Educator’s Guide

● Teacher Accounts
● Beginner’s Guide
● Lesson Guides
Teacher Accounts
As an educator, you can request a Scratch Teacher Account. A Scratch Teacher Account provides
educators with additional features to manage student participation on Scratch, including the ability
to create student accounts, organize student projects into studios, and monitor student comments.
This guide will walk you through creating an account, creating a class, adding and managing your
students, and creating class studios. You can also see our Scratch for Educators page and our
Teacher Account FAQ page for additional information.

Create Your Teacher Account

Visit this link to get started: https://scratch.mit.edu/educators/register
You’ll be prompted to create a username and password. Make sure that your username does
not contain your name or personal information, like your school, location, or email address.

Within the Scratch community, all users are asked to refrain from sharing personal information
through their usernames. It’s important that both you and your students follow these
guidelines. Accounts that do not adhere to these guidelines will be deleted.

Creating your teacher account

Tips for making your username

● Incorporate the name of the subject you teach

- ex: QuirkyArtTeacher

● Use a tool or term from the subject you teach

- ex: MetamorphicRocks

● Add an important date, be unique

- ex: Bibliophile1440

● Make it memorable with a pun or an alliteration!

- ex: TyranoTeacher

Be sure to make a note of your username and password.

Created by the Scratch Team (scratch.mit.edu) and shared under the Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License (CCbySA 4.0).
 Click through each step to complete registration.

Log into your email and confirm your email address.

Check your spam folder if you do not see the email.

Once you have confirmed your email address, we’ll review

your account.

Once your account has been reviewed and approved, you will
receive a welcome email. Then, you can log into your
teacher account at scratch.mit.edu!

Create a Class
Creating classes allows you to manage groups of students, and create studios where your
students can add their projects.

Creating your class

Once you have successfully logged into your Teacher Account,

if you are looking at the homepage, there will be a bar at the
top of the screen with three options. Select “My Classes.”

You can also access your classes from the dropdown under
your username.

Created by the Scratch Team (scratch.mit.edu) and shared under the Creative
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 To create a class, click the “+ New Class” button at the top
right of the page.

Enter the class name and description.

Warning: Do not include real names and locations, like the

name of your school or city/town.

Once you have created a class, you can add students.

Ending your class

To end a class, under “My Classes,” choose your class and on

the Settings tab, click the “End Class” button.

When you end a class, your class profile page will be hidden
and your students will no longer be able to log in (but their
projects and the class studios will still be visible on the site).

You may re-open the class at any time. By going to the “Ended
Classes” tab and clicking the “Re-Open Class” link near the
class you want to reopen.

Created by the Scratch Team (scratch.mit.edu) and shared under the Creative
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Add Students to Your Class
While on “My Classes,” select the class and then click on “Students” (either the link under the class
name or the Students tab). Once created, your student accounts will appear here.

There are three ways to add students to your class. The first method allows you to add an
individual student to a class. Methods 2 and 3 allow you to add multiple students to a class.

Tip: Create a naming convention as a guideline for generating usernames. For example, you may
want each name to include an abbreviation for the course name, the class section, and the
student’s number on your roster (ex: VisArts-02-17). Use the Student Username List we have
created to record the usernames and passwords your students have created.

Method 1: Add Individual Students

Click the “+ New Student” button to add

students individually.

Confirm the correct class is showing in the

“Add to Class” dropdown menu.

You will be prompted to create a username

for this student.

Warning: Make sure that the usernames

you create do not contain identifying
information about yourself, your students, or
your school. Accounts that do not adhere to
these guidelines will be deleted.

The password for this student username will

automatically be set as the username of your
teacher account.

Created by the Scratch Team (scratch.mit.edu) and shared under the Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License (CCbySA 4.0).
 Have students log into their accounts and
change their passwords as soon as
possible.

Tip: It is not possible to add an existing

Scratch account to a classroom. You will
need to create a new Student Account for
them using your Teacher Account. A student
can only be a part of one class, and it is not
possible to transfer students from one class
or teacher to another.

Method 2: Student Sign-up Link

Clicking the “Student Sign-Up Link” button

brings you to another window and clicking
the “Get Link” button will generate a link that
will allow your students to join the class you
have just created. The link will start with
“http://scratch.mit.edu/signup…”

Students can then create their own

usernames and passwords.

Warning: Remind your students that, when

making their usernames, the username
should not contain identifying information
about themself, their teacher, or their school.
Accounts that do not adhere to these
guidelines will be deleted.

Created by the Scratch Team (scratch.mit.edu) and shared under the Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License (CCbySA 4.0).
Method 3: CSV Upload

Click the “CSV Upload” button on the class

page.

Using the template provided by clicking the

“Download example” link, create a username
and password for each of your students.
You can use the template provided or create
your own spreadsheet with student
usernames in column A and passwords in
column B. To upload your own template,
you’ll need to save the file as a CSV file.

Once you’ve created usernames and

passwords for each student and saved the
file, click the “Choose file” button to locate
the file, then click the “Upload” button.

