Tight-rope walking

I'm just about to deliver my Christmas lecture on Sensational Science where I challenge the notion that we have only five senses. While killing time in Saltburn, I came across a book called "Mirette on the High Wire" by Emily McCully. It was awarded the Caldecott Medal in the US and so I had to buy it. It's the short tale of a tight-rope walker, who's lost his nerve, and a young girl. It ties in beautifully with talking about our sense of balance which is an additional one to the supposed "five" and an added sensory function of our ears.

Putnam (1992) ISBN 0-399-22130-1

I'll blog more about the senses after I've delivered my lecture. It'll be something to look over during the festive season.

Here's a photo of a useful teaching toy - my balancing eagle. 

A balancing eagle - my poor photo

And this is what you can do for balance with Pivot Stick Figure ( a free download):-

I think I made this  - looks amateurish enough to be mine

Upcoming of interest

Cosmic Comics
Planet Science are keen for input into their Cosmic Comics initiative. The closing date for comments is the 1st Dec. I've mentioned comics a fair amount in my blog through the use of Comic Life and I recently bought a lovely book from TK Maxx called "Classic Children's Comics" edited by Art Spiegelman* and Francoise Mouly. In the introduction there is a very sobering photo of the mass burning of comics in the US in 1949 because they "corrupt young minds".

Abrams, new York (2009) ISBN 978-0-8109-5730-5

The introduction is by Jon Scieszka. Coincidentally, I picked up his take on "The House that Jack Built" - "The Book that Jack Wrote". The illustrations are excellent and by a chap I'd not come across before, Daniel Adel.

If you don't subscribe to the Planet Science newsletter then I'd recommend it as useful links and ideas often appear.

http://www.planet-science.com/categories/extras/cosmic-comics.aspx

* Art Spiegelman produced the fantastic graphic novel "Maus" which is well worth looking out for if don't know it. I can also recommend "In the Shadow of No Towers" by him.

National Climate Week
Although this is some way off, 4th-10th March 2013, it might be worthwhile subscribing to their emails and downloading the resources from their site. They are also keen for organisation to set up Swap Events to highlight awareness. How about setting up an event in your school?

http://www.climateweek.com/

Children's Books - Nit-picking

As I said in my last blog, I get most of my books from charity shops. What I've noticed in some "science" books for young children are flaws that annoy me. I've talked to several people and can't decide whether I'm just being precious or pedantic. Basically, if you impart incorrect knowledge at a young age does that really hinder future understanding or does it provide a challenge which, when overcome, leads to understanding?

My friend Richard, however, says "Why teach something that is wrong in the first place?". 

Here's an example:-

This isn't a good analogy because if you just take the stick away shape is maintained. The loss of shape is due to melting and the resulting "splodge" really should be a puddle.
And another:-

I'd prefer "holes" to be called "spaces" because of the actual microscopic structure of bone. Holes cannot be spongy and I'd like to have an alternative to red jelly. I wish cells had been discussed in the introduction to make explanations easier.

These two examples are taken from Little Genius : Bones by K. Lennard (2007) 

Red Fox ISBN 978-0-099-45163-1. This book does provide information in an engaging and fun way but I'd like to see reviews of books like this done by the Primary Team at the ASE (Association for Science Education). 

I talked about this problem in a previous blog, "Science & Imagination" hoping to encourage comment. I'll continue to produce examples from time to time. The next one will involve a favourite book about POO!

Landscapes - a hands on day

Today I braved the floods to support an event in Saltburn. I was drafted in to record the activities undertaken during the day. I spent the first hour or more in a flustered state, having found that my camera's battery was not half charged as I thought but one third charged. Using the flash rapidly exhausted the battery and I would have been floundering but for my iPad. 

Felt-making - SLR photo

Pupils were introduced to a variety of crafty ways to show off their local landscape - sea, beach, cliffs, fields, pier etc. Felt-making went down very well followed by proggy mats and wool-winding. The event was for parents/carers and their children. If I hadn't been so flustered, I'd have got into the swing of things more and really appreciated the interactions taking place. I hope I get the opportunity to do this again.

