Table Of ContentREADY, SET, CODE!
CODING
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ScratchJr
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ÁLVARO
SCRIVANO
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READY, SET, CODE!
CODING
with
ScratchJr
Álvaro Scrivano
Illustrated by Sue Downing
Lerner Publications Minneapolis
First American edition published in 2019 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
First published in Great Britain in 2018 by Wayland
Copyright © Hodder and Stoughton, 2018
All rights reserved.
Editor: Sarah Silver
Design and illustrations: Collaborate
All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for
the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.
Lerner Publications Company
A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
241 First Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA
For reading levels and more information, look up
this title at www.lernerbooks.com.
Main body text set in Frutiger LT Pro 45 Light.
Typeface provided by Linotype AG.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Scrivano, Álvaro, 1973– author. | Downing, Sue, 1964- illustrator.
Title: Coding with ScratchJr / Álvaro Scrivano ; [illustrator] Sue Downing.
Description: Minneapolis : Lerner Publications, [2019] | Series: Ready, set, code! | “First published in
Great Britain in 2018 by Wayland, Copyright, Hodder and Stoughton, 2018.” | Audience: Ages 7–11. |
Audience: Grades 4 to 6. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018030527 (print) | LCCN 2018032651 (ebook) | ISBN 9781541543041 (eb pdf) | ISBN
9781541538757 (lb : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781541546684 (pb : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Scratch (Computer program language)—Juvenile literature. | Computer programming—
Juvenile literature.
Classification: LCC QA76.73.S345 (ebook) | LCC QA76.73.S345 S37 2019 (print) | DDC 005.13/3—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018030527
Manufactured in the United States of America
1-45058-35885-7/9/2018
The application is the product of the DevTech Research Group
at the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts
University, directed by Professor Marina Bers, and the Lifelong
Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab, directed by Professor
Mitchel Resnick. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF
DRL-1118664), the ScratchJr iPad application was released in July
2014. It is available for free at https://scratch.mit.edu.
Contents
What Is ScratchJr? .....................................................4
Project 1: Moon Landing .........................................6
Project 2: Under the Sea ..........................................12
Project 3: The Dragon, the Wizard, and the Fairy .....18
Project 4: Let’s Play Basketball! ...............................24
Glossary ...................................................................30
Further Information ..................................................31
Index .......................................................................32
Make sure you are
always with an adult
when you download
applications or files
from the internet.
What Is ScratchJr?
ScratchJr is a programming language. It allows you to drag
and combine code blocks to make interactive stories, games,
and animations. Once you have tried the activities in this
book, you will be able to use many different features in
ScratchJr to create and make just about anything you want!
Note to parents:
ScratchJr runs on both iPads and Android tablets. To use ScratchJr
you need to open the App Store on your iPad or Google Play
on your Android tablet. Search for ScratchJr. Select “Get” to
download the app from the App Store or “Install” to download
from Google Play. For more information about the requirements
for running ScratchJr, visit: www.scratchjr.org/about/faq.
The projects in this book need access to the device camera and
microphone. To enable them, go to Settings>Privacy>Camera.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
ScratchJr
interface
When you open
a new project in
ScratchJr, you will
17
see this home page.
Here are some
details about all the
features you can see.
16 15 14 13 12 11
4
1 Save: Save the current project and 12 Programming Area: This is
exit to the home page. where you connect programming
blocks to create scripts.
2 Stage: This is where the action
takes place in the project. To delete 13 Programming Script: Snap
a character on the stage, press and blocks together to make a
hold the character. programming script, telling the
character what to do. Tap anywhere
3 Presentation Mode: Expand the
on a script to make it run. To delete
stage to full screen.
a block or script, drag it outside the
4 Grid: Turn the x-y coordinate grid programming area. To copy a block
on and off. or script from one character to
another, drag it on to the character’s
5 Background: Select or create a
thumbnail.
background image for the stage.
14 Blocks Panel: This is the menu of
6 Add Text: Write titles and labels
programming blocks. Drag a block
on the stage.
into the programming area, then
tap on it to see what it does.
7 Reset Characters: Reset all
characters to their starting positions
15 Block Categories: This is where
on the stage.
you can select a category of
programming blocks: triggering
8 Green Flag: Start all programming
(yellow), motion (blue), looks
scripts that begin with a “Start on
(purple), sounds (green), control
Green Flag” block by tapping here.
(orange), and end (red) blocks.
9 Pages: Select the pages in your
16 Characters: Choose the characters
project, or tap the plus sign to add
in your project or tap the plus sign
a new page. Each page has its own
to add a new one. Once a character
set of characters and a background.
is selected, you can edit its scripts,
To delete a page, press and hold it.
tap its name to rename it, or tap
To reorder pages, drag them to new
the paintbrush to edit its image. To
positions.
delete a character, press and hold
10 Project Information: Change it. To copy a character to another
the title of the project and see when page, drag it to the page thumbnail.
the project was created.
17 Felix: Felix is the name of the
11 Undo and Redo: If you make a orange cat that you see at the start
mistake, tap the left arrow to go of every new project. You can use
back. Tap the right arrow to go Felix in your project or delete him
forward. and add a new character.
5
Project 1:
MOON LANDING
ARE YOU READY TO GO TO THE MOON?
READY
In this project you are going to program an
animation with you as an astronaut walking on
the moon. But before you start, you will have
to follow a few simple steps to get ready.
1
GETTING STARTED
Find the ScratchJr app
on your device and tap
on it to open it. Tap
on the home button.
To start a new project,
tap on the plus sign.
Did you know?
On April 12, 1961, a Russian
cosmonaut named Yuri
Gagarin became the first
person to orbit Earth.
6
SET
Before you start coding you need to set up the
scene where your animation will take place and
add characters to animate.
2
ADD A BACKGROUND
To choose a suitable backdrop
for your animation, tap the
background button at the top of
the screen to go to the background
library.
Find the moon landscape and tap
on it twice to select it. The moon
background will appear. This is
where your animation will take
place.
3 DELETE A CHARACTER
If you want to animate a
different character, you need
to delete Felix first. To delete
Felix, find him on the left-hand
side of your screen. Tap and
hold until you see a red X. Tap
on the X to delete Felix.
7
Did you know?
In 1957, before humans were
able to successfully explore
space, a Russian dog called
Laika was the first animal to
orbit the earth.
4
ADD A CHARACTER
All the characters are listed on
5
the left of your screen. To add a ADD YOUR PICTURE
You are going to add your own
new one, tap the add button:
picture inside the astronaut helmet.
Tap on the brush next to the
astronaut character to edit it. Tap
on the camera button and then tap
inside the astronaut’s helmet:
Scroll through the character
library until you find the
astronaut. When you find it, tap
it twice. It will appear on the
background. Drag the astronaut
and drop it on the right-hand
side of the screen. This will be
Now take a picture of yourself. Look
the character’s starting position.
excited! You are walking on the moon!
Once you have taken the picture, tap
the check mark symbol. You
will see your picture inside the
astronaut helmet.
8