It is not possible to add more than 250

students to a single class. You can,
however, create a new class and add
another 250 student accounts to each new
class.

Warning: Make sure that the usernames

you create do not contain identifying
information about yourself, your students, or
your school. Accounts that do not adhere to
these guidelines will be deleted.

You can add students via any of these

methods at any time under the “Students”
tab.

Created by the Scratch Team (scratch.mit.edu) and shared under the Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License (CCbySA 4.0).
Creating Studios for Student Work
Studios allow you to create collections of student projects for specific classes or assignments. This
makes it easier for you to view their projects throughout their creative process. It also makes it
easier for students to collaborate and be inspired by each other’s work.

Scratcher status is required in order to create a studio, and the person who created the studio is
automatically assigned the role of “host.” There is only one host per studio, and only studio hosts
can edit the title, thumbnail, and description.

Studios are immediately public, even those created in the context of a class. Unlike Scratch
projects, there is no share/unshare option for studios. Everyone can follow a studio, see studio
comments and projects, and leave a comment or add a project (unless commenting or the ability
to add projects is turned off).

There are two ways to create a studio on a teacher account. Method one creates studios that
automatically add all students in a class as curators. Method two creates studios without
automatically adding students as curators, and students or any Scratcher can be individually added
as curators.

Method 1: Create a studio that automatically adds all students in a class as curators

Once logged into your Scratch

account, go to “My Classes.”

Choose the class to assign the

studio to, then click on
“Studios” (either the link under
the class name or the Studios
tab). Then click the “+ New
Class Studio” button.

Created by the Scratch Team (scratch.mit.edu) and shared under the Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License (CCbySA 4.0).
 On the window that appears,
you will be asked to give the
studio a name and
description. (These can always
be adjusted in the studio later.)
In the description, you can
share the theme of the studio,
what kinds of projects you are
looking to include… Just be
sure your title and description
don’t reveal any personal
information (like school name or
first and last name).

Then, click the “Add Class

Studio” button.

Once in the studio, click the

“Edit Thumbnail” button to
change the default gray cat
image in the upper left-hand
corner. Upload your own
studio thumbnail image. The
maximum file size for a
thumbnail is 512 KB and your
image must be less than
500x500 pixels.

When you click on the

“Curators” tab, you should see
all the class students have been
set as studio curators.

Method 2: Create a studio without automatically adding students as curators

Once logged into your Scratch

account, go to “My Stuff.”

Choose the “+ New Studio”

button at the top right.

Created by the Scratch Team (scratch.mit.edu) and shared under the Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License (CCbySA 4.0).
 Click on “Untitled Studio” to
give your studio a name and
description. In the description,
you can share the theme of the
studio, what kinds of projects
you are looking to include…
Just be sure your title and
description don’t reveal any
personal information (like school
name or first and last name).

Click the “Edit Thumbnail”

button to change the default
gray cat image in the upper
left-hand corner. Upload your
own studio thumbnail image.
The maximum file size for a
thumbnail is 512 KB and your
image must be less than
500x500 pixels.

When you click on the

“Curators” tab, you should see
no curators have been assigned
yet.

See our Studio Guide for detailed information on:

● Studio Definitions

● How to Manage a Studio

● How to Add Projects to a Studio

Created by the Scratch Team (scratch.mit.edu) and shared under the Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License (CCbySA 4.0).
Managing Your Students
Managing a student

You can manually reset a

student password from within
your Scratch Teacher Account.
First, navigate to “My Classes”
and choose the class and go to
the “Students” tab. Then click
on the “Account Settings” link
below the student’s account.

You cannot delete a student’s

account by using a Teacher
Account, but students can
delete their own account.

You can see alerts about

notifications your students
receive on the “Activity” tab of a
class or the “All Class Alerts”
tab.

Tip: If you’d like to translate this guide, click here to make a copy of this Google doc.

Created by the Scratch Team (scratch.mit.edu) and shared under the Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License (CCbySA 4.0).
Getting Started with

Beginner’s Guide

Create your own games, animations,

interactive stories, and more.
 GETTING STARTED
You can use Scratch online at: scratch.mit.edu

scratch.mit.edu

Once you’ve navigated to scratch.mit.edu, click Create.

This will bring you to the Scratch Editor, where you can start
creating projects.

If your computer uses an older operating system, or your

internet connection is unreliable, you can download Scratch
and use it offline.

Visit: https://scratch.mit.edu/download
for information on downloading and
installing the Scratch app.
 THE SCRATCH EDITOR
The Scratch Editor is where you create projects in
Scratch. Here are its main parts:

Blocks Palette The Stage

Blocks for coding Where your creations
your projects come to life

Coding Area Sprite List

Drag in blocks and snap them Click the thumbnail
together to code your sprites of a sprite to select it
 LET’S CODE!
To code projects in Scratch, you snap together blocks.
Start by dragging out a move block.

Click the block to try it.

Does your cat move?

Now say something!

Click the Looks category.

Drag out a say block.

Snap it onto the move
block. Click on your
blocks to try them.
 WHAT IS A SPRITE?
In Scratch, any character or object is called a sprite. Every new
project in Scratch starts with the Cat sprite.