Felt-making - iPad

Proggy Mat - iPad

Tissue paper glued to canvas - iPad

I did managed to take a fair few photographs and video clips. I also had time to cobbled together a preliminary "comic" on the iPad using Comic Life. 

Comic Life for iPad

Comic Life for iPad

At the end of the day, carers and children went into the corridor to see a display of their work and photographs of the day. The surprise at what they'd achieved took my mind off worrying about getting home and made me appreciate how lucky I was to be invited to work with such a gifted team of people.

Felts, proggy mats, tissue paper landscapes and wool-windings on display

Children's Books - Keeping up

I was talking with someone about children's fiction and they asked me how I kept up with what was being and had been published. This coincided with my frustration at finding out about several books that I'd missed. Normally I just go and browse in Waterstone's. Occasionally, when we visit London, I'll do Foyle's and the second-hand bookshops around Shaftesbury Avenure.
There are a couple of good websites. For keeping up to date, I subscribe to the lovereading4kids newsletter

http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/

whereas for exploring an author and reviews, there are various sites

http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site

and individual author sites

The two books that I'd missed being published were Frank Cottrell Boyce's second Chitty Chitty Bang Bang book (Race Against Time) and Riddell & Stewart's The Phantom of Blood Alley.

To be truthful, a lot of my books come from charity shops as they are so affordable. I picked up a hardback, first US edition of Clay by David Almond at the weekend in Newcastle for £1.99. It was even signed. I know I'm sad but to think that the person who gives me so much pleasure when I read their book (and David Almond is certainly one) has actually held my copy.

Not all my purchases give me pleasure. Some I get quite screwed up over. More about that in a future blog.

Animation Club - First Meeting

The children and I both turned up ready to get going. A quick chat and then on with it.
Not quite! The PCs were being upgraded so we had to use the laptops. They took an age to boot, some just died, but we did get PowerPoint loaded and started to animate.
Two stumbling blocks. The resources were on my hard drive and I couldn't get them onto the school's system. Secondly, I've been using PowerPoint 2010, the school uses 2003.
The children were fantastic. They applauded my example, were supportive of each other and very patient. By the next time we meet, we'll have the PCs purring and the resources (anim gifs, backgrounds, props, characters and sound effects) in place. 

Our theme is going to be Superhero Saves Christmas. What super-power will their hero have? What tragedy will they turn on its head?
My basic storyboard is below.

My  try at animation in ppt as an anim gif

Just out of interest, when we were at the Wellcome Museum last weekend, I noticed they had a section about Superheroes or rather making humans super. How do you really give humans superior strength and senses? Visit their website for some ideas and information.

Too Noisy - an app that works.

One group I was teaching today was a bit excited and noisy so I produced my iPad and ran the Too Noisy app. I'd never used it before and was sceptical about its effectiveness. The children did quieten down, regularly looked at the app on the shelf and kept the noise in the green zone.

Too Noisy screenshot

If you've got an iPad, maybe you'd like to try it or one of the other similar products in the App Store.

Meat, Fish & Alternatives

This short blog leads on from my two on Healthy Living. 

Firstly, children seem to find it difficult to distinguish between the food "chemicals" and food groups we talk about. Teachers should pay particular attention to this and try their best to clarify the situation. 
This reminded me of confusion caused by a local organisation which provided free school support on Healthy Lifestyles. After they'd been into schools, pupils came to my sessions talking about "meat, fish and alternatives". They knew different meats and different fish but had no idea what "alternatives" were. Many believed the "alternatives" was an actual protein food!. There is a moral hear about using outside bodies - be wary and be prepared to challenge.

Similarly, in the last couple of days pupils have grouped "fat and sugar" together and had a different set called carbohydrates. They were unaware that sugars are carbohydrates and should be placed in that group. We need to be clear. I think fat and sugar were linked because they are "energy" foods or because they were foods you should limit your intake of.

