Scratch is a programming language developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten research group at the MIT Media Lab. During a two-week programming adventure in January-Feburary, Whitby sixth-graders created interactive stories and games, applying logical sequencing, iteration, conditional statements and variables to command motion and obtain desired effects while navigating the coordinate plane. In the process, students learned important computational skills and activated the math concepts of negative numbers and variables.
Why devote math instruction time to learning Scratch? At Whitby, we know students learn best when actively engaged. The project's fundamental logic allows students to hone their critical thinking and inquiry skills. Scratch "grammar" is based on a collection of graphical programming blocks that students snap together to create programs. Scratch blocks are shaped to fit together only in ways that make syntactic sense. Through this unit in math, students have learned to reason systematically and approach problem-solving logically and creatively.
In addition, states Head of School Bryan Nixon in his Whitby Bylines blog article "Howard Gardner and App-lications for Learning at Whitby", “the unit offers exploration of a plethora of modes of expression, so that every child could find an approach that could meet with their own goals, and educational goals and learning emerged from the child's own explorations of Scratch.”
In the words of the math faculty, the 6th grade Scratch unit is a Whitby “rite of passage” and deeply rooted in the curriculum. 7th and 8th graders continue to use Scratch for fun and during meals and recess. Upper School students often discuss various strategies, tips and ideas. Nixon adds, “This is evidence of learning that will inspire and sustain a desire to continue learning throughout life.”
