On March 26, 2009, the Downtown Elementary Computer Club was privileged with a visit from Dr. Juan Carlos Olabe-Besogain from the engineering department at Christian Brothers University.  He conducted a two-hour workshop involving Scratch.

The Computer Club students were introduced to the concepts required to make a video game using the program.  Fourth grade student, Matthew, commented, “I want to become an engineer when I grow up and I hope to go to MIT.  Scratch was made by MIT.”  Dr. Olabe-Besogain reminded Matthew to tell MIT that he used Scratch when he was in school.

Students created several different varieties of video games including versions of Pacman, scrolling car games, and puzzles.  Students learned how to include use of variables to assign points to in-game actions.  Utilizing several different applications, sixth grader Ariael was able to create a version of Pacman in which her own head was the moving character.  Computer Club students thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and have already been able to add suggestions of Scratch expertise to classmates working on projects during regular class sessions in the computer lab.  This is a great resource students now have—advice from a neighbor more knowledgeable about the application who is excited to impart it.

Also, I have signed our school up as a Memphis host for Scratch Day which will occur on May 16, 2009.

Scratch Day is a worldwide network of gatherings, where people will come together to meet other Scratchers, share projects and experiences, and learn more about Scratch.

More information to come as I put together some plans!

Spring break is over, the students return, and I survived jury duty, or at least the first week out of eight.  Yes, I got one of the longer jobs possible; however, so far it has been a very eye-opening experience and in the scheme of things, it really is not so bad.  So many people give service to our country for a year or more at a time in the National Guard or armed forces, so a couple days (or eight in my case) is small when you look at the big picture.  Besides, someone has to do it.

In other news, I got back at school and had an email from the people at scratch.mit.edu with information about organizing a Scratch Day.  I will be thinking about this and looking into what other Scratch teachers in Memphis will be doing, so more to come on that later.

To all my friends and colleagues, students, and parents, welcome back to school!  TCAP is on the way and summer is on the horizon, so best wishes to everyone as we make the most of our last couple months of the school year.

Today is the much awaited Last Day Before Spring Break.  Unfortunately, I won’t be having much of a break because I have jury duty.  Excellent scheduling there, eh?

No vacation for me!  As a little reminder that I am doomed, the sheriff’s office had a nice note waiting for me in the mail with my little jury card.

Spring break also means I will take a break from blogging, but not before I mention that I am completely thrilled one of my students got hooked on Lego Digital Designer.  He let me know this morning that he visited my blog and took a peek at the lesson he would be doing in class today and already practiced for it.  How do you like them apples?

To all my friends in MCS that might read this…

Have a safe and relaxing spring break.  I’ll be thinking about you having a good time while I’m sitting around at jury duty!

(clip art borrowed and altered for my entertainment from Designed to a T)

I’m dubbing this Lego Digital Designer (LDD) Lesson One.

I can say a lot about LDD, but in essence the word cool comes to mind.  It’s like having that giant tub of Legos when you were a kid and all the pieces you really needed but did not have.  It’s virtual Legos in a crisp, clean 3D environment with simple sound effects that don’t overpower.  More than that, LDD is a great way to get kids problem solving, thinking creatively, using self-directed learning, all while having fun making “stuff” with Legos.  You can even explode your models into individual pieces and watch it fly back together piece by piece!

I will preface this lesson plan with a note that I did spend one class on LDD prior to this lesson.  In the introduction to LDD, I walked the kids through the interface and the different modes while demonstrating making some simple constructions.  I also demonstrated how to use the help buttons as well as how to locate the online video tutorials.  When I gave the kids exploration time, I informed them I would help them very little.  They were to use the help buttons, guide, tutorial videos, and their own ideas to figure things out if they got stuck.  So, prior to this lesson, the students have had about half a class period of time to tinker with the program.  Some have even downloaded it at home and joined the website (and surely will be buying sets of Legos they have designed).

This lesson is intended for grades 1-4, but should be adapted accordingly (i.e. first graders need more of a walk-through).

LDD Lesson One: Making a Personal Logo

Objective: Use the Legos to make your name.  Your name can be flat or you can make it 3D.   Take a screen shot of your design.  Save your design.

This is a lesson that can be really simple or complex, depending upon the age of the student.  Quite a bit of problem solving and creative thinking is needed to accomplish this goal, as well as effective use of camera angles and zoom within the program.

Step-by-Step Student Guide: lego-digital-designer-lesson-one

Again, I am placing a .pdf version of the directions online for my students to use.  Save the trees, man!  And yes…all Legos are 3D in this program, so in essence the “flat” version of the name is in 3D, too.  The terms, I think, will help my students understand best.

Lesson One went off without a hitch in the lab.  For most, it was really super easy; however, it left them with some time to experiment with adding sound, a different background, and movement.  Having students work in pairs also made this easier.

Instead of wasting trees, it also helped that I put the .pdf version of the directions on our computer lab homepage as a download so that students could get a nice, full color version right there on their computer.  You know, so there’s absolutely no excuse for not following directions.

The second lesson in our Scratch exploration has more steps than the first, but is still uncomplicated enough to ease students into the program.  Plus, it involves them manipulating a photo of themselves so they will be motivated to get this one done.  Students can still work in pairs or go solo.  Pairs might want to do the activity twice, so each partner gets a chance to tinker with their own photo.

Scratch, Lesson Two

Objective: Create an interactive photo of yourself using both PhotoBooth and Scratch.

Step-by-Step Guide for Students: scratchlessontwo

Lesson add-on:

–Take another photo of yourself in a different position.  Using the same steps, make this into a costume for your photo sprite.  Use the switch costume block (similar to the dot animation) to animate yourself switching between the two costumes.