Introduction

Obscure users have an opportunity to help teach and plan an after-school arts enrichment program at an Arlington, Virginia primary school, Campbell Elementary. RichardBullingtonMcGuire [MAILTO]mailto:rbulling@obscure.org is leading the class.

  1. Introduction
  2. Summary
    1. Class Description: introductory class
    2. Class Description: intermediate class
  3. Call for Volunteers
  4. Schedule
    1. Location
    2. Audience
    3. Class Size
  5. Lesson Plans
    1. Unit Objectives
      1. Introductory Class
      2. Intermediate Class
    2. Daily Lesson Plans
    3. Progress Notes
      1. Fall 2007 Term
      2. Winter 2008 Term
      3. Spring 2008 Term
  6. About Campbell

Summary

We have two class offerings: an introductory class and an intermediate class.

Class Description: introductory class

In this class, students will explore how to create games, animations, stories, and art using Scratch, a computer learning tool that teaches programming skills. Students will draw pictures, add sound and movement, and share their projects with the class.

Children will both examine existing programs and design their own new programs, using a visual programming language that snaps together on screen using graphical blocks. The class will learn about mathematical and computational concepts in a meaningful and motivating context. They will learn about the process of design, and develop key 21st century learning skills in the areas of creative thinking, collaboration, communication, and analysis. Scratch is a product of MIT's Lifelong Kindergarten Project. More information about Scratch is available at:

Class Description: intermediate class

In this class, students will build on the skills they learned in the "Introduction to Scratch" class to design and implement larger and more complex computer games, animations, stories, and art. We will work on strategies for collaboration and add sounds and photos we record to our projects. Admissions preference will be given to students who took the Fall or Winter Scratch class.

Call for Volunteers

I am looking for volunteers who can help plan and teach the class, to be held over the next five weeks. If you have computer programming skills, multimedia authoring skills, or education skills, you could make a significant contribution to this project.

If I could find one volunteer to help me in the classroom, that would really help. It is during the day on a weekday, but there are only 5 class sessions, and it should only take about 2 hours of your time.

Schedule

The dates for the Spring 2008 Arts Alive term are:

The Spring term will be an Intermediate Scratch class, with a new set of lesson plans.

The dates for the Winter 2008 Arts Alive term are:

These are all Wednesdays. The class will have a one-week hiatus in March for Spring Break; there will be no class on Wed. Mar. 19. The class runs from 12:30-1:45 PM. Volunteers need to arrive at 12:15 and stay until 2 PM each day.

The class is held in the large computer lab and conference room inside the school library.

The dates for the Fall 2007 Arts Alive term were:

Location

Audience

Grades 3-5, plus younger literate students who have basic computer skills.

Class Size

8-10 children

Lesson Plans

Unit Objectives

Introductory Class

  1. Students will create new programs.

  2. Students will modify existing programs.

  3. Students will apply mathematics to problems.

  4. Students will learn design skills through experimentation.

  5. Students will work together to create new projects.

Intermediate Class

  1. Students will incorporate photos and audio they record into their projects

  2. Students will learn how to use control structures to power scripts

  3. Students will explore how to incorporate sensor data into their projects

  4. Students will plan their projects and then review and revise their plans

Daily Lesson Plans

Progress Notes

Fall 2007 Term

This was the first time we taught the introductory course.

Winter 2008 Term

This was the second time we taught the introductory course.

Spring 2008 Term

About Campbell

Campbell Elementary is the school that my 6-year old son attends. You can find out more about Campbell and its unique features on this web site:

This seminar meshes particularly well with the Integrated Curriculum that Campbell uses (from an older version of their site):