There is a long-standing concern that arts education has been neglected in primary schools, and that kinaesthetic and affective approaches to learning in this phase have had too little attention in recent years.
To counteract this shortfall, Literacy Goes MADD (music, art, dance, drama) was founded three years ago to encourage a more multi-dimensional and multi-sensory approach to literacy.
The organisation produces literacy materials based on “real books” which promote creativity by integrating these artforms into classroom activities.
The company recently teamed up with Centroid 3D to produce a new range of high-quality 3D animated resources that are well suited for use with interactive whiteboards and PCs.
“Our latest project develops our ethos, exploring the exciting potential of state-of-the-art 3D animation to enhance our learning materials,” says Jay Mathews, founder of the project.
The first title to be released, Spy Guy and Bookworm in Storyland, involves a quest that takes pupils on a fantasy trip into Storyland to meet characters from well-known fairy tales and nursery rhymes.
Lesson plans, activities and photocopiable resources are included in the package, as well as wordbanks, images and text files to support shared and modelled writing tasks.
Prices are still to be confirmed, but are likely to range from pound;125 for CD-Rom versions to pound;150 for paper-based modules.
Other projects which make use of motion-capture technology include Time to Dance, which demonstrates basic dance sequences using 3D animations of characters, using moves based on those of professional dancers, and Mood Moves, which allows children to manipulate animated characters’ facial features by voice or keyboard.
This programme targets the special needs market and is well suited to children who might have difficulty in reading people’s facial expressions and moods.
Stand D120