Want to choose a different sprite?

Click the New Sprite

icon.

Or, hover over the New Sprite icon to see more options.

Upload an image from

your computer. Click for a surprise
sprite!
Draw your own
sprite. Choose a sprite from
the library.

Want to delete a sprite from your project?

First, select the sprite by clicking

on its thumbnail in the Sprite List.

Then, click here to delete the

sprite.
 WHERE IS YOUR SPRITE?
Every sprite has an x and y position on the Stage.

x is the position of the sprite from left-to-right.

y is the position from top-to-bottom.

At the very center of the stage, x is 0 and y is 0.

y = 180

x= x=
-240 240

y = -180

When you move your sprite, you

can see its x and y position
change.
 TUTORIALS
There are a range of tutorials available in the Scratch Tutorials
Library, which guide learners in creating projects with Scratch.
Students can get started making their own stories, animations,
and games.

You can get to the Tutorials Library from the Scratch Editor
by clicking the Tutorials button.

The Getting Started tutorial will walk you through the basics.
 TUTORIALS
Once you’ve selected the tutorial, it will open in the
Scratch Editor.

Click the green arrow to see each step.

When you’ve reached the end of a tutorial you can select

another tutorial, and keep adding to your project.

Click here to see all

the Tutorials.
 CODING CARDS
The Scratch Coding Cards provide another way to learn to
create projects with Scratch. Download the cards at
scratch.mit.edu/ideas.

Each set of cards starts with a title card, which shows you
what you can create.

The Animate a Character cards are a great set to start with.

Examples of what
you can create

A list of all the

cards in this set
 USING THE CODING CARDS
After each title card is a series of cards walking you through
each step of creating a project.

Add your own sprites, backdrops and more!

The front of each card shows

you what you can create.

The back shows

you how to do it.
 GET CREATIVE!
Encourage students to use their imagination as you
create projects. There are many different ways they can
make their Scratch projects unique.

You can choose or

draw your own
characters.

Choose a sound
or record your own.

Try changing numbers or

adding blocks to your code
to see what happens.

Experiment and customize your project however you want!

 GET CREATIVE WITH SPRITES!
Scratch has its own paint tools, which allow you to
customize sprites from the library, or even create sprites
of your own.

Let’s start by editing a sprite from the library.

Select a sprite to edit by clicking

on it in the Sprite list.

Click the Costumes tab at the top left to see the paint tools.

The paint tools allow you

to recolor sprites, add to
them with a paint brush,
and change them in a
variety of ways.

You can use the paint

bucket tool to recolor
different parts of a sprite.
 GET CREATIVE WITH SPRITES!
Some sprites, like the Bat
sprite have multiple costumes,
or poses.

You can see a sprite’s

costumes by clicking the
Costumes tab.

If your sprite only has one

costume, right click on the
costume to duplicate it
(On Mac control + click).

Now you can modify the

second costume using the
paint tools, so your sprite
has two different poses or
facial expressions.

Click the Code tab, then try

adding these blocks.
 ADD YOUR OWN PHOTOS
There are many ways to create your own sprites and artwork using
the Scratch paint tools.

You can create your own sprites by uploading photos or images and
erasing the background.

Hover over the

New Sprite button,
then select
Upload Sprite.

Next click the Costumes tab.

You will see bitmap tools for
editing your image.

Click the eraser icon and use

the eraser tool to remove the
background from your photo.

Tip: to adjust the size of the

eraser, type a larger or smaller
number.

There are two modes for drawing in Scratch:

1. Bitmap Mode allows you to edit photos and paint with pixels.
2. Vector Mode allows you to create and edit shapes.
 Tip: If you’d like to remix and customize this guide, click here to
make your own copy of the Google Slides template.

Created by the Scratch Team (scratch.mit.edu) and shared

under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
International Public License (CCbySA 4.0).
| | | | | | | | | | | COLOR SCHEME
ANIMATE A CHARACTER / EDUCATOR GUIDE ANIMATE A CHARACTER / EDUCATOR GUIDE

EDUCATOR GUIDE Lesson Outline

Animate a Character Objective: Students will become familiar

with the Scratch environment by animating
a character.
With this guide, you can plan and lead a 55-
minute lesson using Scratch. Students will gain
experience with coding as they bring characters to First, gather as a group to
life with animation. introduce the theme and
IMAGINE spark ideas.
10 minutes

Next, help students as they

animate characters,
CREATE working at their own pace
40 minutes through the tutorial.

At the end of the session,

gather together to share and
SHARE reflect.
5 minutes

SCRATCH EDUCATOR GUIDE • scratch.mit.edu/ideas 1 scratch.mit.edu/ideas 2

ANIMATE A CHARACTER / EDUCATOR GUIDE ANIMATE A CHARACTER / EDUCATOR GUIDE

Get Ready for the Lesson Imagine IMAGINE

Use this checklist to prepare for the lesson. Begin by gathering the students to introduce the
theme and spark ideas for projects.
Preview the Tutorial
TheAnimate a Character tutorial shows
students how to create their own projects. Warm-up Activity: Favorite Characters
Preview the tutorial before your lesson and
try the first few steps: scratch.mit.edu/ Gather the group in a circle. Ask each student to say their name,
tutorials then share a favorite character from a book, movie, or TV show,
and one or two of their favorite things about that character.

