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Andrea Calvin

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Sydney and Simon “Go Green” in Book #2 of Paul and Peter H. Reynolds’ STEAM-Powered Early Reader Chapter Book Series

This post was originally published on FableVision Learning's blog.

Last we saw them in the debut book of the STEAM-Powered Adventures of Sydney & Simon: Full STEAM Ahead!, the creative problem-solving siblings were using their science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) skills to save their prized flowers wilting during a prolonged heat wave. Along with learning lots about the water cycle and evaporation, they used their creative maker skills to build a watering invention based on Archimedes’ pump. Now the twin mice are back to apply STEAM thinking to promote sustainability and to protect marine animals impacted by trash.

In Go GREEN! the adventure starts on a class field trip to the aquarium. Sydney is upset when she learns that Greenie, a sick green sea turtle, is recovering from digesting plastic that made its way to the ocean. She must convince Simon that trash can accidentally get swept into sewers, streams, rivers, and possibly end up in the ocean where it harms living creatures – like Greenie.

The twins collect data on the trash habits of their household and school and find they are all part of the problem. They need to figure out a way that their family, their neighborhood, and their school can cut down on garbage production and make better use of their discarded items. Along with learning about the science of trash decomposition, Sydney and Simon create a recycled art sculpture, as well as write and perform a hit song that gets the attention of everyone the city of Wonder Falls to rethink their trash habits.  

Twin brothers, FableVision co-founders, and creative collaborators Paul and Peter H. Reynolds.

FableVision’s CEO Paul Reynolds notes, “Our planet is facing so many challenges – many of them environmental. Peter and I hope that the Sydney & Simon series will inspire the kind of creative STEAM thinking and doing that will foster the next generation of creative problem-solvers who will be the stewards of a cleaner, greener world in the decades to come. “

Short chapters written by Paul, paired with Peter’s lively illustrations will inspire readers to take a closer look at protecting the environment by implementing small changes that make a big difference.  The book also models holistic literacy which helps support all four components of literacy: listening, talking, reading and writing/creative self-expression, which furthers the work FableVision has been doing with Reading Is Fundamental and the National Writing Project.

Visit www.steamthinking.org for more information about Go GREEN! and to share your stories about how you, your school, your community is adding the “A” to STEM.

Celebrate the book launch with Peter and Paul! Everyone is invited to the Sydney & Simon: Go GREEN! book signing and launch party on Saturday, Oct. 17, from 10:30-12 p.m. at The Blue Bunny Bookstore in historic Dedham Square. For more details visit the Blue Bunny online.

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Lulu Jr. makes an AWESOME mark on Dot Day 2015!

This post was originally published on FableVision Learning's blog.

What happens when two organizations championing creativity and self-expression “connect the dots”? Something AWESOME!  Lulu Jr. and FableVision, after their award-winning My Awesome Book kids’ bookmaking kit collaboration, partnered to create My Awesome Publishing Company, an innovative online writing/design platform that gives teacher the tools they need to turn their classroom into a publishing company. 

Designed and hosted by FableVision’s Founder and New York Times bestselling illustrator Peter H. Reynolds, My Awesome Publishing Company guides K-6 students through writing, illustrating, publishing, and promoting their very own book. Currently being piloted in schools across the country, My Awesome Publishing Company encourages kids to make their mark. 

Which is why we were delighted to see the team at Raleigh, NC-based Lulu make their own AWESOME mark for International Dot Day 2015, which is now celebrated in by over 4 million people in 116 countries. Check out Lulu Jr.’s video!

It’s not too late to celebrate Dot Day. If you, your company or school are planning something awesome, let us know – and we’ll share it with the Dot Day community.  

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August FableFriday: Loren Lee-Flynn, UX/UI Designer

Loren Lee-Flynn always has a story to share. Sometimes it is about someone she met at a yoga class, or her enormous family, or her work in the classroom. Other times it’s about a fun conversation she had with a client or something crazy that happened the night before with Baxter her cat. No matter the situation, Loren is never short of stories.

Perhaps it is only fitting to begin Loren’s FableFriday with her journey to FableVision story – one that is entwined with another FableVisionary.

“My FableVision journey started long before I was on staff — about 10 years before. My then boyfriend (now husband) Bob Flynn and I moved to Boston from St. Louis. We had been living in St. Louis after graduating from the illustration program at Washington University, but wanted to return to the east coast where we were both originally from. We didn’t have jobs yet, and FableVision Studios was one of the first places we looked,” she shared.

Bob was hired as a staff artist and eventually became FableVision’s Director of Art and Animation. Loren freelanced at the studio while she was teaching in an after school program.