Healthy Living - Day Two

Today was divided into three sessions rather than two and I worked with Y3/4. I tried to cater my lecture to them and changed my video example to be less extreme. Yesterday I used a public information film likening smoking to Russian roulette whereas today it was a cartoon about nicotine addiction. 
After a quick recap of 2Simple 2Publish Leaflet, we were away. Pupils chose images to attract attention to their leaflet and added in relevant explanatory information. They did a brilliant job and, as the last group had slightly longer to work on their leaflets, several finished and printed them out with obvious pride in their creations.

See also two parallel blogs "Meat, fish and alternatives" and "Noisy Time".

Healthy Living - Day One

Today I was working on Healthy Living with Year 5 & 6. IT was a minor problem, almost predictably, with software going missing and the projector determined to have its filters cleaned even though they'd only just been done. However, the two session went really well.

First, my lecture was well received and the children showed a good depth of knowledge and participated with enthusiasm. We sang along to "Skin" by Roy Bailey and listened to a poem, "I wish I'd looked after my teeth".

I could have predicted a slight hiccup when talking about foods and food chemicals. I wish I'd had more time to clarify this for them. Similarly, linking sugar with carbohydrates where I could have done with my "popper beads".
The activity today was Comic Life and didn't they do well. I reminded them of the software, pointed them to the images and asked them to produce work we could print and circulate to parents. I was very impressed by their design skills as well as the content of text boxes and speech bubbles. 

One more point. I should have had a list of keywords for the children. I had intended to use the projector in the room but it was broken. Tomorrow I'll have a printed list.

Death - A self-portrait

Another blog about our London trip. 
We went to the Wellcome Museum near St Pancras Railway Station to see this exhibition about Death. It was fascinating. 

Highlights for me were:-
    - the paintings of James Ensor
    - two Japanese paintings showing "frollicking skeletons"
    - a series of prints of War by Otto Dix from 1924.
    - a huge plasticine sculpture from an Argentinian collective, Mondongo
    - some fabulous carvings from around the world.

Mealtime in the trenches - Otto Dix

Skeletons warming themselves - James Ensor

The exhibition has only just opened and goes on until the 24th Feb 2013. If you're in the capital, give yourself a treat and go see it. The other parts of the museum are equally as fascinating and provide hundreds of talking points about the human body, the human condition and medicine.
The gift shop has some fun things and some very expensive jewellery.
PS Photography isn't allowed so these images are from the wonderful web.
PPS See also my blog about Dia de los Muertos.
PPS Apparently some people are now appointing executors to deal with their "virtual" legacy - tweets, blogs, emails etc.

Bob, Man on the Moon

We were down in London at the weekend (see other blogs too) and we went to The Illustration Cupboard*. They sell some children's books but specialise in selling the original book illustrations. I went to see Chris Riddell's illustrations for Neil Gaiman's Coraline and to but a copy of the 10th Anniversary edition of the  book.

Add caption

They had some fantastic originals and prints for sale by many other illustrators, most noteworthy for me were Shaun Tan, Brian Wildsmith and Lisbeth Zwerger. 
If we'd visited a week later we'd have been able to meet Simon Bartram who's book Bob, Man on the Moon, will celebrate its 10th anniversary. I've used the book to great effect when talking about the Solar System with young children.

Card advertising Bob's 10th anniversary

Brian Wildsmith's The Christmas STory

*http://www.illustrationcupboard.com

Healthy Living

This week I'm going into a school to spend two days with the children on Healthy Living as part of Science Week. The format is straight forward, I'll give them a chat and then they'll show their knowledge and understanding by either creating a comic in Comic Life or a leaflet in 2Simple Publish.

Sample sections of a 2Simple Publish leaflet

We hope to be able to print the leaflets and comic to distribute to parents.

My friend who is a linguist was showing me some interesting work he was doing with older children on the same theme but in French. He wanted me to check the Science which was absolutely fine. When he asked me if there was anything else, it struck me that often when talking about a healthy diet "they" talk about portions (two of this and five of that) but often don't say what a portion is and how it varies with age, sex and activity. 