Print the Activity Cards (optional)

Print a few sets ofAnimate a Character
cards to have available for students Provide Ideas and Inspiration
during the lesson.
scratch.mit.edu/ideas To spark ideas, watch the Animate a Character video at the start of the
tutorial. The video shows a variety of projects to spark ideas and
inspiration.
Make sure students sign into their Scratch accounts
Have students sign into their own Scratch accounts at
scratch.mit.edu.

Set up computers or laptops

Arrange computers so that students can
work individually or in pairs.

Set up a computer with projector or large monitor

You can use a projector to show examples and demonstrate
how to get started.
View the scratch.mit.edu/ideas

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ANIMATE A CHARACTER / EDUCATOR GUIDE ANIMATE A CHARACTER / EDUCATOR GUIDE

Demonstrate the First Steps IMAGINE

Create CREATE

Demonstrate the first few steps of the tutorial so Support students as they create animated Scratch
students can see how to get started. projects.

Choose a backdrop. Choose a character Start with Prompts

to animate. Ask students questions to get started

Which character would What do you want your

you like to animate? character to do?

Soccer 2 Pico Walking

Provide Resources
Make your sprite move right and left with arrow keys: Offer options for getting started

Choose right
arrow from the
menu.

Choose left arrow

from the menu.
Type a minus sign to move left.
Some students may want to Others may want to explore
follow the online tutorial: using the activity cards:
Press the left arrow and right arrow keys on your keyboard to move.
scratch.mit.edu/animate scratch.mit.edu/ideas

Helpful Hint: Understanding x y coordinates will help

students figure out how to move sprites around the stage.
Suggest Ideas for Starting

y = 180 y is the position on the

Stage from top to bottom. • Choose a character to animate.
• Animate your character: make it jump, fly, glide or talk!
x = –240 x = 240 x is the position on the 5 • Choose a backdrop.
y = –180 Stage from right to left.

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ANIMATE A CHARACTER / EDUCATOR GUIDE ANIMATE A CHARACTER / EDUCATOR GUIDE

CREATE
Share SHARE

More Things to Try

Have students share their project with their
• Try combining more than one kind of
neighbors.
animation.
• If you’re not sure what to do, pick a Ask questions they can discuss:
card and try something new.
• Add a second character or object to
animate. What do you like best about What was the
the project you made? hardest part?

Support collaboration
If you had more time, what would you add or change?
• When someone gets stuck,
connect them to another
participant who can help.
• See a cool idea? Ask the
What’s Next?
creator to share with others.
Students can use the ideas and concepts from this lesson to
create a wide variety of projects. Encourage them to continue
developing their projects into games, stories or interactive art
with the resource listed below.

Encourage experimenting

The Animate a Character activity can be done in any order, with a

range of different character and object sprites.

Encourage students to try new things: Video Sensing

Interact with
What will your How can you make your characters and
character do next? animation interactive? objects in Scratch
with video sensing.
Find this project and more in the Tutorials library: scratch.mit.edu/ideas

Scratch is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab.

SCRATCH EDUCATOR GUIDE • scratch.mit.edu/ideas 7 SCRATCH EDUCATOR GUIDE • • scratch.mit.edu/ideas 8

MAKE IT FLY / EDUCATOR GUIDE MAKE IT FLY / EDUCATOR GUIDE

EDUCATOR GUIDE Lesson Outline

Make It Fly Objective: Students will create an

animation with the illusion of a flying
With this guide, you can plan and lead a character.
55-minute lesson using Scratch.
Students will choose a character and
program it to fly. First, gather as a group to
IMAGINE introduce the theme and spark
10 minutes ideas.

Next, help students as they

CREATE create a flying animation,
40 minutes working at their own pace
through the tutorial.

SHARE At the end of the session,

5 minutes gather together to share and
reflect.

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MAKE IT FLY / EDUCATOR GUIDE MAKE IT FLY / EDUCATOR GUIDE

Get Ready for the Lesson Imagine IMAGINE

Use this checklist to prepare for the lesson. Begin by gathering the students to introduce the
theme and spark ideas for projects.
Preview the Tutorial
TheMake It Fly tutorial shows students how Warm-up Activity: If I Could Fly...
to create their own projects. Preview the
tutorial before your lesson and try the first
Gather the group in a circle and ask, “If you could fly, where would
few steps: scratch.mit.edu/fly
you want to go?” Suggest that they close their eyes and imagine flying
through their favorite place. Ask, “Where are you? What kinds of
things do you see below you?” If there’s time, have each person say
Print the Activity Cards (optional) where they imagined flying or something they saw on their flight.
Print a few sets ofMake It Fly cards to
have available for students during the
lesson.
scratch.mit.edu/fly/cards Provide Ideas and Inspiration

Show the introductory video for the Make It Fly tutorial. The video
shows a variety of projects for ideas and inspiration.
Make sure students sign into their Scratch accounts
Have students sign into their own Scratch accounts at
scratch.mit.edu.

