Correspondance
and Meetings
(2/12/99) Our first email with Ms. Pietros. An
example of Raj's eloquence. (He speaks Russian, too.)
(2/24/99) Notes from our first meeting with Ms.
Pietros.
- (3/24/99) Roger's criticism of our storyboard.
To:
Architecture Guys
From: Roger Blumberg
3/25/99
Matt, Michael
and Raj,
Now that you've seen all the storyboards and hopefully have had a
chance
to read the written comments from the other students, I wanted to
add
a few thoughts. I thought your presentation was good, and the
structure
of your program seems clever and interesting. I think the focus
on
basic geometry in the lower grades particularly good, as it will
allow
you to vertically integrate the different grades and topics
easily
and without heavy reliance on text.
In listening to your discussion of the nature of Ms. Pietros'
"classroom"
and how/when the students would use this program, I wondered
whether
there were significant differences in the sorts of things you
want
to accomplish with the program when it's used during the Art
period
and when it's used at other times, in other classrooms or the
lab.
Another question, which I raised in class, is how you'll handle
the
reading levels in the program. Clearly, at VGES, the grade level
to
reading level mapping is not isomorphic, and since many of the
architecture vocabulary terms are very important to the students'
understanding the content, the question of how to give every
student
the opportunity to understand as much of the material as possible
is a difficult one. I'm sure you're considering it, and you might
talk with the Hasbro group (also dealing with a range of
elementary
school ages) about ways to use visual information to support
difficult vocabulary. Andrea is the TA for the Hasbro group as
well.
Again, I thought your presentation was very good, and I very much
look forward to seeing the program as it develops.
Thanks,
Roger
Some
things said of our storyboard presentation.
- the
navigation seems a bit vague. Is there going to be any sort of
"help" or a "what should I do now" button?
- is there a way to recap everything? take a look at all the
slides later?
- how are you going to determine the appropriate reading level?
testing on kids?
- construction workers as guides is really good -- add tool belt?
- pick up and drag shapes onto building to find out which ones
fit.
- add color to navigation bar buttons - they look good otherwise.
- add pronunciation to new words.
- what is the hook? is there an incentive to learn material? idea
for teaching symmetry - step-by-step origami project
- do students ever get evaluated/assessed on this material? or is
this program just for enrichment?
- where do students use this - in the lab? teacher supervision?
- be careful about having too much text on the screen - it looks
cuttered with more than two lines.
- the bug has 8 legs? spiders have 8 -- bugs have 6.
- STOP? Stop what? what is the stop button for?
- will there be any sort of form or direction to his, or will it
look like an MCM course?
- your button labels are a bit confusing
- I love the characters! :)
- good job!
- "Do it"? hmmm...
- who is writing content?
- sounds like you guys have really thought your design through.
- your humor is great. you should make simple and universal jokes
throughout the exercise.
- will the documentation inculde a "teacher's guide" so
your teacher knows what materials the kids will need for the
hands-on exercises?
- name: "Raj's Ravenous Rad-Venture"
- copyright? will you use or create graphics of buildings?
- metaphor of timewarp: can students understand that?
- name suggestions: I'm the Architect, SmartArchitect, Roaming
Constructor (Ms. Pietros: the roaming teacher), ArchiTECH
Minutes
from the Meeting 2/24/99 at V.G. Elementary
Ms. Pietros
gave us
- an
outline of her architecture curriculum.
- What
It Feels Like To Be A Building.
- A
Providence History Mystery.
- Text of
the core curricula for the different grades.
- A Frank
Lloyd Wright pamphlet.
- A
printout of ArtsEdNet architecture curricula from the web.
(provided
by the Getty Foundation, these curricula emphasize disciplined
art
education – encouraging the student to be able to talk about
as well as
produce art)
- Adventures
in Art books for different grades, containing lots of
hands-on projects.
- a
reference to the David McCauley books in the VG library.
The
Curriculum
- Primarily
for grades 3-5
- "Core-knowledge,"
integrated, holistic
- Can
take one facet and go in depth—no need to cover the
whole curriculum
- 2nd/3rd
grade
- Colonial
homes, different facets of the house
- ancient
Rome in Spring
- Roman
implements used in Colonial works
- RI
Historical Society – "A Providence History
Mystery"
- art
project: design a doorway; symmetry
- 4th
grade
- Spring:
Middle Ages – castles, gothic, cathedrals
- Projects:
sculpted gargoyles, drew arches
- Show
famous cathedrals
- 5th
grade
- Renaissance:
point perspective (Brunelleschi)
- Dome
design, Florence cathedral
- Modern
architecture, F.L. Wright – organic nature of work
à 3D project
- Likes
to include famous architecture around the world
wherever/whenever possible
- Model
everything in every way, never just explaining
- Concepts:
geometry/symmetry, informal balance
Logistics
and other considerations (excluding computers)
Educational
Architecture Software Already on the Market
To: Claudia Pietros
From: Raj
2/12/99 9:48a
Dear Ms. Pietros:
As part of Brown's Educational Software Seminar, we have
volunteered to
create the art history program that you had requested. We
are all excited
to work with you and your students these next few months.
As a first step,
we'd like to meet with you as soon as possible to discuss your
ideas for
the project, and to also find out what sort of computer hardware
you have
available to you. Please let us know, either through the
e-mail addresses
or one of the phone numbers below, when would be the most
convenient time
to meet.
Looking forward to working with you,
Raj, Michael, and Matt
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