Mm, I'd better check my presentations before the event.

National STEM Centre - York

I visited the National STEM Centre in York today. There were two reasons for my trip. One was to drop off some of my book/resource collection for their archive. They've already taken some 12 boxes and 10 carrier bags of resources off my hands. They'll eventually get everything when I stop trying to make a living as an educational consultant. The second reason was to discuss with their Primary person my Christmas Lecture and to have a look at their library and resource bank.

Whatever stage your teaching is at, I can highly recommend being added to their mailing lists and searching their archive for support materials. I am definitely going to get involved on-line with their Primary Group. A personal visit should also be added to your list of "to dos" if possible. Staff were just as you'd hope, enthusiastic, understanding and knowledgeable and they are amassing a large and comprehensive set of resources to support teachers.

Animation Club - First Post

The Animation Club that I mentioned in an earlier blog is going ahead. I visited the school and spoke to the teacher in charge. We discussed the structure and, because it is an after-school club lasting for an hour and a quarter, we decided to get straight on with the animation so we have something completed by Christmas. 

Made with my Nosferatu model

I am not going to approach this in my usual way :-
         1. General Introduction
         2. A History of Animation
         3. The Story (and storyboarding)
         4. Set construction, props and characters
         5. Animation (software, practicalities and doing it)
         6. Audio - sound effects, narration and dialogue
         7. Titles and credits
         8. The Premieres

Instead, because of constraints with hardware, software and finances, we're going to use PowerPoint. I have high expectations because the pupils will come without preconceptions and embrace the task which involves Superheroes (commercial* or of their own invention).
My preparation involves:-
      images : backgrounds; props; characters; anim gifs, 
                   photographs or scans
      story and storyboards
      sound effects, narration**, dialogue** and music*
* -copyright!
** - we'll use Audacity for these as it's a free download

I'll post how we get on and, for those of you who'd like more info, I'll add in blogs about the History of Animation, examples of software (see some previous posts too) and on some of the practicalities based on my past experiences.

Imagination in Science

I always tell people how imaginative Science is, from the imagined submicroscopic world to the imagined vastness of the Universe and all of its phenomena. Dawkins has written about this in his books "Unweaving the Rainbow" and "The Magic of Reality". However, sometimes the use of imagination to help young children is, I feel, unhelpful and indeed causes learning difficulties later in school.
It seems mean to pick on one particular example but it is current. It is an iPad app. It is well researched with excellent content and well illustrated but annoyed me. The app is called The Adventures of Norman the Neuron.*

My objection involves the teaching of young children that neurons can move around the nervous system. That's all. But "facts" learned early can be difficult to unlearn if they are wrong. 
My experience of this involves a session I did with trainee teachers. I challenged them over the number of senses we have. They all said FIVE. I proceeded to show that that was incorrect. They followed and understood but then began to argue that:-
     - "five" was correct because it was in the literature
     - "It's what we are supposed to teach".
     - "five" was correct because they were our five "main" senses. 
Some of them did not want to change their "belief". I can imagine some of them even now teaching children that they only have 5 senses.

In a similar vein, I came across apps about Space in which:-
  - Mars is strong - don't like
  - Saturn is beautiful - no problem
  - Black holes eat planets - don't like
  - Black holes are like vacuum cleaners - no problem.

Knowing me, I've not been particularly clear. Am I being pedantic, old-fashioned or just plain miserable with these criticisms? Am I denying the use of imaginative, literate teaching? Or am I still embarrassed to admit that I've been guilty of teaching bad Science in the past?

This finally leads me round to Bad Science. The book by Ben Goldacre is excellent and a visit to his website worthwhile:-

http://www.badscience.net/2012/10/

* Anyone remember the Numbskulls? What comic were they in?

