Characterization

Step 1: Get ready

1. Go to the Scratch website, scratch.mit.edu. Create a new account, or log in to the one you already have. Write down your username and password so you do not forget them.
2. Sign up for CS First, Google’s free coding lessons. Then open the Characterization lesson on CS First. This is the main project for today.

Step 2: Meet the Scratch screen

Open a new project with Create on the Scratch website. You will see four main areas:

Area	What it is for
Stage	Where your project plays.
Sprite list	All the characters and objects. Click one to work on it.
Blocks palette	The blocks you can drag out, sorted by color.
Scripting area	Where you snap blocks together to make a script.

Step 3: Make a character talk

1. Click your sprite in the sprite list.
2. From Events, drag when green flag clicked into the scripting area.
3. From Looks, drag say Hello! for 2 seconds and snap it under the first block.
4. Click the green flag above the stage.

Scratch runs the stack from top to bottom. Add a second say block under the first and change its words. The sprite now says two things, one after the other.

Step 4: Think, wait and change the order

• think Hmm… for 2 seconds shows a thought bubble instead of a speech bubble.
• wait 1 seconds (from Control) pauses the script.
• Dragging a block up or down changes the order the character acts in. Try it and watch what changes.

Step 5: Projects to remix

The main project today is the CS First Characterization lesson from Step 1. If your class finishes early, choose one of these. Open it, press the green flag, then click See inside to look at its scripts, and Remix to make your own copy.

• Interactive Storytelling: Starter project
• Code Your Hero: Starter project

Now try it yourself

Do the Exercise, then the Small project below, and finish with the quiz.