Two-Scene Story — Scratch L1 · Advaslearning Hub

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Where this arc is heading: the story gains the thing that makes a day feel like a day.

daytime kampung

step 1 of 2

the sprites move as they would on the real Stage

Learning Goals 3 min

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

Write a scene schedule on paper before you build anything.
Split one script into a first scene, a transition, and a second scene.
Keep several sprites in step with each other across a scene change.

Warm-Up 7 min

Last lesson the backdrop changed and the hen went to roost. That was a moment, not a story — nothing had happened before it and nothing happened after.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Where we are now. Two settings and no way for the project itself to move between them.

daytime

step 1 of 2

the sprites move as they would on the real Stage

Quick-fire puzzle

Amirah built two sprites with these scripts. She expected them to speak in turn. Instead they talked over each other. What went wrong?


when flag clicked
say [Good morning!] for (3) seconds

when flag clicked
say [Good morning to you!] for (3) seconds

Two sprites, two scripts, one flag click.

Reveal the answer

Both scripts started at the same instant, because both hats heard the same click. Neither sprite knows the other exists, so neither waited.

The second sprite needed a wait long enough to cover the first one’s line. Everything in today’s lesson depends on getting those waits right.

New Concept — planning a scene schedule 15 min

A two-scene story is not a harder script. It is the same blocks you already know, arranged around a decision about when everything happens — and that decision is much easier to make on paper than in the editor.

The shape of a two-scene story

Part	What belongs there	Roughly how long
Set-up	Backdrop, positions, visibility — everything reset.	Instant
Scene one	The situation. Who is here, what is happening.	5–10 seconds
The change	The backdrop switch, and whatever reacts to it.	1–2 seconds
Scene two	What is different now. The consequence.	5–10 seconds

Write the schedule first

Every sprite counts time on its own and none of them can see the others. That means the only thing keeping them in step is a set of numbers you decided in advance.

So write them down. A schedule is nothing more than a list of times and what happens at each one.

One row per sprite, one column per moment. Build from this and the scripts almost write themselves.

Turning a schedule into waits

Each sprite’s script is just its own row read left to right. If nothing is happening in a sprite’s row, that is a wait. If something is happening, that is a block.

The hen’s row says: do nothing until 4 seconds, then speak for 2, then vanish. That is a wait of 4, a say of 2, and a hide.

Why this is worth the trouble

Without a schedule you end up adjusting one sprite, breaking another, adjusting that, breaking the first, and going round in circles. With one, every number has a reason and you can fix a problem by looking at the chart rather than guessing.

Why it matters

Two scenes is the smallest real story structure there is — a situation and a consequence. Everything longer is the same idea repeated.

Worked Example — morning and evening in the kampung 15 min

We build from the schedule outwards: chart first, then one sprite at a time.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Stage plan. Two sprites in scene one, one in scene two. The hen leaving is the visible consequence of the change.

one moment

step 1 of 2

the sprites move as they would on the real Stage

Step 1 — Write the schedule

Before opening Scratch, write this out. It takes a minute and saves ten.

0s — Farm backdrop. Cat and hen both visible.
0–3s — Cat: “What a lovely morning.”
4s — Night falls. Backdrop switches to Stars.
4–6s — Hen: “Time to roost!” then hides.
7–10s — Cat: “All on my own now.”

Step 2 — Build the cat’s row

The cat owns the backdrop change, so its script is the spine of the whole story.


when flag clicked
switch backdrop to [Farm v]
say [What a lovely morning.] for (3) seconds
wait (1) seconds
switch backdrop to [Stars v]
wait (3) seconds
say [All on my own now.] for (3) seconds

Seven blocks. The three-second wait is the hen’s window to speak and leave.

Step 3 — Build the hen’s row

The hen does nothing until the sky darkens at four seconds, so its script opens with a wait of exactly that.


when flag clicked
show
go to x: (60) y: (-30)
wait (4) seconds
say [Time to roost!] for (2) seconds
hide

Six blocks, and the first four seconds of it are pure waiting.

Step 4 — Run the whole thing

Morning, a line from the cat, night falling, the hen going to roost, and the cat alone under the stars. Two scripts, one story.

Step 5 — Check the schedule held

Watch it again with the chart in front of you. The hen should speak just after the sky changes, not before it and not long after. If it is out, the wait is wrong — not the idea.

Step 6 — Break it deliberately

Change the cat’s first line to four seconds instead of three and run it again. The hen now speaks a second before night falls, because its wait no longer matches.

