Overview
This document is from the ScratchJr study conducted by Eliot Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts University. It's an excellent activity to assess if students understand the fundamental programming concepts used in Scratch Jr. It is an "unplugged" activity which means the students do not need to use an iPad or computer. There are 4 types/categories of questions, with 3 questions in each category. The questions are meant to test different dimensions of student learning in ScratchJr. We have put the categories and questions into separate video clips so you can repeat them (up to 5 times) for students. Please start with a warm up (not included in the video). You can create a simple program on ScratchJr and get students to discuss which blocks were used in the program and in what order.
At a Glance
Grade Level: 1+
Time Required: 45 min
Curriculum Connections: Computational Thinking
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Vocabulary:
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Technical Skills:
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Planning
Here is the student Solve IT Answer Sheet. You can download, print, and make copies of them for your students.
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Here is the Reverse Engineering sheet. You can download, print, and make copies of them for your students.
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Here is a link to the assessment videos you will need for this activity. You need to be able to show them to your students.
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Instruction Plan
1. Warm Up
Please start with a warm up (not included in the video). You can create a simple program on ScratchJr and get students to discuss which blocks were used in the program and in what order.
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2. ScratchJr Solve-It Assessment: Script
Children are asked to play a game with the researcher, in which the researcher tells a story about a robot performing an action, and then give the children paper icons of programming blocks. Using the given blocks, on a separate sheet of paper, children will arrange icons into a program that will cause a robot to act the way described in the story. The Solve-It tasks will range from easier to more difficult, and challenge children to use a variety of programming concepts developed through the class curriculum. Use some of the following scripts as a starting point but can be adapted to target a range of programming skills
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3. Fix the Program Solve-Its
You are going to see a video of a character in a ScratchJr program! Watch the program on the screen and think in your head about which ScratchJr blocks would make the character move that way. Do not share your thoughts with anyone.
Teacher shows video. Teacher may repeat showing video up to five times. Now, we will look at a picture of a ScratchJr program. This program is a little bit different from the program in the video you just saw. Can you circle the block that needs to be added or removed to make the program match the video? Teacher shows picture for children to circle. |
4. Circle the block Solve-Its
You are going to see a video of a character in a ScratchJr program! Watch the program on the screen and think in your head about which ScratchJr blocks would make the character move that way. Do not share your thoughts with anyone.
Teacher shows video. Teacher may repeat showing video up to five times. Now, we will look at a picture of all of the ScratchJr programming blocks. Think of the program that you just watched in the video. Can you circle all of the blocks that you think were used in that program? |
5. Match the program Solve-Its
You are going to see a video of a character in a ScratchJr program! Watch the program on the screen and think in your head about which ScratchJr blocks would make the character move that way. Do not share your thoughts with anyone.
Teacher shows video. Teacher may repeat showing video up to five times. Now, we will look at a picture of different ScratchJr programs. Think of the program that you just watched in the video. Can you circle all of the program that best matches the one you saw in the video? |
Reverse Engineering Solve-Its
You are going to see a video of a character in a ScratchJr program! Watch the program on the screen and think in your head about which ScratchJr blocks would make the character move that way. Do not share your thoughts with anyone.
Teacher shows video. Teacher may repeat showing video up to five times. Teacher distributes cut-outs of individual ScratchJr blocks. |