How to teach Scratch: My middle school students loved learning MIT's Scratch programming with Google's CS-First program. I signed up online and Google sent me materials and student passports with stickers to add when students finished a lesson. The program is meant to be used as an after school club. I used it once a week in my Maker Studio elective. I loved how students could do the minimum or take their learning to the next level with extras depending on their level.
I have used Scratch before. Some students intuitively can figure out the block coding but some need extra guidance. Some students find it confusing. CS-First walks students through Scratch projects and give examples to copy and remix. It also teaches students to give credit. We all build on the work of others but then we need to give our sources credit.
There are many different themes to choose for your Google CS-First Adventure. I chose Game Design and it was fantastic. Students made a racing game, platform game, escape game and more. I did the activities along with my students and projected my learning so the students could see I was doing it also. Sometimes I would get stuck and need help, just as they did. I didn't use the scripted lessons Google provides. We just logged on and did a lesson once a week. Link to CS-First Game Design
How I used CS-First: Our class meets for 90 min. twice a week. We did our CS-First lesson in class on Mon. Students would needed to finish could work on it on Weds. also. The teacher dashboard shows student progress (a star when the lesson is done) but only used their user ID which is like sunflower57. I would have to use my written list of student IDs to find the student's name which was not my favorite.
Sharing: At the beginning of each class period, I would invite a student to come up and choose someone to play his/her game.
What's next? I am going to do the Art them in the fall with my 6-8th grade Maker Studio Elective class. I am also going to try out CS-First with younger grades in Nov. I'll keep you posted!