Set up computers or laptops

Arrange computers so that students can
work individually or in pairs.

Set up a computer with projector or large monitor

You can use a projector to show examples and demonstrate
how to get started.
View at scratch.mit.edu/fly or vimeo.com/llk/fly

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MAKE IT FLY / EDUCATOR GUIDE MAKE IT FLY / EDUCATOR GUIDE

Demonstrate the First Steps IMAGINE

Create CREATE

Demonstrate the first few steps of the tutorial so Support students as they make a flying
students can see how to get started. animation.

In Scratch, click Create. Start with Prompts

Choose a flying sprite from the library: Ask students questions to get started

What character would Where will your

you like to make fly? character go flying?

Provide Resources
Choose a new sprite for your character to fly past: Offer options for getting started

Make the building move across the stage to make

your character look like it’s flying: Some students may want to Others may want to explore
follow the online tutorial: using the activity cards:
scratch.mit.edu/fly scratch.mit.edu/fly/cards

Suggest Ideas for Starting

• Choose a character • Choose buildings or other scenery

• Make the character • Make the scenery move
say something

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MAKE IT FLY / EDUCATOR GUIDE MAKE IT FLY / EDUCATOR GUIDE

CREATE
Share SHARE

More Things to Try

Share projects with others in the room. Organize a
• Switch costumes to change the scenery.
flying character showcase. Ask half the room show
• Make your character move when you press a their projects, while the others view them. Then
key.
switch.
• Add clouds and other floating objects.
• Score points when touching an object.
Suggest that they ask each other questions, such as:

Encourage Debugging What do you like best about What might you like to
the project you made? change or make next?
Here are some strategies to suggest to help students fix any bugs or
difficulties they encounter:

• When stuck, talk out what you’re working on with someone.

• Try out small bits of code at a time to figure out what’s happening at each
step. What’s Next?
• Look closely at the blocks on the tutorial or activity cards to see if they
are the same or different from the blocks you’re using. Students can use the ideas and concepts from this lesson to create
• Remember that bugs always arise when creating a computer program. other projects. Here are a couple of variations on the flying
Debugging is a helpful skill to know not just in coding, but throughout character project you could suggest.
life.

Prepare to Share

To add instructions and credits to

a project, click the button: “See Flying Game Flying Stories
project page”.
Make a game where you avoid Tell a story about your flying
some objects and characters. You can record
Give your project a title, add
try to catch others. Add or your voice and play sound
instructions and credits,
subtract points based on what clips. Or, use say blocks to
then click Share.
your character touches. make voice bubbles.

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CHASE GAME / EDUCATOR GUIDE CHASE GAME / EDUCATOR GUIDE

EDUCATOR GUIDE Lesson Outline

Make a Chase Game Objective: Students will create a game

using sensing.
With this guide, you can plan and lead
a 55-minute lesson using Scratch. Students
will make a game that includes a variable to First, gather as a group to
keep score. introduce the theme and
IMAGINE spark ideas.
10 minutes

Next, help students as

they make chase games,
CREATE working at their own pace
40 minutes through the tutorial.

At the end of the session,

gather together to share and
SHARE reflect.
5 minutes

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CHASE GAME / EDUCATOR GUIDE CHASE GAME / EDUCATOR GUIDE

Get Ready for the Lesson Imagine IMAGINE

Use this checklist to prepare for the lesson. Begin by gathering the students to introduce the
theme and spark ideas for projects.
Preview the Tutorial
The Make a Chase Game tutorial shows Warm-up Activity: Imaginary Chase
students how to create their own projects.
Preview the tutorial before your lesson and Gather the students in a circle. Start by giving an example of one
try the first few steps, thing chasing another, such as “The dog is chasing the dinosaur.”
The next person adds on, such as, “The dinosaur is chasing a donut.”
The following person adds on by saying, “The donut is chasing a
duck.” or whatever creature or object they choose. Continue until
Print the Activity Cards (optional)
each person has added on to this imaginary game of chase.
Print a few sets ofChase Game cards to
have available for students during the
lesson. You can download the cards at:
scratch.mit.edu/ideas Provide Ideas and Inspiration

To spark ideas, watch the Make a Chase Game video at the start of the
Make sure students sign into their Scratch accounts tutorial.
Have students sign into their own Scratch accounts at
scratch.mit.edu.

Set up computers or laptops

Arrange computers so that students can
work individually or in pairs.

Set up a computer with projector or large monitor

View the video at scratch.mit.edu/chase
You can use a projector to show examples and demonstrate
how to get started.

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CHASE GAME / EDUCATOR GUIDE CHASE GAME / EDUCATOR GUIDE

Demonstrate the First Steps IMAGINE

Create CREATE

Demonstrate the first few steps of the tutorial so Support students as they create catch games.
students can see how to get started. Suggest working in pairs.