Comic Life & Comic Books

Comic Life is a programme that I've used a lot and which is widely available in local schools. It has lots of potential for engaging pupils in literacy and design in addition to them showing their subject knowledge using IT. I've used it extensively with children and, if I can find the support, I like to use it to provide a resource for pupils which complements my Christmas Science Lecture for Inspire2Learn. Any volunteers?

There are no areas where it cannot be used. I've used it for everything from Cleopatra to The Solar System to Zumba. I'm going to be using it as part of Science Week at a school to highlight the importance of Healthy Living (knowing your body, eating properly and cultivating good habits).
Here is an example for World War 2 made into an anim. gif with Google's GIFPAL:-

They key to making this work with children is to have the image resources ready for them, preferably offering a wide range of choice. 

Comic Life is available for the iPad for a couple of pounds and although lacking many of the features it is engaging and enjoyable for pupils to use. Couple it with the iPads camera and easy of sharing and you have a potentially very powerful teaching and learning tool.

It is worth pointing out that Comic Life can be used to make a video of your comic too.

Finally, I'm sure that there are alternative programmes available, so explore, find the one that suits you/your budget/your pupils.

Frank Cottrell Boyce

I've mentioned a few Art books in the past but they've been picture books. If you are looking for a children's novel with Art references then I highly recommend "Framed" by Frank Cottrel Boyce. Set in Wales where the art treasures of our national art galleries have been stored for protection during the war, it is a charming story or as Wikipedia puts it:
     "This is a funny and touching exploration of how art - its beauty and its value - touches the life of one little boy and his big family in a very small town"



 
I've also really enjoyed two other books by him which could complement your teaching, Cosmic and The Unforgotten Coat. Cosmic is a tale about Space and relationships. The Unforgotten Coat is a tale of Mongolian immigrants and is full of imagination. I love it because for years I've been interested in Mongolia - deserts, dinosaurs, yurts and open-throated singing.




If you want to explore the music of Mongolia, I'd recommend the following:-
   Shu-De : Voices from the Distant Steppe (1994) Realworld CDRW41
   Yat-Kha : In Europe Live (no details)
   Albert Kuvezin (of Yat-Kha) : Recovers (no details)
   Hanggai : Introducing Hanggai : World Network 
   Rough Guide to the Music of Mongolia
   Anda Union - The Wind Horse (20111) Hohhot Records HR001

What would you save?

I must have picked up on a radio programme and was idly thinking "What would I save?" if my house was burning down. Then, when I was doing The Phantom Cat Burglar, the children told me what they'd not want a burglar to steal.
What would you save or hate to have stolen? 
What about your pupils? 
Being acquisitive, we've got thousands of books and CDs, a Victorian-style curiosity cabinet (actually a 19th century Indian apothecaries chest), cuddly toys, ceramics, original art works and prints, family photos, hard drives of memories and all the other stuff of life.
My house is not going to burn down. I couldn't decide. So, what do I value? Not in order
1. A copy of The Golden Shadow by Leon Garfield & Edward Blishen, illustrated by Charles Keeping and signed by all three. Keeping (along with Chris Riddell) is my favourite illustrator of children's books. He'll be the subject of a blog, for sure. 

 2. An original drawing of The Navajo Myth of Creation by Dave McKean. An illustration for Richard Dawkins' book The Magic of Reality with links to Vadjak Paw, animation, beliefs, evolution, Darwin and Thomas Henry Huxley (another future blog).
3. The signed concert poster by Malian singer Salif Keita. An albino African who was ostracised but became world famous for his amazing voice. Just listen to Sina on the Soro CD.

4. Another signed concert poster, this time by Jackie Leven. A wonderful, Scottish singer who's "Call mother a lonely field" is a favourite of mine.
5. A death plaque from the First Wold War. As Morpurgo says, the First World War resonates much more through the ages than any other. This plaque belongs to a man from South Shields who died on my birthday in 1918. A very special present.
6. Three drawings by Ken Dunn, the Head of Art at a school I taught at. All have special resonance for me having an environmental theme.
7. Autographed first editions by Jonathan Stroud, Michael Foreman, Charlie Higson, Lauren St John and more. I've got two signed copies of The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd. Why? Don't know, but I loved her stories and she was the inspiration behind Patrick Ness's award winning book "A Monster Calls".

