Matt Finch's Posts - Making Curriculum Pop2024-03-29T05:50:18ZMatt Finchhttp://mcpopmb.ning.com/profile/MattFinchhttp://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2790084979?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://mcpopmb.ning.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=19ehaxhf4az15&xn_auth=noFun Palaces Online Comic Makertag:mcpopmb.ning.com,2015-10-02:2665237:BlogPost:1571972015-10-02T17:13:41.000ZMatt Finchhttp://mcpopmb.ning.com/profile/MattFinch
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span>I'm really pleased to announce the launch of the online </span><a href="http://funpalaces.co.uk/fun-palaces-comic-maker/">Fun Palaces Comic Maker</a> as featured on <a href="http://boingboing.net/2015/10/01/fun-palaces-locally-made-art.html" target="_blank">BoingBoing</a>.…<span><br></br></span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span>I'm really pleased to announce the launch of the online </span><a href="http://funpalaces.co.uk/fun-palaces-comic-maker/">Fun Palaces Comic Maker</a> as featured on <a href="http://boingboing.net/2015/10/01/fun-palaces-locally-made-art.html" target="_blank">BoingBoing</a>.<span><br/></span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://41.media.tumblr.com/47db9d5a6728e42dd8c589643a5eddb3/tumblr_nvjq0gqsu21uhhidmo1_1280.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://41.media.tumblr.com/47db9d5a6728e42dd8c589643a5eddb3/tumblr_nvjq0gqsu21uhhidmo1_1280.png" class="align-center" width="543" height="152"/></a></p>
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<p><a href="http://41.media.tumblr.com/113f14bfe133a967d5fa7f4bb452ce5a/tumblr_nvhpcp0cqh1uhhidmo1_1280.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://41.media.tumblr.com/113f14bfe133a967d5fa7f4bb452ce5a/tumblr_nvhpcp0cqh1uhhidmo1_1280.jpg" width="558" height="189" class="align-center"/></a></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">As part of <a href="http://www.funpalaces.co.uk/about" target="_blank">Fun Palaces</a> - an international festival where local communities are invited to try their hands at art, science, learning and play, the State Library of Queensland has built a <a href="http://funpalaces.co.uk/fun-palaces-comic-maker/" target="_blank">free online comic maker</a>.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">The project is part of a broader library-led exploration of visual communication, storytelling, performance, and play, including <a href="http://matthewfinch.me/2015/09/11/all-your-base-are-belong-to-us-lambeth-library-fun-palaces/" target="_blank">eleven simultaneous events across libraries in the London Borough of Lambeth</a>.</p>
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<p><a href="http://36.media.tumblr.com/6adb44097625421977675ee0e5354fff/tumblr_nvjgtmxskr1uhhidmo1_1280.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://36.media.tumblr.com/6adb44097625421977675ee0e5354fff/tumblr_nvjgtmxskr1uhhidmo1_1280.png" width="568" height="159" class="align-center"/></a></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://funpalaces.co.uk/fun-palaces-comic-maker/" target="_blank">Find out more at the Fun Palaces website</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"></p>Fun Palaces Free Online Comic Makertag:mcpopmb.ning.com,2015-10-01:2665237:BlogPost:1571072015-10-01T15:47:27.000ZMatt Finchhttp://mcpopmb.ning.com/profile/MattFinch
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span>I'm really pleased to announce the launch of the online </span><a href="http://funpalaces.co.uk/fun-palaces-comic-maker/">Fun Palaces Comic Maker</a><span>.…</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://41.media.tumblr.com/47db9d5a6728e42dd8c589643a5eddb3/tumblr_nvjq0gqsu21uhhidmo1_1280.png" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" height="152" src="http://41.media.tumblr.com/47db9d5a6728e42dd8c589643a5eddb3/tumblr_nvjq0gqsu21uhhidmo1_1280.png" width="543"></img></a></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span>I'm really pleased to announce the launch of the online </span><a href="http://funpalaces.co.uk/fun-palaces-comic-maker/">Fun Palaces Comic Maker</a><span>.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://41.media.tumblr.com/47db9d5a6728e42dd8c589643a5eddb3/tumblr_nvjq0gqsu21uhhidmo1_1280.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://41.media.tumblr.com/47db9d5a6728e42dd8c589643a5eddb3/tumblr_nvjq0gqsu21uhhidmo1_1280.png" class="align-center" width="543" height="152"/></a></p>
