Coleman's Camp FALL 2013 - Ball-Pit Wars!

Ball-Pit Balls In Battle with Friends and Ceiling Fans

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 - Weekly Journal Entry: 4/15/2013

Week of 4/15: The Thursday group started this week talking about Open House, which would be just an hour after the end of our session.  Kids shared some of the things they have been working on in their classrooms.  The Thursday group did a "pass-along story."  This setup was a unique way to challenge kids' writing and narrative skills.  Each kid started with their own piece of paper, writing a character introduction.  Next, we all folded our papers back to hide what we had just written, except for the last sentence, which was left visible.  We then passed our papers clockwise to the person next to us.  That kid then had to read the little bit of information left available and write about the setting of the story.  The paper was folded back again, hiding all but the last sentence.  Kids passed papers again.  We continued this process through different aspects of crafting a narrative, including introducing another character, creating a conflict, and finally having the story reach some type of resolution.  In the end we unfolded the accordion-like piece of paper and read the stories aloud.  The final product was exactly as bizarre and humorous as you might imagine, especially considering the surreal, unique, and sharp sense of humor this group exhibits.  The Thursday and Saturday groups both reviewed a packet of information received from the Omaha Zoo about the endangered animals we selected for a symbolic adoption.  The zoo had sent photographs of the actual animals we adopted, informational cards on each of the animals, a letter from the zoo about the program, and adoption certificates.  The Saturday group finished their session with game playing, allowing for some practice in sportsmanship and dealing with the frustrations of losing in games.