SESSION 4: ACTIVITY 2 DIALOGUE
OVERVIEW
Club members will create a story in which two characters talk to each other without using questions.
VOLUNTEER FOCUS:


Encourage club members to talk with and help their club mates
Develop and maintain a club routine by closely following the club agenda
PRE-PREPARATION DAY (3 DAYS BEFORE THE SESSION)






Each mentor will need to practice his or her script
Buy the snacks drinks for the students (count the number of snacks per student)
Have pencils ready for each student
Have dry-erase markers ready for the day
Print out reflection sheet and have presentation accessible (USB or online)
Create a sign-in sheet and print it out
PREPARATION PERIOD (TBD)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Have snacks and drinks ready to distribute
Have club member passports ready to hand out and club posters hanging
Have mentors ensure that every computer is turned on and on Scratch
Have all the monitors turned off
Have the projector and presentation(s) ready
MATERIALS











Computer lab is provided by the middle school
Projector is provided by the middle school
Dry-Erase board is provided by the school
Headphones for scratch (one per student)
Pencils (provided by ACM-W, handed out at the beginning of the session and returned after)
Passport (handed out at the beginning of the session and returned at the end)
Sign-in sheet
Snacks and drinks for each student
Napkins and paper plates for the club members
Club posters
Reward badges
AGENDA
4:00PM – 4:05: INTRODUCTION
NAME OF VOLUNTEER: __________________________________________________
1. Greet members at the door as they arrive
“Hi [name]. Welcome back!”
2. Members will sign in before picking up their snacks and drinks
“Please, go ahead and sign in. After that, make a line and come pick
up snacks.”
3. Assign seating to ensure members are sitting together and closest to the presenter
“Hi [name]. You’re going to need to sit near others to work on this
project. Would you mind moving to a seat where you’ll be able to
interact with other club members?”
4. Use the silent signal to get the members attention
[hand raised] “Can I have everyone’s attention up here, please?”
5. Have all members turn monitors off and remove headphones before starting. It is VERY
important that you enforce this rule or members will use the computers instead of interacting
“Everyone please turn off your monitors so we can begin the
introduction.” [wait for all members to turn off monitors].
6. Once you have all members’ attention and all monitors are off
“Hello everyone! Just a reminder, my name is [Ms/Mr First Name].”
7. Recap and review the last club activity: Explore
“Will someone please raise their hand and remind me what we did in
our last club session?” Possible response: Last club session we signed
into Scratch and made a Scratch Cat story.
8. Introduce the activity’s CS concept: Sequencing
“In this activity, you will create a story using dialogue. Can someone
please raise their hand, and tell us what dialogue is?” Possible
response: Dialogue is conversation between 2 or more characters.
“This project will introduce an important computer science concept:
sequencing. Sequencing means to put things in order. Both computer
scientists and storytellers use sequencing.”
9. Introduce showcase selector
“At the end of this activity, and for each activity after that, we will
select 2 projects to showcase on the projector at the beginning of the
following club. So, the project you create in this activity could be
showcased to everyone next club! Are there any questions about the
showcase selection?” [wait for questions]
4:05PM – 4:08PM: SNACKS, TRANSITION TO COMPUTER TIME
NAME OF VOLUNTEER: __________________________________________________
1. Introduce computer time
[show agenda] “Now we are going to move into computer time.”
2. Remind members to use a sticky note if they have a question
“If you have a question during this time, ask your neighbors for help.
If they cannot help you, put a sticky note on your monitor and I will
come to help you.”
3. Remind members that at the end of this activity you will pick a few projects to share next club
“Remember that at the end of this activity we will pick a few people’s
projects to show at the beginning of the next club.”
4:08PM – 4:15PM: INTRODUCTION TO STORYTELLING
NAME OF VOLUNTEER: __________________________________________________
1. Begin the presentation for the first part of the session
“Today you will create a dialogue driven story while you learn about
two important computer science principles: sequencing and testing
code. Sequencing means putting things in order, when you write
code you need to careful decide the order in which the code will run.