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<p><a href="http://41.media.tumblr.com/113f14bfe133a967d5fa7f4bb452ce5a/tumblr_nvhpcp0cqh1uhhidmo1_1280.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://41.media.tumblr.com/113f14bfe133a967d5fa7f4bb452ce5a/tumblr_nvhpcp0cqh1uhhidmo1_1280.jpg" width="558" height="189" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As part of <a href="http://www.funpalaces.co.uk/about" target="_blank">Fun Palaces</a> - an international festival where local communities are invited to try their hands at art, science, learning and play, the State Library of Queensland has built a <a href="http://funpalaces.co.uk/fun-palaces-comic-maker/" target="_blank">free online comic maker</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The project is part of a broader library-led exploration of visual communication, storytelling, performance, and play, including <a href="http://matthewfinch.me/2015/09/11/all-your-base-are-belong-to-us-lambeth-library-fun-palaces/" target="_blank">eleven simultaneous events across libraries in the London Borough of Lambeth</a>.</p>
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<p><a href="http://36.media.tumblr.com/6adb44097625421977675ee0e5354fff/tumblr_nvjgtmxskr1uhhidmo1_1280.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://36.media.tumblr.com/6adb44097625421977675ee0e5354fff/tumblr_nvjgtmxskr1uhhidmo1_1280.png" width="568" height="159" class="align-center"/></a></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://funpalaces.co.uk/fun-palaces-comic-maker/" target="_blank">Find out more at the Fun Palaces website</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"></p>Auckland TimeQuest: Postcolonial, postapocalyptic play-based learningtag:mcpopmb.ning.com,2015-04-27:2665237:BlogPost:1541502015-04-27T10:30:00.000ZMatt Finchhttp://mcpopmb.ning.com/profile/MattFinch
<p>Auckland Libraries have just given me permission to share the storyline & materials from 2013's TimeQuest, a citywide school holiday programme for children and teens which used a sci-fi scenario to deliver play-based learning across the city's 55 library branches.</p>
<p><a href="https://booksadventures.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/dilapidated-auckland-skyline-bw-120dpi.jpg?w=440&h=281" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://booksadventures.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/dilapidated-auckland-skyline-bw-120dpi.jpg?w=440&h=281"></img></a></p>
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<p><em>Auckland, 2379. It’s the end for planet…</em></p>
<p>Auckland Libraries have just given me permission to share the storyline & materials from 2013's TimeQuest, a citywide school holiday programme for children and teens which used a sci-fi scenario to deliver play-based learning across the city's 55 library branches.</p>
<p><a href="https://booksadventures.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/dilapidated-auckland-skyline-bw-120dpi.jpg?w=440&h=281" target="_blank"><img src="https://booksadventures.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/dilapidated-auckland-skyline-bw-120dpi.jpg?w=440&h=281" class="align-center"/></a></p>
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<p><em>Auckland, 2379. It’s the end for planet Earth – a red sun burns in the sky and the ground is parched of life.</em></p>
<p><em>The last survivors are preparing to leave for a new home on the other side of the galaxy, when the scientist Maia completes her greatest invention – a time portal that can take you to any moment in Auckland’s history.</em></p>
<p><em>Her plan: to send you back in time to recover the best books, art, and objects from New Zealand’s past. Time has run out for the planet Earth, but we can still rescue the best of our heritage and take it with us to our new home.</em></p>
<p><em>Where will you go – and when?</em></p>
<p><em>What will you choose to save?</em></p>
<p><em>Time Quest – Raid the past to save the future.</em></p>
<p>In TimeQuest, local library branches were challenged to devised playful activities linking their local neighbourhood to community heritage. The science fiction storyline <span>made our heritage programming about both the future and the past: a dynamic mission of rescue, with participants making their own choices about the value of history.</span></p>
<p><span>New Zealand is a postcolonial nation of the British Commonwealth and a key factor for us as creators was putting the<span> identity of NZ's indigenous Māori community front and center. Our defiant genius hero would be a Māori woman and a scientist, who invited TimeQuest participants to make their own decisions about the value of heritage, rather than accept some dusty authoritarian imposition.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>You can read more about TimeQuest and download a resource pack with eight time travel missions at:</span></span></p>
<p><a href="http://matthewfinch.me/2015/04/26/the-thrill-of-heritage-playful-postapocalyptic-postcolonial-cultural-programming/" target="_blank">http://matthewfinch.me/2015/04/26/the-thrill-of-heritage-playful-postapocalyptic-postcolonial-cultural-programming/</a></p>
