A Very Helpful Visitor May 13, 2008
Posted by Miss Collins in : Games-Based Learning Links , 3commentsFor the past two days we have had a very special visitor, who traveled a very long way to see us!
Katy first visited the school with the Adventure Author team back in April when we first got our hands on the laptops and were shown what Neverwinter Nights 2 was all about. This week Katy came back to see how we were progressing and to get some feedback on how the tool-set can be adapted in the future.
Of course, that is what she thought she was coming to do, but in fact she also spent a lot of time working with the groups on the laptops, helping them to develop their conversations and conditions.
Thank you Katy!
Show Not Tell Part 2 May 13, 2008
Posted by Miss Collins in : Class work , add a commentAfter lunch today we worked in the dining hall on a short drama activity. We were acting as sculptors, creating images of positive and negative emotions. The people of the outside circle decided on an emotion or reaction such as surprise or sadness, and then gave directions to a partner on the inside circle who became a living sculpture of that feeling.
Using our sculptures we discussed what our faces and bodies reveal about how we are feeling. We then created phrases from this that would show the reader how a character is feeling, without simply telling them.
For example, rather than writing “He/She was sad”, our ideas for showing a character was feeling sad were:
- He walked with his head down
- She sat with her hands hidden back in her sleeves
- Tears dripped off of his nose
- The corners of her mouth were turned down
Rather than writing “He/She was really happy”, our ideas for showing a character was feeling happy and a bit surprised were:
- Her eyes were wide
- Her arms flew up in the air
- He started to jump around the room
- He walked in with a massive cheesy grin
Putting Our Ideas on Paper May 13, 2008
Posted by Miss Collins in : Class work , add a commentToday each group worked with me to discuss how they can turn their game quest into a story, and we looked at two different types of planners.
My suggestion is that everyone will write the story of their world and the events that lead up to the start of the player’s quest. Both planners help organise ideas for the opening, the development/turning point, and the ending/cliff-hanger.
- What sort of world was it? How did people live? Who ruled the land? Who are the important characters?
- What changed? What was lost/stolen? Who was overthrown? How did the evil characters arrive? Who now has power? How did life change?
- What must be done to make things better? Who needs to help? What sort of journey might be involved? Who will go?
Working with each of the groups I found that the best place to start was the turning point, or reason for the quest, and then to work backwards to think about how life was before then.
I have already seen some completed planners and they clearly show what detailed and interesting ideas everyone is coming up with. It is so exciting!
These stories are going to be something to be proud of and I can’t wait to get them podcasted and on here for everyone to enjoy! 
