Junior Blocks Aka Scratch Jr

Scratch, block-based visual programming language conceived and designed byMIT Media Lab under Mitchel Resnick crossed 1M user creation in 2024. Students can imagine, create, and share their own stories, games, and animations. But have you explored ScratchJr ? ScratchJr can be a great entryway into the world of creative learning and coding.

Three key differentiation in ScratchJr from Scratch , such as:

• ScratchJr is designed to be "horizontal grammar" developed appropriate for young children.
• ScratchJr blocks are all icon-based, so students who are still learning to read can use ScratchJr with ease.
• ScratchJr aims to teach computer science as a literacy, in that it allows for expression and communication. Because of this, it focuses for storytelling.customisable characters, and voice recording options for narration.
• ScratchJr is exclusively available on iPads or Tablets.

Enter Junior Blocks in PictoBlox, a pioneering tool designed to introduce block coding for kids in a playful, fun, and accessible manner. PictoBlox is more than just a coding tool. Junior Blocks promotes a self-paced, exploratory learning environment that resonates with young minds worldwide.

In the context of coding, studies have shown that parents with little to no background in programming or technology tended to allow their child to be the driver while they took on more passive roles such as reviewer or novice, though some parents found it challenging to be less knowledgeable than their children (Lin & Liu, 2012; Roque, Lin, & Liuzzi, 2016).

Barron and colleagues (2009) identified seven different roles that parents may engage in to promote children’s development of technological fluency: teacher, collaborator, resource provider, learning broker, non-technical consultant, employer, and learner.

These roles illustrate how parents not only offer support for their children but also engage in learning themselves through legitimate peripheral participation (Barron et al., 2009; Lave & Wenger, 1991)

The Junior blocks app is aligned with MIT's philosophy of “low floor, high ceiling, wide walls” approach so that individuals of diverse levels of experience can tinker with the graphical programming blocks not only to create imaginative stories and games but tinker with AI concepts of Face Detection and Human Body.

In the context of Junior blocks,

• Students use algorithms when sequencing programming blocks and choosing the order to the various subroutines of their programs.
• Students use the design process when iteratively planning and testing programs to achieve the goals of their project. Debugging occurs when Students identify problems with their code and identify strategies to fix them.

Three Ways of Using Junior Blocks in the Curriculum

1. Storytelling - Story of Hare and tortoise(in junior blocks its a penguin) In this lesson, children will be introduced to the concept of speed in the Junior blocks. Through interactive activity, students will acquire an understanding of the concept of speed, stop and backgrounds and how to apply it in Junior blocks. The lesson will conclude with an opportunity for students to share their projects.
2. Create a collage - A collage on Junior blocks is a free-form project that has various characters moving on the screen. T
3. Integration in Maths - Example of Creating a square in Junior blocks is a great example of introducing shapes. Over lay a grid to to look at deeper concepts of area and perimeter. The pencil sprite helps students to understand movements and number line.

Conclusion

Junior blocks offers students 30+ blocks to choose from when creating a coding project. Students can extend their learning with physical computing boards like Whizbot and Quarky.

A recommended starting point is using simple blocks that determine the look of a sprite then transitioning to messaging blocks and loops at the end of the unit.

Remember to encourage free play to self-discover different functions, especially basic blocks. Set plans on how long students will need on customising vs coding .Allow more guidance on the advanced blocks and provide multiple sessions to work, while promoting small iteration by encouraging children to keep improving code and adding details.

Best Wishes .....