Scratch•ing the Surface of Visual Programming

Mrs. Yollis and her students love learning about computer programming. During the Hour of Code project, Heather's mom came in and taught about JavaScript using the Khan Academy. 

On Friday, Nick's mom came in to teach the class about an online educational programming language called Scratch. First, the good doctor shared a presentation about her work as a computer scientist. 

Photo by Mrs. Yollis 

Next, she shared some information about the computer program called  Scratch.

Here is the sprite that is first introduced when you open the program. By clicking and dragging events, you can make the sprite move, slide, rotate, or talk. The event options are limitless! 

When using Scratch, you may create using this orange sprite. However, the Scratch program allows creators to choose a new sprite or create a unique character from scratch. :-) 

(To start from scratch is an idiom that means to start at the beginning.)

Students worked in teams to create a program. 

Photo by Mrs. Yollis

As you can see, the events lock together to make a sequence of events. 

Photo by Mrs. Yollis

At the end of the session, teams came up to the front to share what they had created. It was interesting to see the different programs.

Photo by Mrs. Yollis

Photo by Mrs. Yollis





 Here is a link to learn about Scratch. 
Scratch must be downloaded by a parent. Parents, here is a direct link to the PARENT INFORMATION PAGE.



There is no iPad application for Scratch.

*     *     *     *     *



Do you see the word play in the title? 

Scratch•ing the Surface of Visual Programming
(Hint: Scratching the surface is an idiom.)


What did you think about the presentation?

What have you created? 

Two New Student Blogs!

Mrs. Yollis is pleased to launch two new student blogs!
A big thank you goes out to the parents of Nicolas and Ben. They are the administrators of their child's blog and are partners in this 21st century project!

Please support these two new bloggers with a comment!

Click here to visit Nick's Picks!

 Click here to stop by Ben's Next Stop!

Please check out these two new blogs and perhaps support them with a comment! 

Tutorial: Subtracting Across a Zero

Today we reviewed how to subtract 3-digit and 4-digit numbers. Normally, we just borrow from the place value position to the left. However, today there was a zero and we couldn't borrow!

Here is a video showing one strategy for subtracting when the neighbor is a zero.

How did it work for you?

Did you find any problems where there were TWO zeros?

What did you do? 

Science: A Light Lesson!

By Kendall, Kayla, Nick, and Scarlet

(This post never got out last school year, but Mrs. Yollis promised to publish it over the summer!)   

FACT: 

Light is a form of energy, and it travels in a straight line.

We learned three new vocabulary words for science, and they are
transparent, translucent, and opaque.

✵     ✵     ✵     ✵     ✵

Transparent means light goes through the object.

These black arrows are light. They go right through the transparent surface.

This jar is transparent.

Translucent means some light goes through the object.

The arrows represent light. Notice, the light is scattered. 
Scattered means to go in different directions.

Here is a picture of some translucent shapes.

Opaque means it blocks all of the light.

The arrows represent light. Notice, NO light goes through the opaque object!

Here is a picture of our opaque shadow puppets.

✵     ✵     ✵     ✵     ✵

Can you think of any objects that are translucent, transparent, or opaque?

Have you ever made opaque shadow puppets?