Search results for: “scratch”

  • Lesson Ideas and Tips for Language Teachers using Scratch, Minecraft and more!

    A few weeks ago, I had a wonderful opportunity to share a Saturday morning Zoom webinar (for me in Oklahoma) with language teachers in the United Kingdom, as part of a webinar series hosted by the Association for Language Learning’s All London Branch. The title of my webinar presentation was, “Lesson Ideas and Tips for…

  • Code as Poetry in 4th Grade Scratch Club

    The highlight of my Mondays now is getting to co-facilitate an after-school Scratch Coding Club with my wife. Today one of our fourth graders discovered a wonderful Scratch block that simplified a much more complex set of blocks I’d showed him a few weeks ago, and created a simple shooting cannon / animated cannon. I…

  • Inspired by Ohio Student Interactive Scratch Games

    I’m presenting and attending at the 2018 Ohio Educational Technology Conference in Columbus today and tomorrow, and this afternoon I stopped by the poster sessions outside the vendor hall. I met several different Ohio high school students who have been learning to create interactive games using the free Scratch programming language and MakeyMakey controllers. This is…

  • Developing Computational Thinking with Scratch Coding (webinar video)

    Last night I had an opportunity to present a free, evening webinar for the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s Educational Technology Division, as part of a series they hosted to prepare teachers for Computer Science Education Week. The title of my presentation was, “Developing Computational Thinking with Scratch Coding.” The webinar recording is 1 hour and 11…

  • Podcast446: Reflections on a PBS Scratch Jr Coding Camp for Kids

    Coding is an important literacy skill we need to introduce to everyone in the 21st century! This podcast features reflections by Shelly Fryer (@sfryer) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) following a PBS Scratch Jr. Coding Camp for Kids in Edmond, Oklahoma, on September 17, 2016. It also includes some recorded audio from Shelly’s lessons during the…

  • Create a Maze Game in PBS Scratch Jr

    Scratch is a wonderful, FREE, block-based coding language and website students around the world have used since 2007 to create over 16 million projects. “Scratch is used in more than 150 different countries and available in more than 40 languages.” Learners of all ages have created a diverse array of animations, games, interactive art projects, music and dance projects, stories, and…

  • Scratch Day in Oklahoma City on Saturday, May 14, 2016

    Know any kids in grades 2-6 who would love to learn how to create their own video games? Register them today to join me for Scratch Day at Oklahoma City University on Saturday, May 14, 2016! Scratch Day is an annual event sponsored by the MIT Media Lab to promote coding, digital creativity, computational thinking, and…

  • Scratch Camp Facilitator Workshop (April 2016)

    This Saturday, April 16, I’ll be leading a “Scratch Camp Facilitator Workshop” from 9 am to 1 pm at the Casady School in Oklahoma City. This FREE, hands-on workshop for educators is sponsored by The Div (@thedivorg), a non-profit based in Edmond, Oklahoma, focused on providing coding experiences for students. If you’re interested in attending,…

  • Fun Scratch Projects Today in STEM Class

    I’m continuing to teach my 4th and 5th graders in STEM class about coding and how to create projects using Scratch software. Last week students got started with coding using tutorials on Code.org. For our first lesson of this week students completed the “Step-by-Step Intro” to Scratch. I recorded a screencast of the instructions for…

  • More Than One Way to Orbit in Scratch

    Today I shared a three hour workshop at TechKnowledgey 2013 in Missoula on using Scratch software with K-12 students in the classroom, in after-school clubs (like Chris Simon did at Independence Elementary in Yukon, Oklahoma last year) as well as “Scratch Camps.” My favorite things that happened during the workshop, when teachers were exploring and…