Our Junior Learning Community students have been busy designing and creating animations and quizzes in the Scratch Jr visual coding iPad app.

Year 2 Animations

Year 2 students were given a 20 x 15 grid on which to draw a background and character(s) for their animation.  They then designed an algorithm which listed the sequence of instructions needed to move one of the characters through a set path on the screen.

Students then coded their animation by dragging the Scratch coding blocks from the blocks palette to the programming area at the bottom of the screen.

Here is a video of Phoebe’s Racing Girl animation.

Year 3 Times Table Quizzes

Year 3 students had a more complex task, which involved branching and user input.  They designed and coded a times table quiz, where each question had 1 correct answer and 2 incorrect answers.  The characters on their screen would perform different actions depending on the answer chosen.  Students began the process by designing their screen and algorithm on paper.

They then coded their quiz using Scratch Jr coding blocks.

Here is a video of Marley’s Times Tables Quiz.

Australian Curriculum Links

Foundation to Year 2

ACTDIK001 – Recognise and explore digital systems (hardware and software components) for a purpose

ACTDIP004 – Follow, describe and represent a sequence of steps and decisions (algorithms) needed to solve simple problems

Year 3 – 4

ACTDIP010 – Define simple problems, and describe and follow a sequence of steps and decisions (algorithms) needed to solve them

ACTDIP011 – Implement simple digital solutions as visual programs with algorithms involving branching (decisions) and user input