Sometimes this means experimenting and testing different options
until the program runs exactly how you want it to. So today you will
also work with testing to improve your program. Believe it or not
both storytellers and computer scientists use sequencing and testing
in their work. Take a look at the process and author goes through to
write a story.”
2. Advance to blank slide
“They begin by prewriting, or creating a plan for a story. This allows
the writer to carefully sequence elements and decide what elements
to include in the story. They then begin writing, which you probably
noticed from your own writing, often includes a lot of revision and
reworking of ideas until they're just right. Finally the author gets
feedback from another person, an editor, and incorporates that
feedback into their story. When computer scientists create a
program they go through a very similar process.”
“Here's one example of process that you, or any other computer
scientist might go through to create a computer program. First, the
computer scientist thinks about the goals of the program. What
should this program do when it is complete? Next comes the initial
planning, which is like prewriting in storytelling. At this stage the
computer scientist plans the features and functionality of the
program. The computer scientist then starts to code, or implement
their plans into a program. Just like writing the first draft of a story.
The code then undergoes testing. Many different people try it out,
edit it, and revise it. This process continues until the program
successfully accomplishes the goals the computer scientist set out to
achieve. When writers and computer scientists work together to
build a computer animated movie, you can imagine that there is a lot
of sequencing, testing, and revising at every stage of writing and
programming processes.”
“Today, you will learn about sequencing and testing code as you
create a dialogue, or a conversation between two characters. Good
storytellers use dialogue to provide audience with insight into the
characters and plot. Take for instance a piece of dialogue like "I didn't
think you'd show up." Well why not? Is the other character a coward,
lazy, too busy? Is this a dangerous situation? What might the
character want to avoid in a situation? Is something bad going to
happen? Good dialogue requires a response that moves the plot
forward. In today's club, you will create a story that is driven by
dialogue, meaning that you'll use a conversation to reveal important
information about the plot and characters in your story. As an extra
challenge, you need to do all of this without using any questions in
your dialogue. Asking and answering questions within a story can
slow it down. Exercise your storytelling muscles, you can create a
riveting dialogue without using questions.”
3. Switch Scratch with the girl and ghost example
“Now take a look at an example project. This project has two sprites
who use dialogue to direct the story. The dialogue is sequenced using
say and wait blocks.”
4. Run the example program in Scratch
5. Direct students to get on Scratch
“You can turn on your monitors now. You should be at the Scratch
webpage, if not, got to scratch.mit.edu in your web browser. Sign in
using the username and password on your club pass, then click
Create to start a new project.”
4:15PM – 4:25PM: SETTING THE SCENE
NAME OF VOLUNTEER: __________________________________________________
1. Start up a blank project in Scratch
“In the previous step you should have signed into Scratch and started
a new project. I will go over how to add sprites and a backdrop to
your story, as well as how to start a dialogue. To start you will need
to add two sprites, or characters, to you story. All Scratch projects
begin with the Scratch cat. To delete this sprite click the scissors at
the top and click the cat.”
2. Delete the cat sprite
“To select a new sprite click the "Choose sprite from library" button.
Here you will see all the sprites you can choose from. In the add-on
to today's club, you will have the chance to animate a sprite for your
story. If that sounds like something you would like to try, be sure to
select a "Vector" sprite using the "Type" menu in this step. This
example we will use a duck for the first character and a penguin for
the second character. Remember though, that you can select any
characters you want for your story.”
3. Add the sprites to the project window
“You might notice that these two characters are not facing each
other. If they're going to talk they should probably turn around. To
flip a sprite, click on it and select the costumes tab. Then click the
"Flip left-right" button. The sprite should flip to face the other
direction. If your sprite has more than one costume you can flip the
other costumes as well.”
