CREATE A STORY / EDUCATOR GUIDE CREATE A STORY / EDUCATOR GUIDE

EDUCATOR GUIDE Workshop Overview

Create a Story Here’s a suggested agenda for a

one-hour workshop:

With this guide, you can plan and lead

a one-hour workshop using Scratch.
Participants will create a story with settings, First, gather as a group to
characters, and dialogue. introduce the theme and
IMAGINE spark ideas.
10 minutes

Next, help participants as

they create story projects,
CREATE working at their own pace.
40 minutes

At the end of the session,

gather together to share
SHARE and reflect.
10 minutes

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Get Ready for the Workshop Imagine IMAGINE

Use this checklist to prepare for the workshop. Begin by gathering the participants to introduce
the theme and spark ideas for projects.
Preview the Tutorial
The Create a Story tutorial shows Warm-up Activity: Story Starters in a Bag
participants how to create their own
projects. Preview the tutorial before your
Have participants make up a brief story by giving them a bag with
workshop and try the first few steps:
three objects in it, and asking them to include all of the items in
scratch.mit.edu/story
the story. In each bag, you could include small objects, pictures
of animals or characters, and/or words (people, places, or things).
Divide participants into groups of two or three, and have each pick
Print the Coding Cards a bag. Give them a few minutes to come up with a quick story.
Print a few sets of Create a Story cards
to have available for participants during
the workshop. You can download from Provide Ideas and Inspiration
this page: scratch.mit.edu/ideas
You can show the Create a Story tutorial video to show
participants how they can start making stories in Scratch.
Make sure participants have Scratch accounts
Participants can sign up for their own Scratch accounts at
scratch.mit.edu, or you can set up student accounts if you
have a Teacher Account. To request a Teacher Account, go to:
scratch.mit.edu/educators

Set up a studio for project sharing on Scratch

Set up a studio so participants will be able to add their projects.
Go to your My Stuff page, then click the +New Studio button.
Type in a name for the studio.

Set up computers or laptops

View the video at: scratch.mit.edu/story
Arrange computers so that participants can
work individually or in pairs.

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Demonstrate the First Steps IMAGINE Create CREATE

Demonstrate the first few steps of the tutorial Support participants as they create Story
so participants can see how to get started. projects, on their own or in pairs.

In Scratch, click Create. Choose any character (in Start with Prompts
Choose a backdrop. Scratch called a sprite). Ask participants questions to get started

Where will your What will

story take place? happen first?
Witch House Wizard

Code your character to say something.

Provide Resources
Offer options for getting started

Type what you want your

character to say.

Click the green flag to start. Add another character.

Some participants may want Others may want to explore

to follow the online tutorial: using the coding cards:
Witch
scratch.mit.edu/story scratch.mit.edu/ideas

Add code to the new character.

Suggest Ideas for Starting

Use this block to have the • Choose a backdrop. • Make a character say something
second character wait before • Choose a character. • Make a character hide and show.
they say something.

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CREATE Share SHARE

More Things to Try

Help the participants add their projects to a
shared studio in Scratch. Give them a link to the
• Switch backdrops.
• Make your characters studio. Then they can click ‘Add Projects’ at the
have a conversation. bottom of the page.
• Move your characters.
• Change something
when you click on it. Ask for volunteers to show their project to the
group.

Support Tinkering
What’s Next?
Scratch is designed to support creating Participants can use these ideas and concepts to create a
by experimenting and tinkering. So, variety of projects. Here are some variations on the story
your participants may want to start their project you could suggest:
stories without planning beforehand. As
they create, one idea can spark another.
Retell a story
Celebrate their sparks of creativity and the
unexpected turns their stories may take. Start with a story you know and make
it in Scratch. Imagine a new ending or
a different setting.

Prepare to Share Neighbourhood story

Take photos of your classroom, school,
To add instructions and credits or neighborhood and use them as
to a project, click the button: backdrops in your story.
“See project page”.
Round-robin story
Then click the Share button if
you want the project visible to Give everyone 5 minutes to start a story.
others online. Then, have them switch to the next
computer to add to the story. Repeat.

Created by the Scratch Team

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