ScratchJr Coding Cards : Creative Coding Activities
Marina Umaschi Bers, Amanda Sullivan
Date: July 3, 2018
9781593278991, 1593278993
Cards
Juvenile Nonfiction / Computers / Coding & Programming
Ages 5 to 9, Grades K to 4
75 pages
Dimensions (cm): 19.0 x 13.6 x 3.6
Weight (kg): 0.75
Summary
The ScratchJr Coding Cards are a deck of 75 activity cards covering fun and exciting projects designed to educate young children with the visual programming language, ScratchJr.
ScratchJr is a free, introductory computer programming language that runs on iPads, Android tablets, Amazon tablets, and Chromebooks. Derived from Scratch, the wildly popular programming language used by millions of kids worldwide, ScratchJr helps even younger children (5 to 7 years old) create their own playful animations, interactive stories, and dynamic games.
The ScratchJr Coding Cards encourage kids to think creatively and systematically while developing computational thinking skills. Kids will learn powerful ideas about computer science by using ScratchJr programming blocks to make characters move, jump, dance, sing, and more. As they work through the deck, they will become creative thinkers and problem solvers.
Written by the ScratchJr co-creator, Prof. Marina Umaschi Bers, and Dr. Amanda Sullivan, the exercises in ScratchJr Coding Cards will encourage kids to develop coding skills as well as foundational concepts for literacy, math, planning, and problem-solving, all while having fun. The cards are created using the pedagogical approach developed by Prof. Bers to teach coding in a playful way to young children.
Key Points
- PERFECT FOR BEGINNER LEVEL: ScratchJr is aimed at children ages 5-7, and allows them to think creatively and create content without them knowing how to read.
- PRACTICAL SKILLS FOR ADULTHOOD: By teaching children basic programming fundamentals through ScratchJr, children will develop pre-literacy and pre-mathematical skills in counting, putting things in order, planning, and problem-solving.
- GREAT EDUCATIONAL TOOL: These cards are the perfect tools for teachers, educators, or parents to use with their children to instill an interest in programming or creative development.
- LARGE USER BASE: ScratchJr is a free app for iOS, Android, Amazon tablets, and Chromebooks and is a derivative of the Scratch language, which has been used by over 10 million people worldwide.
- LEGITIMACY IN THE FIELD: The author, Marina Umaschi Bers, is the co-creator of ScratchJr, so she is extremely qualified to write an instructive book on the programming language.