4. Flip one sprite so they face each other
“Great, both costumes are now flipped. Now that you've added two
sprites, it is time to add a backdrop, or setting, for your story. To do
that, choose the "Choose backdrop from library" button and select a
backdrop. This example we will use the "slopes", but when it is your
turn you can use any backdrop for your story.”
5. Add the backdrop to the project
“Now this project has two characters and a setting. The last step is
create a dialogue between these two characters. Here are a few
starter phrases available to you:”
6. Switch to the PowerPoint with the predefined phrases
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
“It was brave of you to come here today.”
“They lied to you.”
“You won!”
“That was a dangerous move that you pulled back there.”
“I didn’t think you’d be here.”
7. Switch back to Scratch
“Don’t worry if you didn’t get to see all the phrases, they will be
available after this presentation. To get a character to say the
dialogue you choose, click on the character, go back to the ‘Scripts’
tab and select the ‘Looks’ menu.”
8. Navigate to the Scripts tab and choose “Looks” in Scratch
“Now there are two blocks you can use to have a character say
something, ‘Say’ and ‘Say for 2 seconds’. Say blocks will say the same
piece of dialogue until another say block is run while say for 2
seconds will say the dialogue for a set amount of time. For stories
you will almost always want to use the say for 2 seconds block,
instead of a say block. Now drag out a say for 2 seconds block, and
type in the opening dialogue you chose for the list.”
9. Drag out a Say for 2 seconds block
“This example will use ‘I didn't think you'd be here.’”
10. Type “I didn’t think you’d be here.” in Say block
“Now I will click the block to test it and then it will be your turn.”
11. Click the block to test it
“Now it is your turn to work in Scratch.”
12. Switch to slideshow presentation
“Here are your objectives and the starter phrases from earlier, after
this step we will continue to make more dialogue for your story.”
4:25PM – 4:45PM: SPEAKING AND RESPONDING
NAME OF VOLUNTEER: __________________________________________________
1. Switch back to Scratch
“Now that you've designed your story by adding two sprites and a
backdrop, it is time to sequence some dialogue to develop your plot.
Today's challenge is to create a story driven by dialogue between two
characters and do this without using questions. In the previous step
you should have added a say for two seconds block for one of your
sprites and filled it in with a starter phrase. Now it is time to extend
the dialogue by adding a response from your other sprite. To do this
click on the other sprite and drag out another ‘Say for 2 seconds’
block.”
2. Click the other sprite without dialogue and drag out a “Say for 2 seconds” block
“In this example, the penguin says ‘I didn't think you'd be here.’
Remember that a single line of dialogue can have many different
meanings. In this example, why didn't the penguin think that the
duck would be here? It is because it is too cold here for a duck? Is it
because the duck was bullied by the penguin? Did the duck do
something wrong and run away only to come back now? As a
storyteller it is up to you to clue your audience in what the dialogue
means. For this example, the duck is going to respond “I could say
the same thing to you!’”
3. Enter “I could say the same thing to you” in the new “Say for 2 seconds” block
“Click this block to try it out.”
4. Click the block to test the message displaying
“Great! The duck now says ‘I could say the same thing to you!’ The
two dialogues are not sequenced though. You can switch back and
forth between the two sprites and click on each say block whatever
time you want a sprite to say something, but the beauty of computer
science is that you can program the computer to sequence these say
blocks for you so the dialogue is presented in the right order. You
need a way to start the story with one button press, like clicking play
to start a movie. In computer science, this type of action is called an
event. Events tell a computer when to run code. An event can be
something like, clicking on a sprite, or clicking the green flag, pressing
a button, or even sending a message from one part of the program to
another. For this example, and for most stories, you will use a ‘When
Green Flag Clicked’ event to start the story. This is sort of like
Scratch's play button. Go to the ‘Events’ menu and drag out a ‘When
Green Flag Clicked’ event on top of each say block for both sprites.”
5. Drag out the “When Green Flag Clicked” event from the “Events” menu in “Scripts” for both
sprites
“Now click the green flag to try it out.”
