Scratch Jr coding lesson 2 - What is Scratch Jr ?

scratch jr
Why
Have you ever played with a pile of legos? Think of how easy it is to just start stacking the pile of bricks together to make something. You can see all of the blocks that you have, and you can see how they connect together. You do not have to learn much to make something with legos. You just start putting things together and trying things out.

ScratchJr works in the same way as legos. You can see all of the code blocks just like you can see all of the legos. You can see how they connect together. Some code blocks can connect together and some cannot. You just start trying to put different code blocks together to control your characters, make your own stories and your own games.

What
In this lesson we are going to learn about ScratchJr, a simple programming language that lets us talk to computers and give them instructions. We will learn why ScratchJr makes it easy and fun to code.
How
Before we can make something amazing in ScratchJr, let’s make sure we have it installed on your iPad or Android tablet. If you can see this little icon of the Cat on your device, it means you have the app. If you cannot see it, download the guide for this lesson. This guide shows you how to install ScratchJr. If you need help doing this, ask your parents or teacher.
The Lesson

When you draw a picture on the paper it does not move.  When you write a story on paper, it does not make sound.

ScratchJr lets you create games, draw characters, record sounds, and create interactive stories.  You can take an idea in your head and make it come to life with ScratchJR.  When you are in a new project in ScratchJr, you can see a variety of things on the screen.

On the left there are a list of characters for your project.  In the middle is the stage your characters act on.  On the top is the main menu where you can access backgrounds and draw characters. On the bottom is where you can select code blocks and add them to your characters to animate them.

scratch jr overview
Take the Challenge

The challenge for this lesson is to install the free ScratchJr app on your tablet device.  If you are not sure if you have the right device, watch this video Scratch Jr App

After you install the app, test it out by clicking on the cat icon to make sure the app opens on your device.

The Solution

If you get stuck on the challenge, you can request the solution guide by filling out this form.

Review

In this lesson you learned that ScratchJr makes coding easy; it uses visual blocks that we can see.  ScratchJr makes coding fun because you can create projects just like you can with legos.

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