Choose a backdrop. Choose a Sprite, like Robot. Start with Prompts

Ask students questions to get started

Which backdrop would you like Who do you want as the main
to choose for your game? character in your game? What
will it chase?

Make your sprite move right and left with arrow keys.

Choose right arrow Provide Resources

from the menu. Offer options for getting started

Choose left arrow

from the menu.

Type a minus sign to move left.

Some students may want to

Press the left arrow and right arrow keys on your keyboard to move. Others may want to explore
follow the online tutorial:
scratch.mit.edu/chase using the printed cards:
scratch.mit.edu/ideas

Discuss next steps they can try, such as coding the sprite to move up Suggest Ideas for Starting
and down and adding a sprite to chase.
• Choose a backdrop
• Choose or draw a main character
• Make it move with arrow keys.
Star
• Select an object to chase.

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CHASE GAME / EDUCATOR GUIDE CHASE GAME / EDUCATOR GUIDE

CREATE
Share SHARE

More Things to Try

Have students share their projects with their
• Code the star or other sprite to chase neighbors.
• Add a variable to keep score
• Add sounds
• Add a level Ask questions that encourage reflection:
• Show a message when reaching the new
level
What do you like best If you had more time, what
about your game? would you add or change?

Encourage Tinkering

• Encourage students to feel comfortable trying combinations of blocks

and seeing what happens.
What’s Next?
• Suggest students look inside other chase games to see the code. Chase Game projects provide an introduction to creating interactive
• If they find code they like, they can drag the scripts or sprites into the games in Scratch. Here are a few ways that learners can build on the
backpack to reuse in their own project. concepts they learned from this project.

Add Obstacles
For a more complex game, add obstacles
Prepare to Share to avoid. Subtract points when you hit the obstacles.

To add instructions and credits to

a project, click the button: “See Make a Two-Player Game
project page”. For an extra challenge, make a version of the game
that allows two players to play.

Video Sensing
If the computers have a web camera attached or
built-in, learners can make a game that they interact
by moving their bodies. See the Video Sensing
tutorial and educator guide for support.

Created by the Scratch Team

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PONG GAME / EDUCATOR GUIDE PONG GAME / EDUCATOR GUIDE

EDUCATOR GUIDE Lesson Outline

Pong Game Objective: Students will develop an

interactive game using variables to
With this guide, you can plan and lead keep score.
a 55-minute lesson using Scratch. Students
will gain experience with coding as they First, gather as a group to
design a bouncing ball game. introduce the theme and
IMAGINE spark ideas.
10 minutes

Next, help students as they

make games, working at
CREATE their own pace through the
40 minutes tutorial.

At the end of the session,

gather together to share and
SHARE reflect.
5 minutes

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PONG GAME / EDUCATOR GUIDE PONG GAME / EDUCATOR GUIDE

Get Ready for the Lesson Imagine IMAGINE

Use this checklist to prepare for the lesson. Begin by gathering the students to introduce the
theme and spark ideas for projects.
Preview the Tutorial
ThePong Game tutorial shows students how
to create their own projects. Preview the Provide Ideas and Inspiration
tutorial before your lesson and try the first
few steps: scratch.mit.edu/pong Show the introductory video for the Pong Game tutorial. The video
shows pong games with a variety of themes, including everything
from soccer to a magic potion-themed Pong game.

Print the Activity Cards (optional)

Print a few sets ofPong Game cards to
have available for students during the
lesson.
scratch.mit.edu/ideas

Make sure students sign into their Scratch accounts

Have students sign into their own Scratch accounts at
scratch.mit.edu.

Set up computers or laptops View at scratch.mit.edu/pong

Arrange computers so that students can

work individually or in pairs.
Warm-up Activity: Bouncing Ideas

To get students thinking about a theme for their game, take turns
Set up a computer with projector or large monitor
calling out a theme, such as pizza pong or flower pong and
You can use a projector to show examples and demonstrate brainstorming ideas for the type of images they could use to represent
how to get started. the theme.

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PONG GAME / EDUCATOR GUIDE PONG GAME / EDUCATOR GUIDE

Demonstrate the First Steps IMAGINE

Create CREATE

Demonstrate the first few steps of the tutorial so Support students as they create pong games, on
students can see how to get started. their own or in pairs.

Start with Prompts

Go to the Scratch website. Click Create. Choose a new backdrop:
Ask students questions to get started

What background do you What color or

want for your game? type of ball?

