Zero Day Camp

November 28, 2016November 28, 2016

It’s a Mad Lib Kind of Day

This week we worked with strings to create Thanksgiving Mad Libs. The starter project asks for a part of speech which is saved as a variable. Coders insert the variables into join strings blocks (aka concatenation). Check out the starter project here. You can also download the direction card here.

November 8, 2016

Fall 2016: Sessions 3 & 4

Session 3

This week, coders worked on creating music using Scratch beats and instruments. Three tasks were introduced and rotated:

Recording sound and using pre-existing sounds
Rhythm & beats
Creating a song (Mary had a Little Lamb) with notes and using custom blocks for each measure. You can find a piano note/ number template at this link and the musical notes at this link.

Session 4

In week 4 we started working on new animations incorporating sound, movement, and costume changes. Story elements were discussed such as setting, characters, and story arc. Check out some of the shared projects at the Fall 2016 Studio.

October 11, 2016

Happy Ada Lovelace Day!

drawing of Ada Lovelace October 11th is Ada Lovelace Day so let’s celebrate! Ada is known by some to be the first computer programmer, born in 1815. She was an avid mathematician and theorized about computer programs that could be used for purposes beyond mathematics. Her “computer programs” came decades before the first computer known as the “Analytical Engine” which Ada had a hand in developing along with Charles Babbage. To find out more about this special lady, check out this video.

October 1, 2016October 11, 2016

Fall 2016: Session 1

cartesian plane chart Welcome back returning coders and greetings to our newest members! This week we set out to get to know each other and set some large goals for the fall session. We hope to dive deeper and build more complex programs while learning and applying the fundamentals of computer science. Whole class instruction focused on basic sprite navigation using the cartesian plane and rotation angles as they apply to the sprites in their programs. We also looked more closely at creating custom blocks (functions) to generate more elegant code while drawing using the pen tool in Scratch (a nod to Seymour Papert and Logo the Turtle). You can find the instructions we worked off of today by following this link and the Scratch starter project here.

June 8, 2016July 13, 2016

Code Club Summer 2016

This summer Code Club will launch an exciting program filled with fun computing and building projects for girls and boys. Our week long camp will challenge your children with a series of hands-on, collaborative activities. Our projects include writing computer code, building with electronics and robotics, and solving problems with design thinking.
Quick Overview

4th through 6th graders (based on grade in Fall 2016)
Location is 639 Classon Ave @ Dean Street in Crown Heights
$500 per week
Class is 9am-3pm Monday- Friday
Sibling rate and after care available
Dates: August 22-26
space is limited—only ten seats available

scratch program what you will learn at code club

Maker Studio Details, August 22-26

Animatronics is the name of the game in the maker studio. Working with embedded computers, campers will design and build their own robotic stuffed animals, toys, cars, and other inventions. They will learn the programming skills to read sensors and control motors, while also working to sew and craft their own whimsical, unique designs.
Add maker studio registration to your cart!

FAQS:

How old does my child need to be?: Code campers must be entering 4th, 5th, or 6th grade in Fall 2016.
How much does it cost?: Camp costs $500/week (first child).; Siblings cost $250.; Payment is due at the time of registration.; There is no day-rate, or pro-rating if you must miss some days.; Extended day is available for an additional fee.
My child doesn’t know how to build robots/write code/sew/solder/weld. Is that OK?: First, there won’t be any welding going on…; Second, no, there’s no prior experience needed.
My child is already an awesome hacker, is this too basic for her?: Our team projects are designed with a low floor and high ceiling.; Our small camp size ensures there will be plenty of opportunities to work 1:1 with our expert staff.
Who are the counselors/instructors?: The camp directors design and run all the session together.; Loreto Dumitrescu is a NYC DOE occupational therapist and assistive tech expert who’s been building cool tech for her students to use for years.; David Frackman is an inventor, roboticist, and expert programmer who coaches the Flying Bison FLL Robotics Team and also teaches computer science as an adjunct faculty member at Adelphi University.; Matt Curinga is associate professor of educational technology at Adelphi University where he teaches multimedia design, computer science, and learning theory. He studies how kids and adults best learn computer science.
What is the child to teacher ratio?: The ratio is about 5 children to one adult staff member.
When is drop-off?: Doors open at 8:45am. Camp start at 9:00am.
When is pick-up?: Normal camp ends at 3pm.; Extended day ends at 6pm.
When should I sign up for extended day?: If you pay for a full week of extended day during registration, the cost is $30/day.; Emergency extended day (notify us at or before drop-off) will be available for $40/day.
What will the kids do during extended day?: Extended day will be relaxed. Kids may read (from our library or books they bring), play one of our board/card games, or work on their programming or robotics projects. If the weather’s nice, we may take them outside.
What should my child bring each day?: A packed lunch (no nuts or peanuts); A snack (and extra snack for extended day); A water bottle; Hat, rain jacket, & sunscreen if needed (we will go outside every day); (optional) A book for extended day
Where is Code Camp?: The address is 639 Classon Ave between Dean and Pacific; We have our own floor in the Electropositive Coworking Space; There’s easy public transit access from the Franklin Ave C and Shuttle, 2/3 at Eastern Parkway, the B65 bus, and Nostrand Ave LIRR
Will they get to go outside?: Yes, every day will include at least 2 outdoor breaks. For some days we will be spending even more time outside.
Where do you go outside?: We will walk to Prospect Park and other area parks and playgrounds
What is your cancellation policy?: There are no refunds once camp registration is complete.

