Scratch is fun for all ages!
Who: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Scratch is developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab, with financial support from the National Science Foundation, Microsoft, Intel Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Google, Iomega and MIT Media Lab research consortia.
What: Scratch is a simple yet powerful programming language for students. It is easy to use but contains many of the important programming constructs found in more “grown up” languages. Kids can create original stories, games, animations, art and music.
More: Scratch has a worldwide community of programmers. Sharing is encouraged. As in the turntablist technique of scratching on a record, Scratch has easy reusable blocks/scripts that can be combined in new ways.
Quote: “As we see it, digital fluency requires not just the ability to chat, browse, and interact but also the ability to design, create, and invent with new media,” Mitchel Resnick, Scratch team leader.
Even More: Once downloaded (a small 35 KB file), you can work offline. No fees, no forms. To download go to: http://info.scratch.mit.edu/Scratch_1.4_Download
Here is a sample of a Barnard Academy school story.
Below is Mrs. Vaughn with a lego Scratch at M.I.T.
Scratch, Jr. is a coding application for younger students (ages 5-7). It is used on the iPad.