So I've updated my storyboards. This time, I added some sort of device or "thing" that brings the story to a solution, and it satisfies the mother's worries of spelling.
From there, I added this function into 5 of the storyboards that I had from last class:
The three storyboards that I'm going to continue with for the weekend are the following: the last one, the 2nd one, and the 3rd one.
I researched technology quite a bit, and I see a lot of possibilities and potential in the sphero interactive rolling ball toy. I think there's a lot of things I could do with that spelling wise, and it seems that it would be great for kids! I'm excited to get the ball rolling and see what I come up with (lol see what I did there?) I'm going to revise those three storyboards using the sphero ball toy for next class.
So after thinking on the idea of the Spero, I think I have an idea that I want to carry through to the wireframes/storboards over the weekend. So what I'm thinking I'll do is design an app that goes with the Sphero. This app will be a spelling game. You will login to your account, and from there you can either play alone, play with one other person, and practice spelling words that you put into your journal.
Playing Alone:
-So what you do is say the word into the device, the device will then pop up the letters that go along with that word. Here is how it would go,
1) I would say the word Cat into the device
2) The device would register the word, and then the letter C would pop up.
3) From there, I would trace the letter C and the sphero would move along with my hand as I trace the letter on the device's screen
4) I would continue to trace the letters until the word was completed, and then I would trace the entire word together with all of the letters.
5) From there I can either add that word to my journal of words, or continue playing with a new word.
Playing with one other person:
1) The person holding the device would say the Cat into the device
2) The device would register the word, and then the letter C would pop up.
3) From there, the person would trace the letter C and the sphero would move along with their hand as they trace the letter on the device's screen
4) The other player, would then try to guess what letter the sphero is making
5) The process would continue until the entire word is made
Opening up your journal:
-After doing all these words, you can record these words in your journal and revisit them whenever you would like.
-So I could open up the app again in two hours, and practice the word cat over and over again, since I put it in my journal.
The reason I want to go with the idea of tracing is because after researching good ways to practice spelling, a lot of it was just spelling words over and over again to really get that in your memory. Of course, making it fun (with the sphero) will make the experience the act of tracing even more memorable, and hopefully that helps these experiences stick kids even better. This is just a fun way to practice spelling words, and I think it's more effective than simply practicing words on a sheet of paper.
I think I'm going to do wireframes/storyboards of these three different ways to maneuver around the app for next class. I'm very open to suggestions of new things, ideas, anything!
amy, nice work here. your storyboards have a decent amount of variety in terms of the contexts in which astrid might encounter spelling situations. given your focus on that aspect of her development, it seems like a good idea, at least for now, to stay open to how the device(s) might be used in each of those five situations. of course you only have to show three stories for monday, but that range of spelling strategies could be useful -- working alone, with a friend, in a larger group, and with a parent.
ReplyDeleteif you haven't already exhausted your research on spelling strategies and spelling apps that already exist, i would say keep looking for those. i will put a handout from murphy's teacher about spelling in my bag. remind me to show it to you monday.
to my thinking, you are doing some interesting things with the letter hints (story 1), integrating spelling with writing (story 2), unscrambling the word (story 3 and 5). at home, murphy does occasional unprompted writing with a lot of phonetically spelled words, so i could see story 2 being useful in that regard.
your integration of sphero sounds interesting. i know it lights up, so i wonder if you can integrate that in some way as well. does it make sounds? you could always imagine new capabilities for it if you wanted. one danger i foresee is that if it only traces the letter then that game might get boring or routine once the novelty wears off. is there a way to build in variety, like in how you made up a game for two kids? is there a way to add a constraint that requires two players somehow, or more? how might you use this in a classroom setting where kids could play spelling games with sphero in some form of active learning?
as you are working out these new stories, keep the functions tightly aligned with astrid's needs and make sure they function well in these different contexts. also, be sure to check yourself against the learning objectives for this project to make sure you are pushing yourself in the proper areas.
some interesting thinking here. keep it up!