A World Builder Assembly June 16, 2008
Posted by Miss Collins in : Class work , 1 comment so farOn Friday last week our class had the opportunity to tell the other P7s about the work they had done during the World Builder project in assembly.
Morgan, Steffani, Craig and Thianna took on the job of creating this assembly, and did a fantastic job! Morgan and Steffani both produced great PowerPoint shows covering the gaming side of the project:
Craig and Thianna also talked about the language work that we did, and about our class novel, The Hobbit. Thianna chose a great excerpt to read from the book: the part where Bilbo discovers he is being wrapped up in sticky webs by giant spiders in Mirkwood!
Chloe, Rory and Katherine volunteered to read their World Builder tales also.
Well done everybody! 
Fantasy Literature Circles June 2, 2008
Posted by Miss Collins in : Class work , 3commentsToday all groups are working on reviews and reports about the fantasy genre titles they have been reading.
After writing our reviews created radio broadcast podcasts, and here are the first of the finished results!
silver-chair-book-review-by-sean-alex.mp3
One Last Booster…. May 30, 2008
Posted by Miss Collins in : Class work , 23commentsGood morning! This is it! The last ever WB Brain Booster!
Today’s Brain Booster is:
If you were a character in a fantasy world, would you be good or eeeevil, and what type of dwelling would you live in? A castle in the mountain or on the sea? A Hobbit hole? A cave? An dark and mysterious undergroud lair? A tree-house in the forest? A cottage in the village?
And the project went out with a bang….. May 26, 2008
Posted by Miss Collins in : Class work, Games-Based Learning Links, Images , 1 comment so farToday everyone worked really hard to finish stories and props and get the class ready for our presentation in the afternoon.
The pressure was on to get drafts finished, typed and blogged, and I am pleased that so many managed to do it. Please do keep checking the Our Worlds page as more will be added each day. And yes, they are actually there to read again now!
Everyone had one last chance to edit their game, and Kieron very kindly arrived in the morning to offer assistance.
Over lunchtime Callum and Steffani helped to transform our classroom into the World Builder Presentation room.
Judy arrived and helped us to set up a bank of computers at the front where parents and other guests could be shown our fab games. All the desks were moved and the chairs laid out in rows. Morgan, Hannah and Mairead came up with the genius idea of running a Rune Translation competition and so set to work preparing that and getting it all photocopied. Mairead also put together a slideshow about the work we had done on Runes, and Rory’s name plate was a prefect example to have on show. We also set up a laptop where visitors could use the website to find out their hobbit and elf names! We barely had time to eat!
At 1:45 the parents arrived, and the room began to fill up. We were delighted that so many parents went out of their way and took time off of work especially to come along! Mrs McCall, Mrs Clark and Mr Wood also made a special effort to attend.
After a bit of an introduction from Judy and myself, it was time for everyone to read their stories. Some people were very shy to begin with, but we ended up hearing about 10! Well done brave people!
We took a break after about 5 or 6 of them, and then we demonstrated our games to our visitors by Group. Having the competition and other activities running at the same time here worked really well -thank you girls! It looks like we really tested those parents!
Everyone was very impressed, (and some a little mystified) by our computer games. We were able to show some games on the interactive whiteboard which made them easier to see.
Back in our seats, the announcement was made: Mrs Clark won our competition!
After some more excellent story reading, every member of the class was presented with a certificate from the Adventure Author team for a job very well done!
The World Builder Presentation May 23, 2008
Posted by Miss Collins in : Class work, Games-Based Learning Links , 1 comment so farThe games are made.
The tales are written and the props made (well, nearly).
The invitations to parents have gone out.
The World Builder Project will have to come to an end next week, and to celebrate the huge achievements made we will be presenting our work on Monday 26th May after lunch. All parents and families are invited to join us and the Adventure Author team will make once last visit especially for it.
Today more people finished props and got their stories typed up and there are some more on the ‘Our Worlds’ page for our visitors to enjoy. I think they are just brilliant!
We will take lots of photos on Monday and get a slideshow of the big event on here.
The WB Brain Booster is Back! May 23, 2008
Posted by Miss Collins in : Class work , 30commentsHurrah! We have time at last to have another Friday morning WB Brain Booster!
Today’s Brain Booster is:
Imagine that you are the hero in a magical quest. You must save a magical creature from a dragon’s lair. You can use any special objects, spells or abilities you like, but there are 3 guardian dragons and one Dragon Lord to defeat. The guardians all have special strength and are fire breathing, of course. The Dragon Lord is very wise and can counter-act many spells.
How do you do it?
All visitors are welceome to join in! This could be our last…..
Welcome to Our Worlds! May 22, 2008
Posted by Miss Collins in : Class work, Evaluation , add a commentI am delighted to announce the opening of a new page on our blog: Our Worlds.
Today some people reached the stage where they had completed the first draft of their World Builder story, and many have managed to type their work up. In pairs, those that had finished exchanged stories and, just as they did with the games, gave each other 2 comments about what they thought was really good about the story, and 1 point for development. The stories were then polished using this feedback and they are now ready to share!
Please visit our new page to read these as they are added. Some will also appear as podcasts in the coming week or so.
First Class First Drafts! May 19, 2008
Posted by Miss Collins in : Class work, Images , 8commentsHaving worked really hard on storylines, quests, scene setting and character personality, the time has arrived to get these fantastic fantasy stories down on paper!
I have read some of the first drafts, and I have to tell you that they really are very, very impressive! We will be word-processing and podcasting the finished versions in the coming weeks.
Great Groups and Amazing Artwork May 18, 2008
Posted by Miss Collins in : Class work, Games-Based Learning Links, Images, Uncategorized , 5commentsWhat a busy week! So busy I didn’t get a chance to add to this until the weekend!
On Wednesday each group had a short slot of time on the laptops to try and get their game ready for our Play Testing session on Monday 19th. What has been really good to see since we started this project is just how well everyone supports each other and helps those having difficulties. Because we have to work in rotating groups and we try to do so much each day, it is almost impossible for me to spend time with the group on the laptops, so the fact that you have all been helping each other has been vital. Thank you everyone!
As well as working on the game, everyone has been making a start to their World Builder story, and has been working on their prop design. There are some very detailed drawings, especially for sword hilts.
On Friday we had an hour to start actually making the props. It was total mayhem, but already many of the swords, plaques and shields have been created from an assortment of tubes, boxes, food containers and fabrics. Thank you to Mr Thompson the Janitor for helping people spray-paint outside when he was already very busy!
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
