Scratch
Animated Greeting Cards
Level 2
What You’ll Learn…
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The history of the greeting card
Current trends in the greeting card industry
More advanced computer programming skills in Scratch
How to import images for Sprites and
backgrounds into Scratch
 How to record and import sounds into Scratch
 How to design animated greeting cards
in Scratch
Stuff You’ll Need…
 Scratch Account
Evernote Suggestions…
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Write down three interesting things you learn every day while using
Scratch.
Keep a glossary of words you learn during these activities. Pay
particular attention to the bold, italicized words you find.
Explain why you chose the greeting card for your Scratch project.
Include any sketches of your greeting card ideas in your Portfolio.
If you went online to look for greeting card ideas, list the sites you
used that were most helpful.
List the sources of any images or sounds you imported for your
project.
Include screen captures of your work in process in your Portfolio.
Explain the steps you used to program the objects in your greeting
card.
Keep a record of the “bugs” in your program and the steps you took
to debug your program.
What You Should Know…
What you should already know!
Before beginning the activities in this Learning Launcher,
you should already be familiar with basic programming
in Scratch. You should:
 Be familiar with the Scratch workspace and how to
use its basic programming tools
 Be able to create a simple animation using the
Sprites, Palettes, and Blocks provided by Scratch
 Know where to find Scratch resources online
If you are unfamiliar with these concepts, you
may want to consider doing the Level 1 –
Computer Programming and Animation
Learning Launcher first.
What You Should Know…
The History of Greeting Cards
We’ve all given and received many greeting cards – birthday cards, holiday
cards, thank-you cards. The average American receives 20 greeting cards each
year. In fact, Americans buy over 7 billion greeting cards annually (and that
doesn’t even include e-cards)!!
The custom of sending greeting cards goes back to ancient Chinese New Year
traditions and to ancient Egypt. By the early 15th century, Europeans were
exchanging greeting cards made from handmade paper.
In the mid-19th century, advances in printing and paper
production technology made greeting cards much more
affordable. And with the introduction of the postage stamp in
1840, the practice of sending greeting cards grew quickly!
The World’s First
Known Christmas
Card – created by
John Calcott Horsley
for Sir Henry Cole –
1843
Valentine Card - 1909
What You Should Know…
The History of Greeting Cards
Lewis Prang, a German immigrant, is generally credited
with starting the American greeting card industry when he
began printing and selling Christmas cards in the1870’s.
Today there are more than 3,000 greeting card publishers in
the United States, ranging from small family businesses to
large publishing corporations, and greeting cards are sold in
approximately 100,000 retail stores!
E-Cards represent the fastest growing
segment of the greeting card industry with over
500,000 e-cards sent annually worldwide.
What You Should Know…
Scratch Review
In the Level 1 Learning Launcher
– Computer Programming and
Animation, we watched several
short video tutorials to learn the
programming skills necessary to
give characters a setting,
program character interactions,
and add music to the scene. If
you need to review these skills
click the images at right.
Need a refresher?
Click on each image to
watch the video
tutorial and review
programming
techniques.
What You Should Know…
Duck! It’s Your Birthday!!
Let’s explore how to create a simple
animated birthday card using Scratch!
First, let’s decide the features of the
card, then let’s use the software to
make it.
In this example, we’ll make a
humorous birthday card. Let’s have
a duck quack as it crosses the stage.
Also, let the duck say, “Duck! It’s
your birthday”.
Let’s also add a background for the
stage.
Duck! It’s your birthday.
What You Should Know…
Duck! It’s Your Birthday!!
The top set of blocks
controls the behavior of
the duck and the sounds.
The bottom set of blocks
controls text bubble.
What You Should Know…
A Closer Look
Let’s examine each set of blocks
carefully. Examining the work of others
will help you to solve similar challenges.
This stack of blocks has two parts. The
first part tells the Sprite to play the sound
called, “Duck” and move 5 steps.
The second part of the stack tells the
Sprite what to do when it hits the edge of
the stage. In this case, the Sprite stops
all behaviors.
To get the computer to
make the sound,
“quack” for the duck,
open the sound tab and
select the Import button.
What You Should Know…
A Closer Look
The bottom stack of blocks is much more
simple. It assigns the words that appear
in the text bubble
What You Should Know…
Importing Images
As you get more creative with Scratch projects like animations, games and
greeting cards, you’ll probably want to use your own characters for Sprites or
your own pictures for stage backdrops. You may also want to record or import
your own sounds, like your voice, music or sound effects.
Let’s learn how…
What You Should Know…
Importing a Sprite
1. Select the Paintbrush button.
2. Click the Import button.
3. Browse to the location of the image
you want for your new Sprite.
4. Double click on the image.
5. The image should appear on the
Paint Editor screen. Click “OK”
6. Your image appears as a new
Sprite!
What You Should Know…
Importing a Background
1.
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If it’s not visible, double-click anywhere
on the stage area to launch the
Background tab.
Select the Background tab.
Click the Import button.
Select the location of your new image.
Double click on the image.
The image should appear in the
Background menu and as a new Stage.
What You Should Know…
Recording & Importing Sounds
Scratch includes a wide
collection of sounds.
If you want a new sound,
you can record your own or
import one into Scratch.
What You Should Know…
Recording & Importing Sounds
There are two ways to access the sound recording
and importing tools on Scratch.
1. Use the pull down
menu on the “play
sound” block.
