The Pleasures of WeDO

Have just completed a series of five weekly visits to a local primary school to show the children Lego's WeDo. Great fun! Lots of enthusiasm! And a lovely card at the end!
I can see many schools adopting WeDo (and I hope Scratch too) and integrating it (them) into the curriculum. That's the challenge - make the IT fit in seamlessly. 
Funny, this is how I'd begun to imagine Science would permeate primary teaching just as it (and IT) pemeate our everyday lives.
Thank you to everyone.

Aladdin's Lamp

With the Arabian Nights coming up next term, I thought I'd have no problem picking up a cheap Aladdin's lamp. I've been looking for weeks and then found a small lamp for £12.50 in a secondhand/antique shop in Morpeth.

I'm pleased with it but now have to work it into what I'd like to do - digital storytelling.

"Brontosaurus" - another great Science read

I recently blogged about a really good Science book on the elements (The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean). I didn't expect to recommend another book so soon. Thanks to my wife for keeping the supply going.
The latest book is "My Beloved Brontosaurus" by Brian Switek.

Scientific American/Farrar, Strauss & Giroux (2013) ISBN 978-0-374-13506-5 

People are always telling me how children love Dinosaurs and what a good teaching topic they are. How come, in my 12 years of involvement with primary schools, I've only been asked to enthuse about dinosaurs once? 
This book not only rekindled my interest, it also brought me (almost) up-to -date with developments in the past 20-30 years that I'd missed. It was also, in my opinion, incredibly well-balanced - sensible.
It led me to looking into my library and finding these three books to recommend to you:-

Details to add

Harper Collins (2000) ISBN0-00-257012-2

Details to add

The first tells of the story of the Chicxulub impact crater and its role in the demise of the dinosaurs. The other two are by Richard Fortey, one on the fossils that grabbed him in his youth and the other an ambitious account of life on earth. 

Robots & Rockets

Just before the summer, I was asked by a school to provide some ideas for their "Inventions" topic. Two topics which leapt to mind were Rockets and Robots. Rockets because it links in with Space, which is a perennial favourite and has lots of practical work, and Robots because of the increased interest in programming i.e. controlling robots.

In the Rockets work, we covered their history from ancient China through fireworks to V2s and the Space Race. We used balloon rockets on string and had a good go with stomp rockets before using Rokit kits to investigate pressurized water rockets. All went down really well as they involved hands-on for the children. The only damp squib (firework reference) was the first go with Rokit kits when my old kit didn't cut it. Second time around though, job done.
There is so much can be gained from this topic in terms of Science, Maths, History and even Literacy.

Balloon rocket. A stomp rocket attached to a string was far more ffective.

Robots was more of a challenge for me but I was really pleased with the way things went. My presentation made the children compare humans and robots (Somerset Thinking Skills Course) and devise their own Laws of Robotics, after Isaac Asimov. The resources we used included remote-control toys (Daleks, dinosaurs), iPad apps and Lego.

IEEE Spectrum Robots app - free download, excellent.

Having just bought 5 sets of Lego WeDo, I had to get the children using them. They were a hit with both children and staff despite limitations of access to software as I only have a single user licence. We also had quite a successful go with Lego Mindstorms. 
I didn't get round to introducing the children and staff to Scratch but, hopefully, I'll have laid the groundwork for that in the future.

We also mentioned in passing Dr Who, Wall-E, Metropolis, I-Robot, K'nex and several other resources worthy of more detailed study.

Orpheus, Euridyce and The Wall

Anais Mitchell is an american folk/contemporary singer with a quirky voice. I have a CD of hers called Young Man in America (2012) and one with her and Jefferson Hamer (2013) singing some of the Child Ballads. So, when I saw Hadestown, with another of my favourite female singers, Ani DiFranco, I had to buy and try. I was not disappointed.

righteous babe records RBR070-DE (2010)

The CD is a "folk opera" based on the legend of Orpheus & Euridyce. It works well as a whole but what grabbed my attention was the track "Why we build the wall". I immediately saw the wall from the Pink Floyd cartoon being built and then started singing "I built the wall and I will be the one to knock it down" (REM). Finally, I regressed totally and started to sing "Out of the land of shadows and darkness, we were returning towards the morning light....", the introductory words to From the Underworld by The Herd (Peter Frampton's first group).
I can see a way of using these songs in PHSE as well as when teaching the Ancient Greeks. 
With regard to the latter, I then went back and found Marcia William's comic strip version of the story from "Greek Myths for Younger Children" (Walker Books).