Fix it by updating the schedule first — 5s instead of 4s — and then the hen’s wait. Doing it in that order is the habit worth building.

Step 7 — Give the change room to breathe

Notice the one-second wait after the cat’s first line, before the backdrop switches. Delete it and the night falls on top of the cat’s last word, which feels rushed. Small pauses around transitions do a lot of work.

What changed: your project has a structure — a situation, a turning point, and a consequence — rather than a list of things that happen.

The full assembled scripts (your reference)


when flag clicked
switch backdrop to [Farm v]
say [What a lovely morning.] for (3) seconds
wait (1) seconds
switch backdrop to [Stars v]
wait (3) seconds
say [All on my own now.] for (3) seconds

when flag clicked
show
go to x: (60) y: (-30)
wait (4) seconds
say [Time to roost!] for (2) seconds
hide

The cat’s script above, the hen’s below — on two different sprites.

Try It Yourself — three small builds 12 min

🟢 Easy

Goal: Add a third character who appears only in scene two — somebody who comes out after dark.


when flag clicked
hide
go to x: (150) y: (-30)
wait (5) seconds
show
say [Is it night already?] for (2) seconds

Think: the hide at the top is what keeps this sprite out of scene one. Without it, they are standing there in daylight for five silent seconds.

🟡 Medium

Goal: Stretch scene one by three seconds, and update every other sprite so the story still holds together.

Lengthening one scene pushes everything after it along. Every sprite has to be told.

Think: update the schedule on paper first, then change each script to match. Doing it the other way round is how projects break.

🔴 Stretch

Mini-mission: three sprites, two scenes. Build a story where each of three characters has a different relationship to the scene change — one leaves, one arrives, and one stays throughout but behaves differently.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Three different relationships to the same moment. That variety is what makes a scene change feel real.

at the start

step 1 of 3

the sprites move as they would on the real Stage

It works if: one flag click plays the whole story, all three relationships are clear to a watcher, and a second run is identical. Keep each stack within 8 blocks.

Think: three sprites means three rows on your schedule, all pinned to the same moment. Which one should own the backdrop switch, and why does it matter that only one does?

Mini-Challenge — the schedule test 5 min

“Change one number, fix the rest”

Swap projects with a partner. Each of you lengthens one line in the other’s scene one, then repairs every knock-on effect so the story works again.

One timing change ripples through every sprite. Finding all the consequences is the challenge.

It works if:

After the change, the story plays correctly from beginning to end.
No sprite speaks over another or reacts before the thing it is reacting to.
You can point at the schedule and say which numbers you had to change and why.
A second run is identical to the first.

Reveal one worked answer (teacher)

Lengthening the cat’s opening line from 3 to 5 seconds pushes the backdrop switch from 4s to 6s. The hen’s opening wait must go from 4 to 6, and any third sprite’s entry shifts by the same 2 seconds.

The point to draw out: nobody could have found those three edits by staring at the Stage. They come from reading the chart.

🚀 Mission — Your Kampung Story

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

A story with three parts. The turning point is the backdrop change; the other two are what give it meaning.

beginning — daylight, both here

step 1 of 3

the sprites move as they would on the real Stage

Write your own kampung story. Not a demonstration of the block — an actual small story with something at stake.

A written schedule, done before you build anything.
Two clearly different scenes, joined by one backdrop change.
At least two characters, whose situations are genuinely different by the end.
No sprite talks over another, and a second run is identical to the first.
Each stack stays within 8 blocks.

✅ Done when: a classmate can watch once and tell you what changed for the characters between the beginning and the end. Going further: make the ending change something the audience did not expect from the opening.

Teacher notes — insist on the paper first

Pupils will want to skip the schedule and build straight into the editor. The ones who do spend the rest of the lesson nudging waits by half a second at a time. Asking to see the written chart before they open Scratch is the single highest-value intervention in this lesson.

Recap 2 min

A two-scene story is a situation, a turning point and a consequence. Because every sprite counts time independently and none can see the others, the only thing holding them together is a schedule you decide in advance. Write it down, build each sprite’s row from it, and when a timing changes, update the chart before you touch the blocks.

Scene: A stretch of a story with one setting. Changing the setting starts a new one.
Schedule: A written list of what happens at each moment, one row per sprite.
Turning point: The moment the story changes. Here, the backdrop switch.
Knock-on effect: What happens to every later timing when you change an earlier one.