June 5, 2016June 5, 2016

SPRING 2016: SESSIONS 4 & 5

clone badge Coders continued working on their badges and gain skills in creating their games. Week 4 focused on cloning sprites. Here is a quick guide on how to create a dropping cloned sprite and a starter project. Clones were also used to create visual designs using lines of symmetry.

Week 5 looked more closely at using variables to keep track of lost lives and adding scores. The starter project can be found here. We also looked at working with lists and variables to create a multiple choice quiz which keeps track of correct and incorrect answers. Check out the starter project here.

Coders had a chance to play around with a physical controller using a floor mat and the Makey Makey to activate their games.

Next week, will be our final session for the season and the plan is to share projects and games.

May 24, 2016May 24, 2016

Spring 2016: Session 3

This week we rolled out the Badges section of the course. Coders will earn badges each week gaining skills which can be added to their own games. In addition to learning new code, coders will also earn points for each time they successfully debug their program. Our new badge system hope to give our coders a visual map of the skills they will gain this session and celebrate their problem solving prowess.

Coders earned the Timer badge this week learning how to create a new variable of time, count this variable down by 1 and execute an outcome when the timer gets to 0. For further instructions and support check out the guide card available HERE.

May 14, 2016

Spring 2016: Session 2

nano smiling

This week we continued working on our platformer and maze games adding a new level and introducing additional elements to the game. The process of joining studios and sharing work was reviewed. We also discussed the Scratcher community and digital citizenship. Coders were encouraged to support fellow coders by providing positive and constructive feedback as well as reporting any instances of improper communications in the Scratch community. Here is a helpful infograph illustrating the basic tenets of digital literacy.

May 9, 2016May 9, 2016

Welcome to the Spring 2016 Session: Week 1

Welcome to the start of the Spring 2016 session. This 6 week session we will be building a game using the Scratch programming language. Each week we will be adding a new level and learning coding concepts such collisions, cloning, using a timer, and jumping (and simple gravity). This first week we got started with general orientation and setting up the game. Next week, we will be working on creating the next level and adding additional functionalities.

Here are some helpful resources for tinkering at home:

Scratch uses studios for coders to share their work. We currently have a Random Projects studio where coders can share project they are working on outside of Code Club and the Spring 2016 studio where coders can share what they are doing so far. Comments and support for fellow coders are highly encouraged. Remember to keep it friendly and provide helpful feedback.

Also, be sure to join our Slack network for messaging communication and troubleshooting support.

Happy Coding!

February 24, 2016May 24, 2016

Scratch Maze Instructions

Step 1: Draw the Maze

In this phase, we’re going to draw a maze, we need one color for
the background and one color for the path of the maze. We will put
a circle at the start and a circle at the end.

Edit the backdrop
Fill it with a solid color
Choose a color for your maze path (white)
Draw a filled start circle with the circle tool
Choose a color for you ending
Draw an end circle
Pick the “paint brush” tool
Switch back to the maze path color
Make the line width big enough so that your sprite will be able to fit in it, almost as big as it goes
Draw the winning path to the maze
Add dead ends to your maze

The maze is ready!

Step 2: Add arrow key controls to your sprite

Now, we’re going to pick a sprite, shrink it down,
and write a program so that we can move it with the arrow keys

Pick a sprite that will go through the maze
Drag it to the start circle
Shrink the sprite’s costume down so it can fit easily in your maze path
Switch to scripts
Under the “Events” blocks, choose When space key pressed and drag it to your program area
Change the argument from “space key” to “right arrow”
Under the event block, add a move block: change x by 2 — remember that changing x moves the sprite to the right.
Repeat the process for the left arrow, but change x by -2 negative (minus) numbers move the spite to the left
Repeat for the up arrow and down arrow, but instead of change x you’re going to use a change y move block

Step 3: Look out for crashes

Next, we start our sprite in the start circle. If the player leaves the
path, they get sent back to start. We will also check to see if they finish in time.

Drag your sprite into the start circle
Add a Click when Started (green flag) block
Add a goto x,y block — this will move your sprite to the start circle when the green flag is clicked
Under control, add a repeat until loop block
Under sensing, drag a touching color sensing block into the repeat until condition
Click the color on that block and then click the your end circle — the sprite will move until the player reaches the end of the maze
Add an if ... then block that sends the player home if they touch the background color.

Advanced ideas

Add more levels
Add a countdown clock, when time runs out, Game Over
Add a scoreboard: sprite gets points for all of the time left on the clock, clearing levels, etc.
Add “power ups”: add bonus sprites into the path, if the player collects them, they get points.
Add a “run” key so that the sprite moves faster when they hold shift.
Give the player more than one life.
Add your own ideas!