Coleman's Camp WINTER 2013 - Large Scale Maze Creation

Using Old-Style Wooden Marble-Mazes as Inspiration, Kids worked in Groups to Design, Build, Test, and Revise Large Scale Unique Versions of this Classic Game.  X and Y axis, group planning, and team negotiation were all needed to navigate the pathways.

Coleman's Camp - SUMMER 2013

Coleman's Camp, 6th week: TUESDAY

• Group bonding and sharing time
• "Walking Adventure" - going as a group out into neighboring shops, scouting for supplies and location for our activity this week
• Problem solving and creation of water-gun based games to battle the intense heat and humidity
• Participation in contests of skill involving water, including accuracy, distance, height, and challenge activities!
• Working through following directions and sportsmanship guidelines, even in an old-school water-gun battle

Coleman's Camp, 6th week: THURSDAY

• Group bonding and sharing time
• Continuing to create script for song, including characters, actions, plot, perspective, and story arc of beginning, middle, and end
• Filming scenes of the story, including changes in performances and improvisation

Coleman's Camp Studio, 6th week: SATURDAY

• Group bonding and sharing time
• All kids join together to make a Toontastic video
• Discussion and exploration of moving away from stories based on fighting and working towards a more complex and interesting story line
• Scripting new story with multiple locations and on-going introduction of characters in time-travel story

Coleman's Camp - SUMMER 2013

Coleman's Camp, 5th week: TUESDAY (no THURSDAY due to 4th of July)

• Continued filming segments for video to accompany song
• Reading lyrics and discussing meaning
• Brainstorming methods to represent each segment of lyrics
• Exploring, practicing, and refining facial expressions and gestures to emote

Coleman's Camp Studio, 5th week: SATURDAY

• Recording Toontastic video
• Sharing of items and special skills, talents, and interests
• Organizing supplies

Coleman's Camp - SUMMER 2013

Coleman's Camp, 4th week: TUESDAY AND THURSDAY

• Group bonding and sharing time
• Watching several versions of videos set to the same music to explore how images affect the music
• Selecting and listening to several popular songs and student favorites to identify songs with a narrative
• Reading and analyzing lyrics of song we will use for our video
• Creating script for the song, including characters, actions, plot, perspective, and story arc of beginning, middle and end
• Filming scenes of the story, including changes in performances and improvisation

Coleman's Camp Studio, 4th week: SATURDAY

• Continuing work on group projects
• Learning to have times of reevaluating projects to determine if our work is making progress but also being okay with changing all or part of project we feel have lost momentum
• Collaborating and recording a video on Toontastic
• Creating 3D paper projects

NOTE - This is a raw video, the final will have many other scenes edited in to the music from "Snoopy versus the Red Baron" (cartoon version here) 

Coleman's Camp - Weekly Journal Entry: 2/11/2013

Week of 2-11: Both the Thursday and Saturday groups explored tessellations (http://www.tessellations.org/), creating their own shapes from simple 3x5 cards, tessellating them across a large piece of paper, and tracing over the outlines.  The time working on our tessellations also gives us time to focus on quality work, talk, and listen to music.  The Saturday group also worked on a unique problem solving activity created just for them.  Developing language skills - including descriptive abilities, accuracy, word choice, and correcting from prior mistakes - the Saturday group uses a small digital audio recorder to record directions to team members to help them find an object hidden somewhere in the room.  Kids quickly learn to be specific, use adjectives, and to think from the perspective of teammates who have no idea what the object is or where it is hidden.

Coleman's Camp - Weekly Journal Enrty: 2/4/2013

Week of 2-4: This week it was the Thursday group students who were able to experiment with dry-ice.  They observed sublimation in action, created the eerie fog with warm water, and created many bizarre and alarming sounds with different types of metal items pressed against the dry-ice.  We discussed the hazards of dry-ice inhalation as well as the effects of rapid and extreme freezing of human skin when in direct contact with the sub-zero material.  The kids were especially excited by the use of 36mm film canisters that, when filled with dry-ice and capped, would build pressure as the dry-ice sublimated until the lid would explode off, usually hitting the ceiling.  I am sure the library patrons were alarmed at any screams they could overhear, it was amazing!  We also mixed in dish detergent and created dry-ice bubbles that looked like ever-expanding masses of brains or worms.  When grabbed or picked up and squeezed, the bubbles would burst leaving small clouds, a peculiar effect.  The Saturday group created Valentine's Day cards for parents, practicing brainstorming, reflective and authentic writing, rough draft correction and editing, and then writing the final nice copy.  The kids assembled a foam dog and added unique details.  The notes to their parents told of their favorite activities to do with their family.  The finished products looked fantastic!