Using the Makey Makey Interface to Create Music Out of Paper!

Reader Project students have just finished creating unique musical instruments using the creative controller interface – MakeyMakey.

Each instrument had both software and hardware elements. Students used MIT’s SCRATCH programming environment to create a program script that allowed their physical instruments to trigger sounds in the computers. Using paper, graphite, copper sticky tape (slug barrier tape) and aluminum foil, participants created final working versions of their instruments.

“I like that we are able to create our own images and touch them and sound comes out, and we can get a character to move across the screen in a game.”

“We learned certain materials were better at conducting than others – I learned that the better conductors produced faster graphics and sounds.”


“Its a fun way to sneak physics into our after school club and a great way of getting both girls and boys involved in coding and the Maker movement.”

Find out more at the Destinations Arts website

Summer School 2014

Reader Project Summer School at Sheffield Hallam Univeristy

We are a group of young people who meet Sheffield Hallam University to do a bunch of creaitve activities with local artists!

This is our blog about our summer school

What we've done so far!!


22nd July

Yesterday we did a variety of things like the warm up. We started with a warm up then we moved onto acting. In the afternoon we looked at world war one and our hero.   Parsa

On the first day of the summer challenge we were introduced to the theme of the project which was history specifically the First World War and the BME soldiers who fought in it.We also briefly began to start a new type of drama called mime. Zaynab.




23rd July 
Today we chose a world war one hero to create a play about and we used the ipads to develop our scripts. Zaynab


Today we  were  practising our role play  at practising whatv we were going to say .and then we peformed it infront of the audiunce
Fatimah

Today we were acting out the stripts we had wrote, about the heores in WW1 and WW2 was Noor Inayat Khan, how she was a british woman spy in WW1. Thandie

Making Movements ...

A lot of our stories contain robots!

I have learned a variety of things that has helped me in my story ( tour in the future). Like our finishing dance and our scripts.  Aria

I have learnt some robot moves. Gianah

I have learnt different types of actions as well as dance moves such as the robot to help with my story. Parsa

I learnt all the different things that I  need to think about when produving my individual idea and I also learnt some new dance moves which are connected to our theme of technology.Zaynab.

I have been learning about creating a scipt to help oragnise my story (The Caveman) and some dance moves to help with other children's storys and scripts.I enjoyed it. Thandie.

Reader Group - What We've Been thinking...

 3/6/14

Over the last few weeks we have been thinking and planning our project about technology and in that time so far we have created a timeline of where each of our individual ideas are going to fit into the performance ,  who is going to do what and what their role is in the performance, the roles are narrators , actors,  prop makers and organisers.


After planning our project, we will present all this by a series of presentations like drama, dances, posters and speeches and we are all doing this to get across what we think about the future.we are going to include our ideas for the performance such as gianah's idea about robots arias about the future.

This entry was written by Zaynab, Aria, Thea, Parsa and Gianah.

We'll post some more info soon!

The Reader Project strikes again!!!!!

                                   
                         The Reader Project strikes again!!!!


At the start of the Reader Project ( Technology)we began to plan out our ideas for our project for example the cavemen(and how we have developed from them), blood transfusions and flight(various inventions that have been created by humans through out the years and examples of how technology has changed and developed.Further information from previous weeks are as follow:

Week 1:
 Our project was based on timelines like the past and the future and at the end of that session, we agreed on Technology.Then we got the homework for something that ocurred with Technology.

Week 2: 
Been given was to research technology in different places around the world.
We talked about our own ideas for the project, we also drew a hand with things that we did in the past and the things we want to do in the future. The homework had

Week 3:
We gave in our homework, created a story board based on our homework and presented our work as a short drama piece, the rest of our group had to guess what we were acting out.

Week 4:
We produced a script of how our ideas would be presented, and we were given homework to type on the subject then email.We also did a short drama piece based on our scripts, we had various ideas. Eg. how we adapted, how cars were made ect.

Scratch 2.0 Has arrived!

Its here... Scratch 2.0

Building on the success of 1.4 This version offers so much more.

We've been testing it out during the after school club at the University and its pretty good!

New programming interface and program software is now web-based

Its now web-based and offers a multitude of new programming functions and you still need an account.  

Now its web-based it comes with some obvious benefits - you don't need to download software and then install, you just surf and go!

The clever bods at MIT might also develop a stand alone player so watch this space!

Archie Markham Project - 19th March 2013

 Creating An App was a tricky business....

Storyboard plan for App

Today we began outlining what sort of interactive application we wanted to create.  

Participants created storyboards illustrating the user experience.

We had a big discussion about different types of interactive media and what media was.

Archie Markham project - 12th March 2013

At the Hallam University workshops, we have just completed our body of poems'! 

Participants used Haiku poetry form with life sized outlines of their bodies.  They decorated the cutouts with poems and words and drawings 

Watch the video!

Archie Markham Project Febuary Half Term 2013

Participants capturing images of their local environment to inspire Poetry and new work

Over 3 days participants worked with Artists and volunteers to create Art and Apps based on the work of Archie Markham!

A the end of the project, students put on a show for parents!

Archie Markham Project - 12th Feb 2013

At the Hallam University workshops, participants talk about their work in todays session.

Watch the video!

Archie Markham Project - 29th jan 2013

We had the first Readers Group workshop at Sheffield Hallam University today. We continued our creative learning journey exploring the life and work of writer Archie Markham.

Students made full length cut outs of themselves filled with poetry!

PIE Vs SheffieldArtsLab

A Digital Arts and learning collaboration/interaction between Destinations Arts and Sheffield Hallam University.

A project that experiments with interactive creative learning tools.

More information coming soon!

Anatomy of a Film Project Part 2 - The Story Maker

Story Maker Flow Chart

The Story Maker Flow chart is proving a success! Its designed to help pupils get started and develop their story ideas.

 It is NOT designed to write stories for you. Its for kids with no Ideas.


I mean, common kids! - by the time you are 8 years old you will have seen hundreds of hours of creative content, read books, played games, traveled, experienced life etc. you will have amassed a vast array story making matter which will be floating around in your head.

This flowchart is meant to help you organise free-floating ideas into a narrative that you can turn into a short film, a short story, a book, a multimedia presentation a game, the list is endless! 

Anatomy of a Film Project Part 1

Just started a series of After School workshops working in Primary schools.

To help children to develop stories quickly, they are using my patented 'Story Making Machine'"

A tool that quickly shows kids how to devise characters, plot, scenarios and endings!

They can use the narratives they have created for writing, filmmaking or creating plays - watch this space for more info!