Thought for the Day

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function."

~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

Gamebook Friday: FREE Beowulf Beastslayer Teaching Resources

One thing is certain as the Coronavirus crisis deepens; we are most definitely living in interesting times.

If you are a student who has been sent home from school and you have been studying Beowulf in English, or if you are a teacher looking to support your students' work on the Anglo-Saxon epic poem while they are remote learning, my teaching resources, based on the gamebook Beowulf Beastslayer, are now FREE to download from the TES website.

Click the image above to download the Beowulf Beastslayer Teacher's Pack.

In other gamebook-related news, the Kickstarter I am currently running to fund production of my 6th ACE Gamebook, Dracula - Curse of the Vampire, is already two-thirds done, with just 10 days left to go.

Currently we are working towards the first Stretch Goal, which will pay for more of Martin McKenna's amazing artwork for the book. So if you haven't backed it yet, please consider doing so and let all your friends know about it too.

Thought for the Day

"It still rankles that the short story I wrote for my mock O Levels was downgraded from an A to a C because, 'it is too original, which means you have copied it from somewhere'."

~ Neil Gaiman

The Beowulf Beastslayer Teacher's Pack

Now available for anyone who teaches Beowulf to students in Key Stage 2 or Key Stage 3, is the Beowulf Beastslayer Teacher's Pack, or indeed for any teacher who wants a fun topic of work for a week or two, perhaps even as a focus for their school Book Week.

The pack contains ten activities that range from comprehension and long-form writing exercises, to code-breaking and game design, as well as suggestions for more

The Beowulf Beastslayer Teacher's Pack can be downloaded from tes.com.

Thought for the Day

"Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe."

~ H. G. Wells

Hacking the Curriculum

Available now from John Catt Educational Ltd is Hacking the Curriculum: Creative Computing and the Power of Play, written by Digital Schoolhouse Director, Shahneila Saeed, and godfather of the UK games industry, Ian Livingstone CBE.

In Hacking the Curriculum, the authors explain the critical importance of coding and computing in modern schools - and offer teachers and school leaders real practical guidance on how to improve their current provision to a generation of youngsters for whom digital skills are critical.

The reason I mention the book here is because I contributed a chapter to the book, co-written with Mr Livingstone, called 'Interactive Fiction in Education'.

Here's what reviewers have had to say about the book so far:

"Education is the future and this is the future of education. Essential reading." ~ Amazon.co.uk

"This should be compulsory reading for anyone in teacher training. Not only does it clearly articulate the need for computer science in schools, but also gives practical advice for non-technical teachers." ~ Amazon.co.uk

"The book is at its best when it offers these simple, applicable ideas to teachers. One particular surprise was the chapter on interactive fiction by Livingstone and fellow Fighting Fantasy author Jonathan Green. Whilst this initially appeared as self-indulgent (especially given that Livingstone’s other works are mentioned throughout too) Livingstone and Green make a good attempt at demonstrating how works of interactive fiction such as The Forest of Doom (1983) might be used in a classroom setting to link literacy with the new computing curriculum." ~ Games Research Network

You can pick up your copy of Hacking the Curriculum: Creative Computing and the Power of Play here.

Thought for the Day

“No thief, however skillful, can rob one of knowledge, and that is why knowledge is the best and safest treasure to acquire.”

~ from The Lost Princess of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, born on this day in 1856.

Happy π Day!

That's right π , as in Pi the mathematical constant.

And why is today called Pi Day? Because according to the American dating system, the 3rd of March is 3.14, which is Pi to three significant figures.

On such occasions as this, I try to link the event to my books, and in the case of Pi Day, the most suitable candidate is Match Wits With the Kids.

However, since that particular book is out of print, I'm going to go with Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland instead, because Alice's creator, Lewis Carroll, was really Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a mathematics don at Oxford University. My gamebook even features a few mathematical teasers.

As regular readers of this blog will already know, Alice's Nightmare produced a spin-off colouring book, which went down a storm in the States, and so artist Kev Crossley has drawn a whole new set of pictures, specifically for colouring this time, so expect to see Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland Colouring Book 2 hitting virtual bookstore shelves very soon.

Thought for the Day

Thought for the Day

Thought for the Day

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."

~ Mark Twain

Thought for the Day