Author(s): Amelia Rinaldi, Nathalie Balbontin, and Jack Callaghan

How Does This Scratch Resource Teach Text Animation to Beginners?

This resource allows students to create and animate a name using Scratch. It demonstrates multiple ways to animate text and provides step-by-step instructions with visuals.

The resource teaches students to:

• Change a letter’s color when clicked.

• Make letters spin when clicked.

• Play a sound by clicking a letter.

• Move a letter to the beat.

• Make a letter grow and shrink.

The resource includes detailed setup instructions, code snippets, tips, and example images to guide students through the process.

This is a beginner-friendly and engaging way for students to learn how to manipulate sprites in Scratch. It introduces key concepts such as integrating sounds and introducing motion, which can be applied to more complex Scratch projects (e.g., game design, storytelling, and interactive media projects).

One potential limitation is that students may simply copy the provided completed code without fully understanding how it works, leading to rote replication rather than meaningful learning. To address this, encourage them to tinker with and modify the code, and show examples of more advanced text animations that build on the Scratch cards’ concepts.

How is it used in a classroom setting?

The “Animate a Name” scratch card would be an effective resource for an art or science class, especially at the start of the school year or semester. Having students code their names in a unique and creative way would allow them to explore various elements of design, including shapes, colouring, sound, and motion. Coding names could also be a form of community building because the students and teacher could do a gallery walk to learn each other’s names. Since coding is part of the science curriculum, animating a name could be an engaging activity to help introduce students to the basic principles of Scratch.

For students who have difficulty with fine motor tasks, coding artwork could be a form of accommodation because computers and accessories can improve precision and comfort, compared to drawing by hand.

To use “Animate a Name” in the classroom, teachers can follow the steps below.

1. Read through the resource before delivering the lesson and create your own design to use as an example.
2. Explain that students can choose to code all of the options listed in the resource or a select few. Explain that the resource provides simple steps for altering the design of a name, including colours, backgrounds, sounds, rotations, dances, and other movements.
3. Allow students to freely explore the resource and animate their own names in Scratch.
4. Once students have animated their names, have students display their code on a laptop at different spots around the classroom. Conduct a gallery walk so that students can learn each other’s names and see their classmates’ designs.

Further resource information:

Cost: Free

URL Link: https://resources.scratch.mit.edu/www/cards/en/name-cards.pdf

Tags: Art, Coding, Name, Creativity