Neon Tunnel

Provide Resources
Choose a ball sprite and make it bounce around: Offer options for getting started

Ball

Some particpants may want to Others may want to use the

follow the online tutorial: printed activity cards:
scratch.mit.edu/pong scratch.mit.edu/ideas
Add a paddle sprite and control it with the mouse:

Suggest Ideas for Starting

• Choose a backdrop
Paddle • Choose or draw a ball sprite and make it bounce around
• Add a paddle sprite that you can control
• Make the ball bounce off the paddle

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PONG GAME / EDUCATOR GUIDE PONG GAME / EDUCATOR GUIDE

CREATE
Share SHARE

More Things to Try

Have participants share their projects with others
• Add sounds and color effects in the room.
• Keep score by adding a variable
• Add a way to win or lose the game
• Change the backdrop when you Ask questions to encourage reflection:
reach a certain number of points
• Duplicate the ball for an added challenge
What did you notice about What ideas might you
the games you tried? add to your game?
Offer strategies for problem solving

• Talk out what you’re working on

with someone
• Try out small bits of code at a time to
figure out what’s happening at each What’s Next?
step
• Look closely at the blocks on the Here are a couple of other directions you could suggest:
tutorial or activity cards to see if they
are the same or different from the
blocks you’re using
• Look at the code for other pong
games on the Scratch site

Prepare to Share Two-Player Game Remix a Game

For a more advanced A different way to make a pong game
To add instructions and credits to project, try making a is to remix someone else’s project,
a project, click the button: “See two-player game. To adding images and ideas. Find a
project page”. make a new version of project to remix in the Pong Game
your own project, click Studio:
Then click the Share button if you File > Save as a Copy. scratch.mit.edu/studios/644508/
want the project visible to others Click ‘See inside’, then click the
online. ‘Remix’ button.

Scratch is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab.

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CREATE A STORY / EDUCATOR GUIDE CREATE A STORY / EDUCATOR GUIDE

EDUCATOR GUIDE Lesson Outline

Create a Story Objective: Students will create an

animated story between at least two
characters.
With this guide, you can plan and lead
a 55-minute lesson using Scratch. Students
will create a story with settings, characters, First, gather as a group to
and dialogue. introduce the theme and
IMAGINE spark ideas.
10 minutes

Next, help students as

they create story projects,
CREATE working at their own pace
40 minutes through the tutorial.

At the end of the session,

gather together to share and
SHARE reflect.
5 minutes

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CREATE A STORY / EDUCATOR GUIDE CREATE A STORY / EDUCATOR GUIDE

Get Ready for the Lesson Imagine IMAGINE

Use this checklist to prepare for the lesson. Begin by gathering the students to introduce the
theme and spark ideas for projects.
Preview the Tutorial
TheCreate a Story tutorial shows students Warm-up Activity: Story Starters in a Bag
how to create their own projects. Preview
the tutorial before your lesson and try the Have students make up a brief story by giving them a bag with three
first few steps: scratch.mit.edu/story objects in it, and asking them to include all of the items in the story. In
each bag, you could include small objects, pictures of animals or
characters, and/or words (people, places, or things). Divide students
into groups of two or three, and have each pick a bag. Give them a few
Print the Coding Cards (optional)
minutes to come up with a quick story.
Print a few sets ofCreate a Story cards
to have available for students during the
lesson. You can download from this Provide Ideas and Inspiration
page: scratch.mit.edu/ideas
You can show the Create a Story tutorial video to show
students how they can start making stories in Scratch.
Make sure students sign into their Scratch accounts
Have students sign into their own Scratch accounts at
scratch.mit.edu.

Set up a studio for project sharing on Scratch

Set up a studio so students will be able to add their projects. Go to
yourMy Stuff page, then click the+New Studio button. Type in a
name for the studio.

Set up computers or laptops

View the video at: scratch.mit.edu/story
Arrange computers so that students can
work individually or in pairs.

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CREATE A STORY / EDUCATOR GUIDE CREATE A STORY / EDUCATOR GUIDE

Demonstrate the First Steps IMAGINE

Create CREATE

Demonstrate the first few steps of the tutorial so Support students as they create Story projects,
students can see how to get started. on their own or in pairs.

In Scratch, click Create. Choose any character (in Scratch Start with Prompts
Choose a backdrop. called a sprite ). Ask students questions to get started

Where will your What will

story take place? happen first?
Witch House Wizard

Code your character to say something.

Provide Resources
Offer options for getting started

Type what you want

your character to say.

Click the green flag to start. Add another character.

Some students may want to Others may want to explore

follow the online tutorial: using the coding cards:
Witch
scratch.mit.edu/story scratch.mit.edu/ideas

Add code to the new character.

Suggest Ideas for Starting

Use this block to have the • Choose a backdrop. • Make a character say something
second character wait • Choose a character. • Make a character hide and show.
before they say something.

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CREATE A STORY / EDUCATOR GUIDE CREATE A STORY / EDUCATOR GUIDE

CREATE
Share SHARE

More Things to Try

Help the students add their projects to a shared
studio in Scratch. Give them a link to the studio.
• Switch backdrops.
• Make your characters Then they can click ‘Add Projects’ at the bottom of
have a conversation. the page.
• Move your characters.
• Change something when
you click on it. Ask for volunteers to show their project to the group.

Support Tinkering
What’s Next?
Students can use these ideas and concepts to create a variety of projects.
Scratch is designed to support creating by Here are some variations on the story project you could suggest:
experimenting and tinkering. So, your
students may want to start their stories
without planning beforehand. As they create,
one idea can spark another. Celebrate their
Retell a story
sparks of creativity and the unexpected turns
their stories may take. Start with a story you know and make it in
Scratch. Imagine a new ending or a different
setting.

