Gateway Shelter Building @ Grendon

January 26, 2012 Categories: Gateway, Grendon SC by 0 Comments

This week saw our group building shelters to camp at the Olympic site, thinking about their structure and how to make them waterproof. Both groups succeeded in the challenge and worked together to make a mega-tent in the trees. Afterwards they designed Olympics themed flags for their shelters.

Comments on the session:

Adi “I liked being a caveman with the mallet.”

Beck “My flag is about the Olympics. I have put sports on it and 5 coloured rings to represent the 5 Olympic rings and continents.”

Adam “It was hard but the it got easier as the wind blew it down. I did a plan to make the shelter sloped so the water would run off.”

Jack “I worked in a team with Adam. I enjoyed climbing the trees.”

Mark “I thought they all worked well as a team. I participated and supported Jack.”

Headlands Make Comic Books

January 26, 2012 Categories: After School Club, Comic Books, Film/animation by 0 Comments

Last night the children from Headlands Primary Animation Club tried their hand at making Comic books.

They worked in groups of three and had to plan out thier story first. The idea was to take stop motion action shots with normal cameras to tell the story. We talked about how expressions and body language needed to be clear and exaggerated to show what was happening.

Once the photos were taken and uploaded they set to work putting them into Comic Life in the correct order. After adding speech bubbles and colour they were ready to save. here is an example:

 

Kung Foo Punctuation!

January 26, 2012 Categories: Chronicle & Echo, Literacy, Uncategorized by 0 Comments

This week the Chronicle & Echo reported on the use of Kung Foo punctuation to help primary school children learn punctuation in a fun way!

The article written by Lei Chan focussed on two of our local schools, Eastfield & Bridgewater, who are currently using this exciting method with their year 2′s. The Chronicle visited the schools to see how it was done in practice.

The centre has used the martial arts- style strategy in the past as part of a wide range of aids to improve literacy. In fact Eastfield Primary learnt to do it at our centre a few years ago. Lynn the centre co-ordinator was interviewed by Lei about the effectiveness of using this kind of strategy. To see the full article follow the link:

Kung Foo Punctuation

Advanced Animation Club

January 24, 2012 Categories: After School Club, Film/animation by 0 Comments

Don’t forget Advanced club is back tonight!

Oddball Olympics @ Grendon

January 19, 2012 Categories: Gateway, Grendon SC, Olympic themed, Uncategorized by 0 Comments

This week we saw the return of Connor from our previous Grendon Gateway group and the addition of Adam from the Cobblers Study Centre. They joined in well with the rest of the group to list athlete qualities, mental and physical. The students then applied these skills to messy/crazy ‘Oddball’ games. At the end of the session they chose which skills applied to Olympic athletes of all sports.

Reflection/evaluation comments:
Jack: Usain Bolt uses endurance and speed to win.
Beck: Mark Cavendish is willing to take risks. I liked the water sponge game, we used teamwork.
Connor: Im Dong (archer) uses focus and determination so he can be the best archer. I liked the jelly and straws game, I used speed and teamwork.
Adi: Amir Khan uses courage and stamina because he needs this to stay in for 10 rounds of boxing. I liked balloon game because I won, I used courage to have a go.
Adam: Mark Cavendish uses strength to keep going when he’s tired. I enjoyed the jelly game because I cheated in a funny way, I used teamwork and speed.
Sam McFarlane: He Kexin uses flexibility to do what she’s doing. I took part in the water sponge game.

Older Entries »