"But then her living form faded and Eurydice became a ghost of the Underworld"

Virunga - join the campaign

WWF have a new high profile campaign to save the Virunga National Park.
Fabulous wildlife, scenery and volcanoes. The free wallpapers on their website illustrate this.

Join them.       virunga@wwfint.org

I've know about Virunga for quite a while not through its beauty but through an African band called Orchestre Virunga. Wish I'd delved deeper at the time.

There is only one Earth - let's stop destroying it.

Kinetic Creatures, Lego and Scratch

I was browsing Gizmodo on my Xoom and came across Kinetic Creatures and their creations -  a rhino, an elephant and a giraffe. They looked really good and I wanted at least one but am too tight to pay the asking price.

When I also saw that they could be powered by Lego motors and, therefore, programmed using Scratch, I was even more tempted to buy one.
Decisions, decisions.

Scratch INSET

I'm not an organiser but a doer. However, sometimes, I should be more proactive and I've just surprised myself by putting together an outline for some teacher INSET on Scratch.

Primary schools need to be looking at the introduction of programming for the 2014-15 academic year. Many teachers that I've spoken to are daunted by yet another skill to develop and use to support their pupils. I'd be daunted too.
As I have more time to think about and organise my thoughts than classroom teachers, I've put together a half-day INSET programme which will hopefully give them confidence and a start on addressing these needs. 

Draft poster for Scratch INSET

I hope we'll be able to form a self-help group with regular Scratch-Meets (like the very popular Teach-Meets). I also hope to follow it up with a further half day looking at Scratch and Lego WeDo.

I knew nothing about the Scratch conference in Barcelona in July. The online info makes it look really interesting. One thing I did pick up on, which is very dear to my heart, was the repeated call for resources to use in Scratch programming. Over the years, I've collected a vast bank of audio, images and video to support my work with children. Some organisations have tried to do the same for teachers e.g. National Education Network but wouldn't it be brilliant if there was a one-stop resource shop for the world's schools of copyright free materials to use.

Lego WeDo additional (1)

I walked past a modelling shop that was closing down and noticed they had 20% off Lego. The stuff they stocked was limited but I came across set 8293 which had a battery box, a motor, lights, a switch and various gears and a clutch.
When I got it home I used some of the parts and WeDo to create the Hungry Alligator with glowing eyes.

Screenshot from video of Hungry Alligator with eyes lit up

However, I couldn't get the lights, motor and sensor to all work at the same time. Not enough power from the USB connection? A big disappointment but I need to play more.

Lego WeDo

At great expense, I've bought Lego WeDo to learn about it. You don't get much for your money but having "played" with it and looked at the accompanying resources, I suppose I can understand.

Originally I wrote the following:-

Making the models was fun, even for someone of my advanced years. However, I took some time to get used to the support and programming. It isn't as simple for children as I expected but then do children need it that simple. I now think I've got an understanding of the package and just need to work out how to structure the teaching of it and integrate it into the curriculum.

Having spent one day a week for five weeks working with children, I still think it's great fun and am more enthusiastic about the programming side of things. Indeed, I must not prejudge things - the children had very little trouble with making the models or programming, although we didn't have time to explore the latter in great depth.

I also need to remove the following slide from my presentation:-



Children don't panic. I was putting the adult slant on to the work. Children take it in their stride. It's just the lesson.

In addition, the scope for imaginative modelling, programming and story-telling was obvious from the way children took to the tasks.

Week 4 (most able) ; Modified model, additional programming, original story

Week 5 : Make up your own model and programme it.

I am in the process of investigating how Lego WeDo can work with Scratch, a free text-based programming language. I think there is great scope here and feel I'm a year or two behind where I should be.

And if I could get access to cheap Lego Technics I thnk I'd be linking those models (and Bionicle figures) with the WeDo hardware and software. Could we cross toy boundaries and mix Lego and Knex even?

Off to catch up and maybe progress to Mindstorms EV3.

Arabian Nights

Arabian Nights

A new term means new topics and themes. One colleague is going to be looking at the Arabian Nights. Not an easy topic if you look beyond Aladdin and Sinbad.

The stories first came to prominence in the UK with the publication of Sir Richard Burton's translation in Victorian times. (Burton was a fascinating character and worthy of a blog on his own.) Burton's stories had to be privately published because of their erotic element, for more detail pop over to Wikipedia.

I'm going to look at what seems most appropriate for primary school children and in particular modern illustrated versions of well-known tales. I'll also suggest ideas for activities.