6. Click the green flag to demonstrate
“Great! Both sprites say their dialogue, but there is a problem, they
both say it at the same time. That's really confusing for the audience
because they won't know which statement to read first. To fix it, tell
the computer to wait before running the second character's
dialogue. The first character says its statement for the first two
seconds, so the second sprite should wait two seconds before saying
its statement. Click ‘Control’, select a ‘Wait 1 second’ block, and
place it before your second character's say block and change its value
to two seconds.”
7. Drag a “Wait 1 second” block from the “Control” section and place it before the second sprites
“Say” block, then change the value to 2 seconds
“Beautiful, you now successfully sequenced code for two sprites to
talk to each other. When a two line story isn't that compelling for the
audience, continue to build out your story from here by sequencing
say and wait blocks between your two sprites so they have a longer
and more interesting conversation. Remember to test your code
often so you can easily spot bugs or errors that may occur. All
computer scientists encounter bugs in their code. When that
happens to you it can help to reread your code to try and locate the
error. Ask a neighbor if you have a bug you are having difficulty
solving on your own. Remember that you can post a sticky note on
your monitor to get the attention of an IgniteCS mentor. Now it is
your turn!”
8. Switch to the slideshow presentation
“Try to challenge yourself by not using any questions in your
dialogue. Remember, the writing process requires a lot of testing and
reworking. Test your code often to make sure the code supports the
story that you want to tell.”
4:45PM – 4:46PM: WRAP UP AND SHARE
NAME OF VOLUNTEER: __________________________________________________
1. Ask the club to share their projects on Scratch.
[Silent signal] “It’s time to wrap up your projects. Your first step will
be to share your project on Scratch. Remember to name your
project, and, if you’d like, write a description that explains how to
use it. In one minute, you’ll show your project to your neighbor.”
2. Walk around and encourage club members who haven’t shared their projects (the share button
will still be visible in the top-right corner of the screen) to do so. If club members don’t wish to
share, that’s okay.
4:46PM – 4:49PM: SHOW PROJECTS
NAME OF VOLUNTEER: __________________________________________________
1. Get members’ attention using the silent signal
[Hand raised] “Can I have everyone’s attention up here, please?”
2. Introduce showing time
“You’re going to spend the next two minutes showing your projects
to your neighbor or neighbors. Turn to someone near you, and show
them your project. You can explain what your project does and what,
if anything, you plan to add to it. When someone shows you their
project, be positive, and discuss the things you like about it.”
3. Prompt club members to begin showing projects.
“When showing time is complete, I’ll give the silent signal again to
get your attention. You have two minutes. You may begin showing.”
4. After you tell club members to begin showing, walk around the club and ensure that everyone is
showing their project to someone. If you see club members who are still working or who don’t
have a partner, encourage them to join another pair and show their work. If club members do
not want to show their project that’s okay. However, they should still take part in this social
aspect of the club by looking at fellow club members’ projects.
4:49PM – 4:51PM: IGNITECS REFLECTION
NAME OF VOLUNTEER: __________________________________________________
0. Get members’ attention using the silent signal
[Hand raised] “Can I have everyone’s attention up here, please?”
1. Start passing out reflection sheets
“Thank you all for showing your wonderful projects. It’s time to wrap
up what you learned during this activity with the IgniteCS club
reflection. Your mentors will be passing out the reflection sheet.”
2. Prepare / locate the participation badges / stickers.
4:51PM – 4:55PM: WRAP-UP PRESENTATION
NAME OF VOLUNTEER: __________________________________________________
0. Start having mentors pick up the reflection sheets and pass out participation badges
“In today's project you learned to use an important computer
scientist principle, sequencing, to build a story driven by dialogue.
Dialogue is important to the story because it lets the characters
express themselves and communicate their thoughts. It is important
in real life for the same reason. Dialogue allows you to express
yourself and communicate with others. Computer scientists use
technology and programming to enhance communication between
people. One specific way they do this is by building programs that
translate between people who speak different languages.”