8. The bird-nose man carving from the Far East, my kora, my mbira(once owned by Ephat Mujuro), ........ 

Mbira from Zimbabwe

Better put a stop to this, it could be never-ending.

Maths through Story- Day 1

Today was the turn of Y3/4 to visit Inspire2Learn at the Eston CLC.
Although my day started out in the jungle as a tapir with a monkey counting his coconuts, most of my time was spent as a police officer asking for the help of the public in catching the Phantom Cat Burglar (see previous post).
Children rarely disappoint and today was no exception. They were challenged but responded positively and many achieved the "eureka" moment. I was severely challenged too and I hope I matched their performance.
Thank you to everyone who helped make the day.
As promised, here are two "cat burglar's" in action.

Using Lift-the-Flap books in presentations

When I was writing my blog about "pop-up books", I didn't include lift-the-flap books (obviously). I have used odd pages from some of these publications in my presentations or as inspiration for my own slides. For example, when I'm talking about adaptation, and in particular camouflage, I might fade one image into another to engage the audience and have them "spot" the hidden animal.

Who's in the Jungle by H.J.Gondek Illus by C. Gilvan-Cartwright ISBN  to come

(Heh! Just opened another tab, imported my images and produced this gif with GIFPAL from Google. Very helpful.)
My favourite bit of software to show camouflage was Microscoft's Dangerous Creatures. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with modern operating systems. Why don't they re-do some of these wonderful programmes. Dorling Kindersley too!

Here's a list of life-the-flap books you might find useful with children:-
     Who's in the Jungle? - H.J. Gondek (   )
     Who's on the Farm? - H.J. Gondek (   )
     Look out, lion cub! - M. Coxon (   ) 
     Kitten finds a home - M. Coxon (   )
     Pingu - ?? (   ) BBC Children's Books
I will try and complete the details of these but my books are in a bit of a muddle at the moment.

Making pop-ups and telling stories

Eiffel Tower

Today I added to my collection of pop-up books with a copy of Great Buildings of the World. There are a lot of very basic and some very complex pop-up books available. 

Purnell (1984) ISBN 0 361 06410 1

I've made my own pop-up cards with children in the past, not as greetings cards but as ways into their imaginations and story-telling. When I did this we gave pupils a couple of easily constructed templates and a series of "monster" images. Once again, I've missed the boat with Halloween but maybe you could use the idea in the run up to Christmas.

Making the scene

Scene to be the subject of imaginative writing

One of the most reproduced pop-up books must be Jan Pienkowski's Haunted House. He has produced many other pop-up books in addition to illustrationed books and books with silouhettes. Ah! Light and Shadows Science rears its head. (See previous blog)

http://www.janpienkowski.com/
I might as well complete this blog with a series of other pop-up books that are well worth getting hold of.

SCIENCE 
The Human Body - J. Miller & D. Pelham (1983) 0-224-04210-6
The Facts of Life - J. Miller & D. Pelham (2000 edition) 158117093-9
Nature's Deadly Secrets - Frances Jones Electric Paper (1993) 1-897584-05-9
Nature's Little Builders - John Woodward Electric Paper (1995) 1-897584-07-5
Nature's Creatures of the Dark - David Taylor Electric Paper (1993) 1-897584-01-6
Nature's Savage Cats - Alice Burdett (1993) 1-897584-00-8
FUN
Fancy That! - Jan Pienkowski (1986) Orchard Books
little Monsters - Jan Pienkowski (1986) Orchard Books 1-85213-000-8
Dinner Time - Jan Pienkowski (1980) Orchard Books 1-85213-055-5
Christmas Kingdom - Jan Pienkowski (1991) Viking 
Bear's Busy Day - No author credited (2002) Top Story 0-7554-0248-0

I'll do a blog about the uses of Lift-the-Flap books soon.