Homework 1 min

The schedule sheet. Plan a two-scene story on paper, then build it and check the two match.

Draw a chart with one row per sprite and mark what happens at each second.
Build each sprite’s script directly from its row.
Run it and note any moment where the build did not match the plan.
Screenshot your chart and one Script Area.


when flag clicked
show
go to x: (60) y: (-30)
wait (4) seconds
say [Time to roost!] for (2) seconds
hide

One sprite’s row, turned into blocks. Every number came off the chart.

Bring back next class:

Your chart and your screenshot.
Your answer to: “Which sprite owns the backdrop switch in your story, and what would go wrong if two of them did it?”

Heads up for next class: SCR-L01-33 looks at what a change of light actually tells an audience, and how to use more than two times of day.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Where this arc is heading: the story gains the thing that makes a day feel like a day.

daytime kampung

step 1 of 2

the sprites move as they would on the real Stage

Learning Goals 3 min

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

Write a scene schedule on paper before you build anything.
Split one script into a first scene, a transition, and a second scene.
Keep several sprites in step with each other across a scene change.

Warm-Up 7 min

Last lesson the backdrop changed and the hen went to roost. That was a moment, not a story — nothing had happened before it and nothing happened after.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Where we are now. Two settings and no way for the project itself to move between them.

daytime

step 1 of 2

the sprites move as they would on the real Stage

Quick-fire puzzle

Amirah built two sprites with these scripts. She expected them to speak in turn. Instead they talked over each other. What went wrong?


when flag clicked
say [Good morning!] for (3) seconds

when flag clicked
say [Good morning to you!] for (3) seconds

Two sprites, two scripts, one flag click.

Reveal the answer

Both scripts started at the same instant, because both hats heard the same click. Neither sprite knows the other exists, so neither waited.

The second sprite needed a wait long enough to cover the first one’s line. Everything in today’s lesson depends on getting those waits right.

New Concept — planning a scene schedule 15 min

The shape of a two-scene story

Part	What belongs there	Roughly how long
Set-up	Backdrop, positions, visibility — everything reset.	Instant
Scene one	The situation. Who is here, what is happening.	5–10 seconds
The change	The backdrop switch, and whatever reacts to it.	1–2 seconds
Scene two	What is different now. The consequence.	5–10 seconds

Write the schedule first

Every sprite counts time on its own and none of them can see the others. That means the only thing keeping them in step is a set of numbers you decided in advance.

So write them down. A schedule is nothing more than a list of times and what happens at each one.

One row per sprite, one column per moment. Build from this and the scripts almost write themselves.

Turning a schedule into waits

Each sprite’s script is just its own row read left to right. If nothing is happening in a sprite’s row, that is a wait. If something is happening, that is a block.

The hen’s row says: do nothing until 4 seconds, then speak for 2, then vanish. That is a wait of 4, a say of 2, and a hide.

Why this is worth the trouble

Why it matters

Two scenes is the smallest real story structure there is — a situation and a consequence. Everything longer is the same idea repeated.

Worked Example — morning and evening in the kampung 15 min

We build from the schedule outwards: chart first, then one sprite at a time.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Stage plan. Two sprites in scene one, one in scene two. The hen leaving is the visible consequence of the change.

one moment

step 1 of 2

the sprites move as they would on the real Stage

Step 1 — Write the schedule

Before opening Scratch, write this out. It takes a minute and saves ten.

0s — Farm backdrop. Cat and hen both visible.
0–3s — Cat: “What a lovely morning.”
4s — Night falls. Backdrop switches to Stars.
4–6s — Hen: “Time to roost!” then hides.
7–10s — Cat: “All on my own now.”

Step 2 — Build the cat’s row

The cat owns the backdrop change, so its script is the spine of the whole story.


when flag clicked
switch backdrop to [Farm v]
say [What a lovely morning.] for (3) seconds
wait (1) seconds
switch backdrop to [Stars v]
wait (3) seconds
say [All on my own now.] for (3) seconds

Seven blocks. The three-second wait is the hen’s window to speak and leave.

Step 3 — Build the hen’s row

The hen does nothing until the sky darkens at four seconds, so its script opens with a wait of exactly that.


when flag clicked
show
go to x: (60) y: (-30)
wait (4) seconds
say [Time to roost!] for (2) seconds
hide

Six blocks, and the first four seconds of it are pure waiting.