2. Select the Sound
tab from the tools
What You Should Know…
Recording a Sound
First, let’s learn how to record a sound in
Scratch!
1.
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Click on the Sounds tab
Select the Record button
The Sound Recorder will appear on your
screen.
Click the red dot to start recording. Click
the black square to stop recording.
To save the sound, click “OK”.
To name your sound, double click,
“Recording 1” in and type the new name.
You can also record sounds
using the pull-down menu
on the play sound block!
What You Should Know…
Importing a Sound
Here’s how to import a sound file in
Scratch, like a voice recording, music, or a
special sound effect!
1.
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Click on the Sound tab.
Click the Import button to import a
new sound.
Navigate to the location of your
sound file.
Highlight the sound file and click,
“OK”.
The new sound will appear in
menu of sounds.
What You Should Know…
We covered the next two slides in Level 1,
but it’s worth taking another look!
Remember that almost EVERY program
goes through a debugging process! Take
your time and try not to get too frustrated.
The answer is always somewhere right in
front of you!!
What You Should Know…
Programs only do what they’re told
“It didn’t work!!” You’ll find yourself saying that a lot as you
work with Scratch (or, for that matter, any other method of
computer programming).
That’s because computer programs are rather “simpleminded”; they do exactly what they’re told – no more, no less.
They don’t know what you want your program to do, they can
only perform each instruction literally and in the exact order
given.
When creating a program with a complex set of instructions,
you are bound to miss an important step or have something in the wrong order.
When this happens (and it will), you need to debug your program. The most
important element of the debugging process is always the same: Don’t get
discouraged, you can fix this!!
SmartLabs are all about problem-solving, so approach it like a puzzle and have
some fun!!
What You Should Know…
Debugging Your Program
Here are some important things to keep in mind:
 You’re not alone! Virtually every computer program must be
debugged. In fact, software companies often continue
debugging for years after software is released to the public!
 Your program IS working; it’s performing each step exactly as
instructed, it’s just not doing what you expected! So all you need to do is find the
instruction that’s causing the unexpected behavior. Most of the time the problem comes
down to something simple. A problem with a single instruction can often lead to
dramatically unexpected behavior.
First, think about how the program is behaving unexpectedly – often that will be your best
clue to the problem.
Second, carefully examine each program step in order to identify the problem instruction(s).
If you have multiple program modules, try playing each one separately to see if that helps
you find the problem.
Don’t give up!
With Scratch everything you
need to solve the problem is
right in front of you!
Do It!
Now it is your turn to make your own animated
greeting card in Scratch!
Include some of the following features in your card:
 Blocks from the following Pallets: Motion, Sound, Control, and
Sensing
 Sprites from the Scratch collection or import your own
 Backgrounds for the stage from the Scratch collection or
import your own
Check out the
greeting card ideas
on the next page!
Do It!
Need Greeting Cards Ideas?
 Get the duck to drop a birthday cake onto a
second Sprite
 Special Days: Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Birthday
 Holidays: New Years, Easter, Chanukah, Halloween, Valentines day,
Thanksgiving, Christmas
 General Cards: Friendship, Thank You, Get Well, Congratulations
Need more
inspiration?
Go online to search for
animated greeting card
ideas!!
Extend Yourself…
Go Online for Ideas, Help, Tutorials and to Share Projects
A big advantage for programming in Scratch is the huge online user community! You
can find lots of project ideas, tutorials, and helpful hints online. You can download
other user’s projects and build upon their work. You can even post your own
projects (the next slide will show you how)!
 Check out the official MIT Scratch Site: http://scratch.mit.edu/
 Browse the many great tutorials on YouTube (if you can’t access YouTube from
your SmartLab, you may have to do this from home)
 Explore the video tutorials at http://learnscratch.org/
 Do an online search for other great Scratch resources and tutorials (HINT: Search
for “Scratch software” or Scratch MIT” to narrow your search)
Extend Yourself…
Share Your Projects Online
Scratch allows you to share your
work with others who use Scratch.
Steps:
1.Once you complete your project, select the
Share menu.
2.Select, “Share This Project Online…”
3.Complete the form and Click, “OK”.
4.If you do not have an account, click on
“Create account”.
a. Create account will take you to the
Scratch website.
b. Select, “Signup”
c. Return to Step #2.
Extend Yourself…
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Explore other palettes and blocks to learn more ways to control the
behavior or appearance of a Sprite.
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Create a list of links to helpful Scratch online resources for your
classmates.
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Go online and explore careers in computer programming. What kind
of education do computer programmers and software engineers
require?
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Swap programming ideas with a friend to share and learn new ways
to control the computer animation.
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Explore the Scratch activity cards. Pick a card and see if you can
solve the programming challenge. Or take turns challenging your
partner!
Extend Yourself…
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What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of e-cards compared to
traditional printed cards? Explore some of the applications in the SmartLab
you can use to design e-cards like Photoshop and Flash.
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Go online to look for antique greeting cards. What can you tell
about society by looking at greeting cards of the day?
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Are you the next great greeting card writer or designer? What
kinds of careers are there in greeting card design? Do most greeting card
designers work for the big greeting card companies or do they freelance? Go
online and learn more!
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What would it take to design and sell greeting cards on your own? Could you
earn money selling printed or electronic greeting cards at school?
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Learn more about the American greeting card industry from the Greeting
Card Association website: http://www.greetingcard.org/
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How do musical birthday cards work? Could you make one?
Valentine Card c. 1940