Illustrators
    Disney (unknown illustrators)
    (This is here to mark the strong contrast between Disney and the original versions of the
       stories and the rich illustrated history of these collected tales) 



Grolier (1996) ISBN 0-7172-8755-6

    Errol LeCain


Aladdin retold by A. Lang. Faber (1981) ISBN 0-571 11656 6

    Victor Ambrus

Tales from the Arabian Nights by J. Riordan Hamlyn (1983) ISBN 0 600 36693 6

If you're like me, then you might want to explore Michael Foreman, Stephen Lavis, David Wyatt, Maxfield Parrish, Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac and others.

Activities
   Digital-storytelling
          (i) Write the 1002nd tale with a cliff-hanging, unresolved ending
         (ii) Illustrate the story
        (iii) Record the work:-
                 as a performance of the tale using green-screen technology
                 using 2Simple Publish, Create-a-Story or Create
                 using M/S Word, Publisher or PowerPoint
                 with Interactive Whiteboard Software
                 using Comic Life
   Other things
         2Simple Do-It_Yourself - make games
         Lego WeDo - Build and programme "Sailboat Storm" and "Flying Bird" to
              include in Sinbad's tale. Build and programme original ideas for other
              tales.
         Scratch - get stuck into some simple programming with Scratch such
              as animation and conversations.
         Mount a production for Christmas (though I find the thought totally
              overwhelming).

SOLO Taxonomy

I've been out of the scheme of things for a number of years and so wasn't surprised when I began to hear about SOLO Taxonomy for teaching. The first time was at a TeachMeet which meant information was limited of necessity. More recently, I was part of a SOLO Taxonomy workshop and got quite excited to try to come to terms with it. I obviously need to explore and learn more about its practicalities. If only I was teaching full-time, I think I'd enjoy the challenge.

I loved this graphic -

and it fits in so well with my constructivist background.

SOLO and my dismay at hearing how little practical work seems to be being done in some secondary schools almost had me wanting to get back to full-time Science teaching. Now that would be a challenge!

What also proved of great interest was the use of Lego blocks to explain the ideas behind the process.

(Sorry about the quality)

I had just spent five weeks working with Y3 and 4 with Lego WeDo (see separate blog). I explained how I wanted them to make models by carefully following instructions, copying the programming instructions. They were then to experiment with both the model's construction and the program. In the final session, I asked them to take what they'd learned and use their imagination to come up with a novel model and an accompanying set of program instructions.

As an aside, for all of its expense, I'm becoming a Lego-holic. Any fellow sufferers out there?

L'Inconnue

I've been around on the planet so long now that the number of coincidences I encounter seems to be improbably high. (It's not but I know how some people look at the world.).

I bought a(nother) book which brought together graphic images, text and music called "The Legend of L'Inconnue by L. Chopin & JB Frye. The subject matter was new to me but maybe shouldn't have been.

Publisher & ISBN to follow

L'Inconnue is the death mask of a young woman pulled out of the Seine in Paris. Its beauty lies in its unexpected serenity. It is supposedly the most reproduced death mask ever and was to be found in many homes.

One home in which it hung was that of Amund Laerdal (a Norwegian toymaker) and the image became the model for his Resusci Annie. I caught something about this on the tv and it brought back memories of First Aid training (and lots of other training) where I was uncomfortable having to "do" rather than "soak up" stuff. Thank goodness, I don't teach in the way that I was taught to learn.

Four Rooms is a strange TV programme where "dealers" vie to buy works of art and collectable items. What should turn up but the L'Inconnue death mask. The chap wanted over a thousand pounds for it and, for once, I knew he was whistling in the dark. They offered around the £100 mark.

Elements of the Periodic Table

ELEMENTS - a book, a diary, art work and poems

It started with me buying a book. The book gave me a buzz and reminded me of an old diary I had, the art work for the elements commissioned by the Royal Society of Chemistry and the poems of Roger McGough.

The Book - The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean

Back Bay Books (2011) ISBN 978-0-316-05163-7

It's been a while since I enjoyed a Science book as much as this one. So much information to add spice to teaching and to highlight how behind the times I've become. Highly recommended.

The Diary



Not sure of the details but a poster with the diary is (c) T.W.Gray & N. Mann (2009)

Images can make all the difference to a presentation. Beats me why presenters don't take more pride in their work.

The Art

Yes, images can really make a difference and those produced for the Royal Society of Chemistry for their Periodic Table are among some of my favourites.

http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table

The Poems
I'm not sure if Roger McGough wrote a number of "element" poems for a TV documentary or if the poems were taken from his collection "Defying Gravity" (Viking 1992 ISBN 0-670-84413-6) They are well worth looking up and, if you can find a copy of the TV broadcast, the visuals add to the words.