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<p>Over in Parkes Shire, Australia, we've just released a Creative Commons-licensed tabletop roleplay game for all ages. It's easy to learn, quick to play, and students can add their own rules to make it even more exciting. You just need a few paper cut-out characters, a measuring tape, plus a handful of dice and Lego bricks.</p>
<p>You can download the game's 8-page PDF, including character sheets, here at the Parkes Library "Dog-Eared" website:…</p>
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<p>Over in Parkes Shire, Australia, we've just released a Creative Commons-licensed tabletop roleplay game for all ages. It's easy to learn, quick to play, and students can add their own rules to make it even more exciting. You just need a few paper cut-out characters, a measuring tape, plus a handful of dice and Lego bricks.</p>
<p>You can download the game's 8-page PDF, including character sheets, here at the Parkes Library "Dog-Eared" website:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><a href="http://dog-eared.me/2014/11/03/parkes-library-tabletop-superheroes-available-for-download/" target="_blank">Parkes Tabletop Superheroes available for download</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BzFjgE6CYAAW3SH.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BzFjgE6CYAAW3SH.jpg" class="align-center" width="420" height="315"/></a></p>
<p>Cory Doctorow, whose work inspired the game, <a href="http://boingboing.net/2014/11/03/tabletop-superheroes-remixabl.html" target="_blank">featured Parkes' Tabletop Superheroes on BoingBoing this week</a>.</p>
<p>Feel free to share, enjoy, and remix your own versions!</p>Tabletop Superheroes - Cory Doctorow Dungeons and Dragons Remixtag:mcpopmb.ning.com,2014-11-04:2665237:BlogPost:1512632014-11-04T21:00:00.000ZMatt Finchhttp://mcpopmb.ning.com/profile/MattFinch
<p>Over in Parkes Shire, Australia, we've just released a Creative Commons-licensed tabletop roleplay game for all ages. It's easy to learn, quick to play, and students can add their own rules to make it even more exciting. You just need a few paper cut-out characters, a measuring tape, plus a handful of dice and Lego bricks.</p>
<p><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BzFjgE6CYAAW3SH.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" height="315" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BzFjgE6CYAAW3SH.jpg" width="420"></img></a></p>
<p>Cory Doctorow, whose work inspired the game,…</p>
<p>Over in Parkes Shire, Australia, we've just released a Creative Commons-licensed tabletop roleplay game for all ages. It's easy to learn, quick to play, and students can add their own rules to make it even more exciting. You just need a few paper cut-out characters, a measuring tape, plus a handful of dice and Lego bricks.</p>
<p><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BzFjgE6CYAAW3SH.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BzFjgE6CYAAW3SH.jpg" class="align-center" width="420" height="315"/></a></p>
<p>Cory Doctorow, whose work inspired the game, <a href="http://boingboing.net/2014/11/03/tabletop-superheroes-remixabl.html" target="_blank">featured Parkes' Tabletop Superheroes on BoingBoing this week</a>.</p>
<p>You can download the game's 8-page PDF, including character sheets, here at the Parkes Library "Dog-Eared" website:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><a href="http://dog-eared.me/2014/11/03/parkes-library-tabletop-superheroes-available-for-download/" target="_blank">Parkes Tabletop Superheroes available for download</a><br/></strong></p>
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<p>You can also <a href="http://matthewfinch.me/2014/10/04/parkes-fun-palaces-tabletop-supervillains/" target="_blank">read more about the project at my site, The Signal in Transition</a>.</p>
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<p>Feel free to share, enjoy, and remix your own versions!</p>Comic Book Dice: Sequential Storytelling Activitytag:mcpopmb.ning.com,2014-10-14:2665237:BlogPost:1510012014-10-14T02:10:56.000ZMatt Finchhttp://mcpopmb.ning.com/profile/MattFinch
<p>Comic Book Dice is a playful 3D adaptation of Jessica Abel and Matt Madden's '<a href="http://dw-wp.com/2010/05/panel-lottery-an-exercise-in-narrative-juxtaposition-and-editing/" target="_blank">Panel Lottery</a>', a comic creation activity for all ages.</p>
<p><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BzjJzk9CUAAQhoj.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" height="404" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BzjJzk9CUAAQhoj.jpg" width="302"></img></a></p>
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<p>I first trialled this activity at a youth event for the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design in Manila, Philippines, and…</p>
<p>Comic Book Dice is a playful 3D adaptation of Jessica Abel and Matt Madden's '<a href="http://dw-wp.com/2010/05/panel-lottery-an-exercise-in-narrative-juxtaposition-and-editing/" target="_blank">Panel Lottery</a>', a comic creation activity for all ages.</p>
