Scratch Programming Basics: Your First Steps into Coding
Welcome to Scratch
Programming!
● You are about to learn how to create
amazing projects with code!
● Scratch is a fun programming language
that uses colorful blocks
● You can make games, stories, and
animations
● Opening Circle: Turn to your partner and
share what you hope to create with
Scratch today
What is Scratch?
● Scratch is like digital building blocks for
creating computer programs
● You drag and drop colorful blocks to make
things happen
● It was created at MIT to help kids learn
programming
● Think-Pair-Share: What does
"programming" mean to you? Discuss with
your partner, then share with the class
Meet Your Sprite!
● A sprite is a character or object in your Scratch project
● The orange cat is Scratch's main sprite
● You can make sprites move, talk, and change colors
● Sprites follow the commands you give them with blocks
The Scratch Stage
● The stage is where your sprites perform
and move around
● It's like a theater stage for your digital
characters
● You can change the background to
different scenes
● Compass Points: Move to North if you'd
like a space background, South for
underwater, East for city, West for forest
Understanding Code
Blocks
● Code blocks are like puzzle pieces that fit
together
● Each block tells your sprite to do
something specific
● Different colored blocks do different types
of actions
● You stack blocks from top to bottom to
create a program
Motion Blocks - Making Sprites Move
● Blue motion blocks make your sprite move around the stage
● "Move 10 steps" makes your sprite walk forward
● "Turn 15 degrees" makes your sprite spin around
● Back-to-Back, Face-to-Face: Practice giving movement
directions to your partner using your hands
Looks Blocks - Changing
Appearance
● Purple looks blocks change how your
sprite appears
● "Say Hello for 2 seconds" makes your
sprite talk
● "Change color effect" makes your sprite
change colors
● "Hide" and "show" make your sprite
disappear and reappear
Sound Blocks - Adding
Audio
● Pink sound blocks add music and sound
effects
● "Play sound Meow" makes your sprite
make noise
● You can record your own sounds too
● Sounds make your projects more exciting
and fun
Events Blocks - Starting Your Code
● Yellow events blocks tell your program when to start
● "When green flag clicked" starts your program
● "When space key pressed" makes things happen with keyboard
● Think of events as the "go" signal for your code
Your First Scratch Project
● Start with the green flag block at the top
● Add a "say Hello for 2 seconds" block
underneath
● Then add "move 10 steps" to make your
sprite walk
● Closing Circle: Share one thing you
learned about Scratch today and one thing
you want to try next
● Exit Ticket: Draw or write about what you
want to create in your first Scratch project
