January 27, 2016. Narragansett, RI. Media Smart Libraries teamed up with FabNewport for an evening of collaboration and coding for teachers, school librarians, and public librarians. This workshop, titled Computer Coding with Scratch, was an opportunity for participants to be exposed to Scratch Coding, play around with the web-based software, and network with peers about using Scratch in their libraries.
The workshop was facilitated by FabNewport’s Janice Kowalczyk and Jennifer Robinson, the school library media specialist at Thompson Middle School. The session began with a brief overview of Scratch by Kowalczyk and Robinson, followed by a tutorial of the the basic functions behind it. Kowalczyk highlighted the interdisciplinary nature of Scratch, stating that she has seen it used across all disciplines from English classes to teaching World Languages.
Participants then paired up and worked on their on Scratch scenes, making their sprites (characters) dance, move, meow, chirp, and more. Once the scenes met the challenge criteria--that sprites move and speak using the word bubbles--participants walked around the room to view their peers’ work. There was a variety of scenes animated on the Chromebook screens, from fluttering butterflies to waddling penguins.
The workshop wrapped up with a description of a collaborative lesson Robinson implemented with an ELA teacher in her school. Fifth grade students were learning about nonfiction sequencing, so a coding activity was a natural fit. They were asked to create a script relating to a biography they had read and then code their sprites to enact this dialogue. Not only were they learning coding skills, they were also engaged with Common Core ELA standards.
Finally, both Robinson and Kowalczyk stressed the exploratory nature of coding, saying that librarians should not wait until they are masters of code before introducing it in their libraries. Before long, students will begin outcoding their librarians, drawing knowledge from one another, and engaging with creative and critical thinking skills. If students are given the opportunity to discover and problem-solve through Scratch, they exceed expectations.