From Scratch Programming Class

Session 9: Milestone project work day 2 + demo day

Phase 1 — Scratch · Session 9 of 9

What we’re learning today

Today is the last session of Phase 1. You’ll spend the first half finishing and polishing your game — fixing bugs, adding the last features, making sure it runs. Then in the second half, you’ll demo your game to the class. Everyone will see what everyone else made. By the end of class, you’ll have shipped your first programming project.

You’ll need to remember from last time

• Your project plan from Session 8.
• Whatever you got working last week — the foundation we’ll finish on today.
• Your buddy — they’ll help you test your game one last time before the demos.

Part A: Final polish

You have about 30-40 minutes to finish your game. Be honest with yourself about what’s left to do.

What “finished” means

A finished milestone project is:

1. It runs. You can click the green flag and play it without crashing or getting confused.
2. It does what your plan said it would do — at least the base version (your answer to question 7 from Session 8).
3. You can explain how it works. If someone asks “how does the score get updated?” you can walk them through it. (Remember the “explain how it works” rule.)

If your game doesn’t meet all three of those, focus on getting it there before adding anything new. A working basic game is way better than a broken ambitious one.

Check it with your buddy

About 15 minutes in, swap with your buddy. They play your game for two minutes; you play theirs. Notice:

• Did it work without help?
• Did anything break or do something unexpected?
• Could they tell what to do without instructions?

Tell each other what you noticed. This is the most useful feedback you’ll get on your project, because your buddy is seeing your game with fresh eyes.

Remember the peanut butter

It’s been eight weeks since the first session. Take a moment to remember:

Way back in Session 1, you couldn’t even tell Mr. Eric how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The computer is just like Mr. Eric was that day — except the computer doesn’t know what bread is.

You spent eight weeks getting better and better at telling that extremely stupid (and extremely literal) computer exactly what to do. Today, you’re going to show the room a game that you built — that runs because you gave the computer instructions precise enough to follow.

That’s a big deal. Sit with that for a second.

Checkpoint: Your game runs the basic version of what you planned, and you and your buddy have each played each other’s games once. This is the natural stop point if class is cut short — but for today, we’re going to keep going to the demo half.

Part B: Demo day

This is the fun part. Each of you will get 3-5 minutes to demo your game to the class.

How a demo works

When it’s your turn:

1. Show your game. Play it for a minute or two. Let people see what it does. (You can also let someone else play it if you want.)
2. Tell us about it. What’s it called? What were you trying to make? What’s the goal of the game?
3. Tell us one thing that was hard. Not bragging — just honest. “Getting the score to reset was tricky.” “I couldn’t figure out how to make the rock spawn at random spots at first.” Things that broke and how you fixed them.
4. Take one question. Someone in the room will ask one question — about how you built it, why you chose what you chose, what you’d add next. Answer it as best you can. “I don’t know, I just tried things until it worked” is a great answer.

How to be a good audience

When it’s not your turn:

• Watch. Pay attention to what other people made.
• Be ready to ask one question when it’s your turn to ask. Good questions are specific — “how did you make the dragon breathe fire?” is way better than “that was cool, how’d you make it?”
• Be encouraging. Mr. Eric will say something specific about each project at the end, and you can do the same as a buddy comment. “I really liked the part where the music changed when you scored” is way more useful than “good job.”

After everyone demos

Mr. Eric will say a few things about each of you and what he saw across the projects. Then we’re done — Phase 1 is over.

What you accomplished today

• You shipped a project. You took an idea, planned it, built it, and showed it to people. Most adults never do that. You just did it twice (once with Apples and Rocks, once with your own game).
• You gave a demo. Talking about what you made — what you intended, what was hard, what you’d do next — is a real career skill. Engineers do this every week. You just did it.
• You finished Phase 1. That’s eight weeks of programming. You know sequences, loops, events, conditionals, sensing, variables, and how to combine them all into something playable. That’s a real foundation.

What’s next

Next week we start Phase 2 — Python. Scratch is great for learning the ideas of programming, but it’s not what most programmers actually use day-to-day. Phase 2 introduces you to Python, a real programming language that grown-ups use to write everything from games to websites to scientific tools.

The first Python session uses something called Turtle — it’s a tool where you write Python code and a little arrow on the screen draws shapes for you. Familiar territory (drawing with code, like the pen extension in Session 3) but in real Python syntax.

You’ll start typing instead of dragging blocks. It feels different at first. That’s okay. The thinking is the same — sequences, loops, conditionals, all of it carries over. The peanut butter rule definitely carries over.

Bring your curiosity. See you next week.

If you missed this session

Two cases:

If you missed only the demo half: Show your game to Mr. Eric at the start of next week’s class. He’ll give you the same kind of feedback the demo would have. You won’t have missed anything content-wise.

If you missed the whole session and don’t have a finished project: No big deal. You can finish your project at home (reference the Session 8 plan you wrote) and bring it next week. Or just join us in Phase 2 — your Apples and Rocks game from Session 7 already counts as a project you built.

Stretch and extension ideas

If you have time after the demos and want to keep going:

• Polish your game more. Add a backdrop, sounds, a start screen. Make it look nice.
• Build a second game. With everything you know now, the second game is faster than the first. Try a different style — if you made a catcher, try a maze. If you made a clicker, try a dodger.
• Show your game to your family. They will be impressed. This is a fact.
• Save your project file. You’ll want it later. By the time you finish Phase 8, you’ll be amazed how far you came.

What’s next

Next week starts Phase 2: Python with Turtle. Real code, real syntax, same thinking. Bring your machine and your brain.