Prepare to Share Neighbourhood story

Take photos of your classroom, school, or
To add instructions and credits to neighborhood and use them as backdrops in
a project, click the button: “See your story.
project page”.
Round-robin story
Then click the Share button if you
want the project visible to others Give everyone 5 minutes to start a story.
online. Then, have them switch to the next
computer to add to the story. Repeat.

Created by the Scratch Team

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 Please encourage your students and their
families to attend a Scratch Community
Event.

Students will be able to show off their

projects to their families and families will
work together to create something special in
Scratch.

This guide was compiled using materials/resources created by Scratch.

SCRATCH EDUCATOR GUIDE • scratch.mit.edu/ideas

 Educator’s Guide

Classroom activities for students in grades K-2

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 Interface Guide

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 Interface Guide
Save
1
Save the current project and exit to the Home page.

Stage
2
This is where the action takes place in the project. To delete a character, press and hold it.

Presentation Mode
3
Expand the stage to the full screen.

Grid
4
Toggle on (and off) the x-y coordinate grid.

Change Background
5
Select or create a background image for the stage.

Add Text
6
Write titles and labels on the stage.

Reset Characters
7
Reset all characters to their starting positions on the stage. (Drag characters to set up new
starting positions.)

Green Flag
8
Start all programming scripts that begin with a "Start on Green Flag" block by tapping here.

Pages
9
Select among the pages in your project -- or tap the plus sign to add a new page. Each page
has its own set of characters and a background. To delete a page, press and hold it. To
reorder pages, drag them to new positions.

Project Information
10
Change the title of the project and see when the project was created.

Undo and Redo

11
If you make a mistake, tap Undo to go back in time, reversing the last action. Tap Redo to
reverse the last Undo.

Programming Script
12
Snap blocks together to make a programming script, telling the character what to do. Tap
anywhere on a script to make it run. To delete a block or script, drag it outside the
programming area. To copy a block or script from one character to another, drag it onto the
character's thumbnail.

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 Interface Guide

13 Programming Area
This is where you connect programming blocks to create scripts

14 Blocks Palette
This is the menu of programming blocks. Drag a block into the programming area, then tap
on it to see what it does.

15 Block Categories
This is where you can select a category of programming blocks:
Triggering Blocks (Yellow), Motion (Blue), Looks (Purple), Sounds (Green), Control
(Orange), End Blocks (Red).

16 Characters
Select among the characters in your project -- or tap the plus sign to add a new one. Once a
character is selected, you can edit its scripts, tap its name to rename it, or tap the paintbrush
to edit its image. To delete a character, press and hold it. To copy a character to another
page, drag it to the page thumbnail.

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 Block Descriptions

Start on Green Flag Start on Tap

Starts the script when the Green Flag Starts the script when you tap on the
is tapped. character.

Start on Bump Start on Message

Starts the script when the character is Starts the script whenever a message
touched by another character. of the specified color is sent.

Send Message

Sends a message of the specified

color.

Move Right Move Left

Moves the character a specified Moves the character a specified

number of grid squares to the right. number of grid squares to the left.

Move Up Move Down

Moves the character a specified Moves the character a specified

number of grid squares up. number of grid squares down.

Turn Right Turn Left

Rotates the character clockwise a Rotates the character

specified amount. Turn 12 for a full counterclockwise a specified amount.
rotation. Turn 12 for a full rotation.

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 Block Descriptions

Hop Go Home

Moves the character up a specified Resets the character’s location to its

number of grid squares and then starting position. (To set a new
down again. starting position, drag the character to
the location.)

Say Grow

Shows a specified message in a Increases the character's size.

speech bubble above the character.

Shrink Reset Size

Decreases the character's size. Returns the character to its default

size.

Hide Show

Fades out the character until it is Fades in the character until it is fully
invisible. visible.

Pop Play Recorded Sound

Plays a "Pop" Sound Plays a sound recorded by the user.

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 Block Descriptions

Wait Stop

Pauses the script for a specified Stops all the characters' scripts.
amount of time (in tenths of seconds).

Set Speed Repeat

Changes the rate at which certain Runs the blocks inside a

blocks are run. specified number of times.

End Repeat Forever

Indicates the end of the script (but Runs the script over and over.
does not affect the script in any way).

Go to Page

Changes to the specified page of the

project.

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 Paint Editor Guide

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 Activities and Resources

Teachers please have your students complete the 5 activities

listed below prior to the event at your school.

Activities - https://www.scratchjr.org/teach/activities

1 Drive Across the City & Run a Race

2 Sunset & Moonrise after Sunset

3 Spooky Forest & Dribble a Basketball

4 Dance Party

5 Meet and Greet

Resources

Resources - https://www.scratchjr.org/teach/resources

Tips & hints - https://www.scratchjr.org/learn/tips

Getting started - https://sites.google.com/tldsb.on.ca/coding/scratchjr

Download Scratch Jr. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dy6imziG-c

This guide was compiled using materials/resources created by Scratch.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.