Using software effectively has often been a matter of nerve for me. Trial and error is, perhaps, one of the most useful processes - provided you can hold your nerve long enough during the error, and actually keep your head during the trial.
It was during the exploration of flashbacks that automatically thought of revisiting 'Another Code:R'
Beautiful animation and character aside, Another Code is a splendid journey, with flashback interwoven through the story's revelations.
We had been reading a wide range of stories that featured flashbacks, using picture books and telling our own stories - However (and I'm hoping my teaching is not the root cause of this) using a flashback in their writing was proving to be tricky.
I decided to use a sort of 'visual map', and together we ran through the opening cinematic introduction, and then gathered as a group to work out what was happening, when the flashbacks occurred, and how this 'overlapped' with the 'present time'.
We re-ran the introduction and followed our large visual plan (If I was any sort of decent, organised person I'd have taken a picture of this...) and progressed through a portion of the story.
I ran the Wii parallel to talking and writing sessions, and the children would relate their deployment of flashbacks to the use of the device in Another Code. This was very useful, and actually helped a number of children to 'lose the fear' and really show some bravado in their writing. We would 'dip' in and out of the texts and Wii during the process - which was simple, and caused no disruption at all - There is no 'novelty' factor anymore for my year 6, who used the Wii with Clive in year 5, and were keen to look at the game in a different light. They wrote games reviews of Another Code last year, and I am continually impressed at how sophisticated children are with any technology, particularly computer games. Using this game in the same way as we were using extracts from books was an easy transition, and just a matter of flicking over the input selector for the projector.
As we are in our second year, the use of a Wii (or, for that matter, any computer game) is something that still inspires enthusiasm, and now we have totally lost the 'ooooh a Wii!' factor.
The console may be approaching the end of it's life as Nintendo's flagship, however a large library of games remains. Using games of any sort is something this project has opened up to me. Many games are enormous productions with deep and interesting narrative - and characters. There are many reasons why the games industry is bigger than cinema, DVD, MP3 and Books sales combined. Not all 'games' are actually games in the traditional sense. Interactive story telling is really where many of these games are actually at. Their potential to inspire creative writing is equal to any other stimulus. Not a laser-machine gun in sight.
A dodgy memory card is currently preventing me from recovering the pictures I have - I will either win that battle tomorrow, or, well, use a different camera. Pictures of plans and writing to follow...
Toby.
