Scratch Related News
Teaching Materials
The big advantage of using Scratch is that it uses a lego style block system which removes the complexity of making sure students type the syntax correctly and instead allows them to focus on the structure of their code.
There are also a few plug-ins which allow Scratch to be used for external hardware such as the Microsoft Kinect.
Useful Links:
Scratch MIT Homepage
Scratch Educators Page
Kinect2Scratch Software – to use Microsoft Kinect with Scratch
Eastonhome
A series of 7 video tutorials ranging from very basic skills to more advanced projects. The videos explain the task well, the resources are of a high quality and it allows for some independent learning in the classroom. The only downside is the fact that there haven’t been any new resources for a number of years now.
Learn Scratch
Broken down into three Scratch courses of varying lengths, there are many video tutorials which are of a very high quality.
Official Scratch Resources
This is the official Scratch resource page. Although it can lead you down the path to finding good resources, it can be a time consuming ordeal. As there is no admin control on what gets posted, you do have to sift through a lot of material to find what you are looking for. The website is well overdue a visual update too. Having said that, this is the biggest Scratch resource list available, so if you are prepared to look hard enough you can find some great materials. This website is due an update when Scratch 2.0 is released.
Scratch at Redware
There are already a number of resources available including lesson plans, videos and example projects to download.
Teachnet: Getting Started with Scratch
A nice resource with a basic scheme of work covering 7 lessons. Lessons are explained with the help of screenshots and there are a number of PowerPoint introductions to download for teachers. However compared to some of the other excellent Scratch resources available on the internet, these resources can’t really compete.
Scratch Programming for Teens
It is a good resource for beginners and the projects progress well from new users to more advanced developers. This is probably the best Scratch publication available to date, but it is hard to recommend it over the excellent free Scratch online resources above this.
Computer Programming for Kids with Scratch
This is a new book to appear on the Amazon marketplace. The front cover looks very amateurish which doesn’t suggest that this is the most professional of resources.
Scratch 1.4: Beginners Guide
The one UK comment on Amazon isn’t very complimentary, but the two US comments have given it 5 stars.
Super Scratch Programming Adventure
A very promising looking book, with a number of impressive Scratch games on the preview video.
