechnoKids’ newest technology project. In TechnoArcade, students
Free Scratch Lesson for Kids: Hide and Seek Read More »
One of the best Scratch teacher tips I can share is to sign up for a Teacher Account and then make Class Studios to organize student projects. Scratch is an online coding platform that introduces programming skills to children using blocks. Students can independently sign up for their own accounts and use them to design
5 Reasons to Make a Scratch Studio Read More »
In my previous post, I described some classroom games to play with Scratch flashcards. Scratch flashcards are a resource available with the purchase of any TechnoKids Scratch project. Scratch flashcards are large, printed manipulative tools. They are large images of Scratch coding blocks. These instructional materials can be used as part of an offline coding
Classroom Tips: How to Manage Scratch Flashcards Read More »