Step 4 — Run the whole thing

Morning, a line from the cat, night falling, the hen going to roost, and the cat alone under the stars. Two scripts, one story.

Step 5 — Check the schedule held

Watch it again with the chart in front of you. The hen should speak just after the sky changes, not before it and not long after. If it is out, the wait is wrong — not the idea.

Step 6 — Break it deliberately

Change the cat’s first line to four seconds instead of three and run it again. The hen now speaks a second before night falls, because its wait no longer matches.

Fix it by updating the schedule first — 5s instead of 4s — and then the hen’s wait. Doing it in that order is the habit worth building.

Step 7 — Give the change room to breathe

What changed: your project has a structure — a situation, a turning point, and a consequence — rather than a list of things that happen.

The full assembled scripts (your reference)


when flag clicked
switch backdrop to [Farm v]
say [What a lovely morning.] for (3) seconds
wait (1) seconds
switch backdrop to [Stars v]
wait (3) seconds
say [All on my own now.] for (3) seconds

when flag clicked
show
go to x: (60) y: (-30)
wait (4) seconds
say [Time to roost!] for (2) seconds
hide

The cat’s script above, the hen’s below — on two different sprites.

Try It Yourself — three small builds 12 min

🟢 Easy

Goal: Add a third character who appears only in scene two — somebody who comes out after dark.


when flag clicked
hide
go to x: (150) y: (-30)
wait (5) seconds
show
say [Is it night already?] for (2) seconds

Think: the hide at the top is what keeps this sprite out of scene one. Without it, they are standing there in daylight for five silent seconds.

🟡 Medium

Goal: Stretch scene one by three seconds, and update every other sprite so the story still holds together.

Lengthening one scene pushes everything after it along. Every sprite has to be told.

Think: update the schedule on paper first, then change each script to match. Doing it the other way round is how projects break.

🔴 Stretch

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Three different relationships to the same moment. That variety is what makes a scene change feel real.

at the start

step 1 of 3

the sprites move as they would on the real Stage

It works if: one flag click plays the whole story, all three relationships are clear to a watcher, and a second run is identical. Keep each stack within 8 blocks.

Think: three sprites means three rows on your schedule, all pinned to the same moment. Which one should own the backdrop switch, and why does it matter that only one does?

Mini-Challenge — the schedule test 5 min

“Change one number, fix the rest”

Swap projects with a partner. Each of you lengthens one line in the other’s scene one, then repairs every knock-on effect so the story works again.

One timing change ripples through every sprite. Finding all the consequences is the challenge.

It works if:

After the change, the story plays correctly from beginning to end.
No sprite speaks over another or reacts before the thing it is reacting to.
You can point at the schedule and say which numbers you had to change and why.
A second run is identical to the first.

Reveal one worked answer (teacher)

The point to draw out: nobody could have found those three edits by staring at the Stage. They come from reading the chart.

🚀 Mission — Your Kampung Story

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

A story with three parts. The turning point is the backdrop change; the other two are what give it meaning.

beginning — daylight, both here

step 1 of 3

the sprites move as they would on the real Stage

Write your own kampung story. Not a demonstration of the block — an actual small story with something at stake.

A written schedule, done before you build anything.
Two clearly different scenes, joined by one backdrop change.
At least two characters, whose situations are genuinely different by the end.
No sprite talks over another, and a second run is identical to the first.
Each stack stays within 8 blocks.

Teacher notes — insist on the paper first

Recap 2 min

Scene: A stretch of a story with one setting. Changing the setting starts a new one.
Schedule: A written list of what happens at each moment, one row per sprite.
Turning point: The moment the story changes. Here, the backdrop switch.
Knock-on effect: What happens to every later timing when you change an earlier one.

Homework 1 min

The schedule sheet. Plan a two-scene story on paper, then build it and check the two match.

Draw a chart with one row per sprite and mark what happens at each second.
Build each sprite’s script directly from its row.
Run it and note any moment where the build did not match the plan.
Screenshot your chart and one Script Area.


when flag clicked
show
go to x: (60) y: (-30)
wait (4) seconds
say [Time to roost!] for (2) seconds
hide

One sprite’s row, turned into blocks. Every number came off the chart.

Bring back next class:

Your chart and your screenshot.
Your answer to: “Which sprite owns the backdrop switch in your story, and what would go wrong if two of them did it?”

Heads up for next class: SCR-L01-33 looks at what a change of light actually tells an audience, and how to use more than two times of day.