1. Switch to Google Translate to show example. As you are talking type into Google Translate to
demo
“Here you can see a real computer translation of what I'm saying into
Spanish. Technologies like this allow businesses to communicate
across borders, or even allow people like you to read websites
written in a different language. While it is impressive that a program
can translate everything someone says, there is now a program that
can do something even more complex. Check out this app that can
translate written text with a camera.”
2. Switch to video in slideshow presentation with app demo
“The computer science concepts used to make that technology are
the same ones you're learning in this club. You'll have the chance to
build on the concepts you're learning now in high school and college
computer science classes. With education and practice you could be
responsible for creating the next great technological advancement.”
3. Advance to next slide
“Next session you will create a stormy day story, complete with an
interactive setting. Go forth, and tell your story.”
4:55PM – 4:56PM: SELECT SHOWCASES
NAME OF VOLUNTEER: __________________________________________________
1. Display showcase selector on board
2. Get everyone’s attention using the silent signal and request that club members turn off their
monitors. Ensure that all monitors are turned off before beginning (club members won’t need to
use their computers again during this club)
[Hand raised] “Everyone please turn your monitors off and direct
your attention up here.”
3. Explain showcase selector
“This is the showcase selector. At the end of each activity, we'll pick
two projects to showcase at the beginning of next club. If your
project is selected, we'll display it up here on the projector next club
and everyone will get a chance to enjoy it!”
4. Run the showcase selector.
“Let’s get excited! Let’s press the "Choose a Showcase!" button and
see who gets selected! And we have… CSF###!”
5. Using the club roster, find and say the names of the club members selected.
“Wonderful! CSF### is... [name]! I’m really looking forward to seeing
[member names] projects next club.”
6. Remind members to share their project.
“If you were one of the members selected, make sure that we'll be
able to see your project by clicking the share button at the top of the
project editor. If you didn't do that for this project, make sure you do
it first thing at the start of next club.”
7. Tell members what to do if they don't want their project shown.
“If you were selected, but you don't want your project shown next
club, please see me after this club or before the beginning of next
club.”
4:56PM – 5:00PM: CLUB DISCUSSION
NAME OF VOLUNTEER: __________________________________________________
Whole-club discussion
“Finally, let’s discuss what you learned during this activity.” [Read "discussion questions" from below].
Preview next club.
“Next club is on [day of next club (e.g. Monday)], and you will build [description of project].”
Host facilitates dismissal by asking club members to wrap headphones and shut down computers [either
ask club members to leave headphones at their seat, or drop them off while exiting].
“At the end of each club session, you'll be asked to wrap your headphones. To do this, hold the
headphones flat and wrap the cord around the ear pieces.” [demonstrate] “Everyone, please try this
now.” [wait] “Once your headphones are wrapped, please place them at your seat. Once I see that all of
your headphones are wrapped, we will all leave together. I look forward to working with you all again
during the next club!”
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS



What was your favorite part of this activity?
What was challenging about sequencing your code?
What was most interesting about your story or a neighbor’s story?
TEARDOWN





Collect all passports, headphones and unused stickies.
Take down shout-outs from the G+ page and place them into their recipients' passports.
Ensure that the computer lab is clean and that computers are in the state that the school prefers
(i.e. shut down, monitor off, etc.).
Turn off any equipment that you used (SMART Board, computer, etc).
Turn off any lights and close door when leaving.
REFLECTION
STORYTELLING ACTIVITY 2
What did you think about today’s club?
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
It was the best club ever!
I loved it!
I liked it.
It was OK.
I didn’t like it.
I hated it!
It was the worst club ever!
Two sprites are having a conversation. Use the following code to answer the next two questions:
When the flag is clicked, which sprite says something first?
o
o
o
Scratch Cat
Elephant
They both talk at the same time
Which sprite will be the last to say something?
o
o
o
Scratch Cat
Elephant
Neither, they both stop at the same time
Computer science is a way of solving problems with computers. What’s a problem you solved today, and
how did you solve it?
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________