Eisner's "The Plot"

I picked up a copy of "The Plot" by Will Eisner based solely on his reputation  and a couple of his graphic novels that I've enjoyed in the past. 

Will Eisner - The Plot (2005) Norton Books ISBN-13: 978-0-393-32860-8

This isn't a graphic novel. This is graphic fact. Here is an important insight into (in)humanity.
Why isn't this used to teach about History in school? 
Why have I never heard of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion?
Want to know more? Then a little research is in order.
 
It had quite an impact on me, akin to Maus by Art Spiegelman and Alice in Sunderland by Bryan Talbot.

I came to the book after having, once again, asked Science teachers "How many senses do you have?" and getting the usual answer "5".
Q. : "Why that number?"
A. : "That's what we were taught and we believed our teachers." 
Maybe it should be compulsory for all teachers to read Dawkins' "Letter to my daughter Juliet".

Education is supposed to be rearing future generations of critical, clear thinking adults. Education needs critical, clear thinking teachers and a thoughtfully constructed curriculum to develop the adults who are going to have to come to terms with the future. Any chance?

Exploring Space with the Immersive Room

I've mentioned Space and the Immersive Room in previous blogs but this week I was hoping to have the opportunity to use the set up in a slightly different way. I intended to use the room for children to explore the interfaces to find and collect data about the planets. The accumulated information could be tabulated and graphed e.g. average temperature and distance from the Sun and then conclusions drawn from the data and any anomalies highlighted.

Unfortunately, the event was cancelled and the resources sit waiting to be interrogated on my hard drive. If, and when, the chance arises again, I'll let you know the children's response.

PS I'm heavily into Lego at the moment (for animation and sense & control) and would love to be creative enough to make this orrery.

Apologies for losing the information about this image

Corpse Talk & Kar2ouche

I've mentioned both of the following before but feel the need to repeat myself to get a message across.

The Phoenix* is a comic produced by David Fickling publishers. It's well worth a look and I'd like to mention one of my favourite, regular features - Corpse Talk.

Title frame for Corpse Talk from The Phoenix Comic

Recent issues have included interviews with Sir Francis Drake and Sir Christopher Wren.
My most recent copy has two Corspe Talk masks:-

Corpse Talk mask from The Phoenix Comic (DF Books)

Above is a screenshot of an activity in Kar2ouche where a child interviewer travels back in time to question Henry VIII.

This, in turn, reminded me of another Kar2ouche activity which I like - Florence Nightingale - This Was Your Life i.e. using a famous tv format to tell a biography.

* http://www.thephoenixcomic.co.uk/the-dfc/

Tudors at Inspire 2Learn

On Friday, I was at Inspire 2 Learn to deliver a day on the Tudors to pupils from a Redcar school. Their knowledge was excellent and my lecture was taken over by them telling me what they knew. There then followed a trip down the 3D Tudor Street, dropping in at the Great Hall, local pub, peasant's cottage and the hunting lodge. Oh! And dodging the poo flung from an upstairs window. This, in turn, was followed by pupils using Kar2ouche to produce a presentation about life for the rich and poor in Tudor times and a visit to the Immersive Room to explore the lives of the Tudor Monarchs.

Screenshots of interactive presentations made in Mediator

It was an intense and busy day which the pupils seem to have really relished. In their evaluations, 41 out of 58 gave the day 10 out of 10. Typical comments included:-
"I liked the 3D, the screening area and the computers. Thanks."
"I enjoyed making a slide show on the touch-screen computers and watching the 3D showing of a tudor street."
"I especily enjoyed waching the 3d movie although I also liked the touch screen computers."
"It was very fun and entertaining. better than workin in pen in school."
Inspire 2 Learn's great facilities were enjoyed by the children. Redcar & Cleveland have a powerful educational tool to be nurtured and developed.

Scorpia Rising - Comic Life movie

As part of a literacy event, I showed teachers a video I had made from Comic Life. It covers the first chapter of Anthony Horowitz's book Scorpia Rising.  If you fancy having a go, or getting your children to have a go, there are a few points to note. Comic Life by default is portrait so you need to change the layout to landscape in Page Format. Now you should use each page as a single frame in order to tell your story. Export the video from the File menu.

My title screen

Crossing London

Making a break for it

Given the slip

I had some problems with my running my video so an alternative is to export your pages as images, import them into Movie Maker, set the timings for each slide and export it. Add a soundtrack and sound effects if appropriate.

'Fraid I haven't managed to embed a video clip in the blog yet.