Before diving into using Scratch itself, let’s learn a little bit more about what scratch is and how it can be used to teach students to think creatively, work collaboratively, improve mathematical skills, in a ubiquitous learning environment.

Scratch is a free programming language developed by MIT that makes it easy to create interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art, and share your creations on the web. (Scratch MIT, 2021). It is recommended for students age 8-16, however, it really can be used at any age 8 and over. Click on the link below for more information:

Promoting Creative Learning Through Scratch

One of the greatest advantages of Scratch is that it can be used online anywhere at any time and can be used on a mobile device such as an iPad. So, students can log on via Google meet and work together to create a new game. Every game is unique and dependent upon the different perspectives and ideas of the individual users. You may give the students some direction, such as you want a particular avatar to jump three times, however you don't have to tell them in which direction, what the avatar looks like, what they're jumping over, with the background looks like; you can leave all of that up to their imagination. Once students have completed their projects, they can upload them to the Scratch website, where ANYONE in the world can access them and download them or add to them online (obviously with persmission from school/access). The possibilities are endless! 

Here are some students discussing how they are using Scratch to learn:

Media Source: (Scratch Team, 2017)

Writing instructions:

Part of what you will be doing is writing instructions on how to play your game. It may seem like an easy enough concept, but sometimes, especially when writing instructions for kids, it can be a little more difficult. Here is a video with some advice on how to do that easily:

Media Source: 

(The Touring Teacher, 2020)

Assignments:

This week you have three assignments:

1. Create a name animation (p. 1-8 on the Educators guide distributed). You will post your animation in your Google workgroup for others to review. Each person in your group will do the same and you will comment on what was done well and what areas could be improved upon. This is meant to familiarize yourself with the software before delving into the actual game design process
2. Meet with your group to begin brainstorming your game. The only parameters that we will use for this game are that it must be a math game for grades 3-5.

• Be sure to record your meeting
• Write down any ideas
• Begin designing the layout
• If comfortable, begin coding

       3. Answer this question in the community and respond to at least two other students:

• How do you think coding helps children learn analytical skills?

For the next few lessons, you will work closely with your groups to review scratch programming concepts and continue mapping out and creating your game.

• We will review some concepts in class regarding collaborative spaces, MOOC’s, etc.

• We will also review the ideas behind game theory and design.

• Here are some additional resources for your game design:

1. Math through Scratch (Carpenter, 2020) 
2. Scratch Tutorials (Scratch MIT, 2021)

Media Source: (Kids Coding Playground, 2020)

Assignments:

1.)  Continue working on your game design and manual collaboratively with your team. You will need to continue to review the Scratch Website along with reviewing your textbook for ideas on how to code your game.

2.) Answer this question in the community and respond to at least two other students:

• What are the benefits and drawbacks of having a collaborative working environment?

For this lesson we will explore more of the game based learning concepts and how using points and competition can help engage learning among students (Derue, 2020).

Gamification: How Online Educational Games Keep Students Engaged in Virtual Learning

Here are some ideas on how to program your game to award points to players:

How to Keep Score in Scratch, Game Design (Love, 2021)

points

Media Source: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ScoringPoints

Assignments:

1.) Continue working on your game design and manual collaboratively with your team.

2.) Answer this question in the community and respond to at least two other students:

• Do you think there is a subject/place where games should not be used in education?

Not everyone sees games as having a place in education. In this lesson we discuss some of those criticisms and attempt to understand how we can work toward a happy medium.

Why Games?  (University of Toronto, 2021)

According to Educause's article, 7 Things you Should Know About Game Based Learning (Educause, 2014), gaming can create a dynamic that can inspire learners to develop skills and competencies as they focus on the activities of the game.

They can:

• function as individual learning activities
• be a powerful content delivery mechanism over several sessions
• last for the duration of the course.

In order to deliver content as a game, faculty members tend to divide the syllabus into levels through which the students must progress, with students getting feedback rather than grades.

In order for it to be effective, the game:

• must align with learning outcomes
• should not be competitive in the conventional sense

​Sometimes, in fact, the game might require students to work collaboratively in order to solve problems, while in other contexts, game mechanics might make students compete against one another in order to reach a personal best.

Why use games?

According to the UMass-Amherst, Centre for Teaching and Faculty Development "The Pedagogy of Games," FAQ, goals, rules, challenge, and interaction can be used to engage students and increase learning outcomes. It can help:

• build an emotional connection to learning and subject matter
• provides opportunity for feedback and practice
• can be customized to individualized teaching

Assignments:

1.) Continue working on your game design and manual collaboratively with your team.

2.) Answer this question in the community and respond to at least two other students:

• How would you argue the point that Hung makes about students having a false sense of superiority after playing games in education?

At the end of this lesson you will be presenting the games you have created, along with the manual to show how to use the game. So in this lesson, we've included some resources in game theory and the best way to write up instructions.

How to Write Game Instructions (Wikihow, 2021)

Your game instructions will be the first thing new players read, so it’s important to make them easy to understand and comprehensive. Write the instructions with short sentences and straightforward language, since it’s likely they’ll be read aloud in a group. Include a brief summary of how the game works and what the goal is early on so the players get an idea of the big picture. The remaining sections should follow a logical order, like having a description of the pieces first, then talking about how the play works, which moves the pieces can make, and how a player can win. Try to keep each section of the instructions short and focused to help the players understand what they have to do. However, if you feel like additional details are necessary, include a reference to an extra section nearer the end of the instructions. That way, the players get a general overview of how your game works before getting into smaller details.

Assignments:

In the in links provided, upload the PDF of the game manual and the finished game for the other groups to review.

1.) Review the games and manuals for the other groups and comments on their work.

2.) Complete Project Rubric Form

3.) Answer this this question in the community and respond to at least two other students:

Is it important to also offer your instructions in video format? Why or why not?

This lesson is just a matter of finishing up the course and to give you some ideas for the future use of Scratch in your classroom.

Scratch Teacher Tour: 

(Common Sense Education, 2018)

3 reasons to use Scratch across the curriculum (Rusk, 2017)

Assignments:

1.) Quiz
2.) Course survey