<p><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BzjJzk9CUAAQhoj.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BzjJzk9CUAAQhoj.jpg" width="302" height="404" class="align-center"/></a></p>
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<p>I first trialled this activity at a youth event for the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design in Manila, Philippines, and subsequently ran it with high schoolers at Parkes Shire Library in Australia, hosts of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.660919350637538.1073741994.135187129877432&type=1" target="_blank">Central West Comics Fest.</a></p>
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<p>You'll need cardboard cubes, drawing materials, and a picture featuring three character models. Abel and Madden use these figures:</p>
<p><a href="http://dw-wp.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/characters2-300x234.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://dw-wp.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/characters2-300x234.png" class="align-center"/></a></p>
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<p>Players draw a different scenario featuring one, two, or all three of these characters on each face of their cube. The characters can be anywhere, doing anything. Players can use speech balloons or thought bubbles.</p>
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<p><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BXP0mJJCIAAbTZP.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BXP0mJJCIAAbTZP.jpg" class="align-center" width="353" height="265"/></a></p>
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<p>Once the dice have been made, players get into teams of five and roll their cubes. The panels which land face-up have to be put in order to tell a story which the team then presents to the whole group. </p>
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<p><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BXP0CnWCQAAhJ2f.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BXP0CnWCQAAhJ2f.jpg" class="align-center" width="383" height="287"/></a></p>
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<p>Teams can then be challenged to re-roll some or all of their dice; to swap dice with other teams; or even to write up the randomly generated sequence as a conventional comic strip. The game is simple enough for very young children to play, but Manila teens also used it to explore more serious consequences to actions, like injury or imprisonment:</p>
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<p><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BXP0bImCUAA9L4K.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BXP0bImCUAA9L4K.jpg" class="align-center" width="366" height="275"/></a></p>
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<p>The cubes also add the possibility of three-dimensional presentations. After playing the five-person version we had suggested, the players in Manila began presenting their cubes in different ways, such as stacking them into walls, cubes, and pyramids.</p>
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<p><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BXP0KUWCQAAYk2r.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BXP0KUWCQAAYk2r.jpg" class="align-center" width="344" height="258"/></a></p>
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<p>The game is simple and focuses on the sequential nature of comics. It's collaborative, with an opportunity for students to develop negotiation skills. Teams could even present alternate stories from the same dice roll.</p>
<p>Abel and Madden's model characters are unintimidating to draw, and the stories are presented verbally, so it's great for reluctant writers or artists. (We found that shy speakers were also reassured by the collaborative nature of the presentation, and that teams were keen to show off their work!). Australian kids who had surplus cubes drew their own complete six-part stories on the spares, which are now on show in their high school library.</p>
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<p><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BzjJzqtCMAAB5I4.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BzjJzqtCMAAB5I4.jpg?width=303" width="303" class="align-center"/></a></p>
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<p>Abel and Madden's 'Panel Lottery', itself inspired by Scott McCloud's game '5-Card Nancy', is <a href="http://dw-wp.com/2010/05/panel-lottery-an-exercise-in-narrative-juxtaposition-and-editing/" target="_blank">available from the Drawing Words and Writing Pictures website</a>.</p>
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<p>For more on play-based and unpredictable learning activities, see my site <a href="http://www.matthewfinch.me" target="_blank">The Signal in Transition</a>.</p>