1st Edition
The Teacher’s Guide to Scratch – Beginner Professional Development for Coding Education
The Teacher’s Guide to Scratch – Beginner is a practical guide for educators preparing beginners-level coding lessons and assignments in their K–12 classrooms. The world’s largest and most active visual programming platform, Scratch helps today’s schools answer the growing call to realize important learning outcomes using coding and computer science. This book illustrates the benefits and fundamental building blocks of Scratch coding, details effective pedagogical strategies and learner collaborations, and offers actionable, accessible troubleshooting tips. Geared toward the fledgling user, these four unique coding projects will provide the technical training that teachers need to feel comfortable and confident in their skills and to help instill the same feeling of accomplishment in their students. Clear goals, a comprehensive glossary, and other features ensure the project’s enduring relevance as a reference work for computer science education in grade school. Thanks to Scratch’s cost-effective open-source license, suitability for blended and project-based learning, notable lack of privacy or security risks, and consistency in format even amid software and interface updates, this will be an enduring practitioner manual and professional development resource for years to come.
1. Why This Series? 2. Why Coding? 3. Why Scratch? 4. Scratch Basics 5. Defining Beginner Scratch 6. Beginner Project 1: Dino Dance Party 7. Beginner Project 2: Fireworks Display 8. Beginner Project 3: Batty Flaps 9. Beginner Project 4: Butterfly Catching 10. Beginner Check-In 11. Follow-Up: Extending the Projects 12. Troubleshooting Scratch 13. The Next Step In Your Coding Journey 14. Final Thoughts
Biography
Kai Hutchence is CEO and Founder of Massive Corporation Game Studios as well as its subdivision, Massive Learning, which focuses on educational products and services. Through his established coding support partnerships with elementary, middle, and high schools, post-secondary institutions, and provincial and national organizations, Kai has taught over 20,000 students to code and over 2,000 educators to code and teach coding.
“A well-written resource that will serve many types of educators, creators, and learners . . . it warms me to see Kai Hutchence highlight how coding is more than a path to a career or professional pursuits. He makes a compelling case for creative expression and lifelong learning as critical outcomes of coding instruction. Through this ambitious undertaking, Kai has shown that he is a lifelong learner capable of inspiring others to be the same.”
—Amon Millner, Associate Professor of Computing and Innovation and Director of the Extending Access to STEM Empowerment (EASE) Lab at the Olin College of Engineering, USA, from the foreword