“After I got my Master’s in Early Childhood Education, I expected that I would begin teaching and my FableVision days would be over,” she said.  But, fate had another plan. While she was looking for a teaching position, a role opened up at FableVision.

“The Studio was looking for someone to create wireframes and spec documents for their educational projects. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to combine my background in the arts with my passion for education,” she shared. “I started out as an independent contractor and later I joined the team as FableVisions’s first in-house UX/UI Designer, with a dual role as an artist.”

As FableVision’s UX/UI Designer, Loren is often called on to craft fancy interfaces for apps and responsive designs for websites, all while keeping her toes wet on the art side of the studio. As August’s FableFriday, Loren shares more stories from FableVision, her time in the classroom, and her huge extended family.

As an artist with an education background, you have a unique perspective on the educational projects created at FableVision. Can you share a few moments when your experiences in the classroom have helped on projects?
My education background gives me a unique insight into how FableVision’s products will be used in the classroom by both teachers and students. A good example is the Institute for Community Inclusion/UMass Boston’s Future Quest Island (FQI), a web experience that provides students, many of them with special needs, the opportunity to explore career options and other possibilities for their adult lives. A huge part of the FQI experience is the portfolio, where students gather and showcase all of the work they’ve done on the site. I knew from my work in the classroom that it’s important to allow students to not only save their work, but also to reflect on it, self-assess, and make decisions about what they want to present and share with others. This really informed our strategy for how the portfolio should work.

Tell us about your experience with teaching! What is your best memory of working in the classroom?
My best memory of working in the classroom comes from my time as a teaching intern in a first-grade classroom. The district science curriculum included a multi-week unit on animal adaptations. I modified the unit to include as many hands-on experiences and literacy connections as possible.

One of the learning goals for the unit was to have students understand that animal body parts like skin, beaks, and claws often evolve to fulfill a specific purpose, such as protection from predators or obtaining food, and that by observing these parts closely, they could make hypotheses about how the animal might use that feature to help it survive.

I had the students first practice the observation process by giving each student a “mystery-tool” to examine closely, sketch, and make an educated hypothesis, backed by evidence, on what the tool might be used for. The mystery tools were all random gadgets I had gathered from around my apartment, and it was funny and interesting to see their guesses about the purpose of each tool. The next day, we repeated the process using models of animal beaks, claws, and hides. It was so rewarding to see the students, especially some of the more reluctant writers, excited about observing and writing. They enjoyed it so much that they asked if they could create a museum display to show off the models, and many of the students repeated the writing activity by observing different models during their free work time.

Let’s talk about user experience. What are the top things on your mind when you’re designing a webpage or interactive?
The first questions I ask myself when designing a website or interactive are, “Who is the user?” and “What is the goal/what problem are we solving?”

For most FableVision projects, goals often include specific learning objectives or benchmarks, so a huge part of the planning process is figuring out how to make sure our users meet those targets. Just as importantly — and this is key to the FableVision mission — is keeping the experience fun and engaging. Ideally, our users engage with our products because of the fun factor, and the learning happens naturally.

Responsive is the “it” word when it comes to websites, how does a responsive design change user experience?
Responsive is more than just a buzzword. It is absolutely necessary in a world where more and more users are accessing digital content through mobile devices. A good responsive website optimizes the display of content and provides a smooth experience for all users, whether they are using a PC, a tablet, or a phone.

Let’s talk Doorways to Dreams Fund’s Con ’Em If You Can, what was your role on the project?
Working on this project was a blast! The challenge came from the sheer number of characters that needed to be designed. There were about 50 in all and each one had unique attributes and personality traits that needed to be reflected in their appearance. I ended up going with a “paper-doll” approach where I assembled characters by making different combinations of face and body shapes. The fun part was giving each character a unique outfit befitting the great ’50s vintage look of the game.

What’s your favorite part of Con ’Em If You Can?
There is the secret chinchilla theme that recurs throughout the game. That touch was added by our hilarious writer and creative director, Leigh Hallisey.

You’ve done everything from print books to websites to apps for preschoolers, what’s your favorite project?
One of my favorite projects was an interactive we created for longtime FableVision client, Maryland Public Television (MPT). MPT’s Succeeding in the New World teaches students about the challenges faced by early colonial settlers in America. The interactive takes them through the process of outfitting a ship with supplies, laying out buildings and farms, and then watching as natural disasters and extreme weather descend on their settlement, often destroying it. Students then reflect on what went wrong and replay, trying to improve on their results. I was involved with all stages of the project, from early planning to final art, so I’m pretty proud of it.

What inspires you creatively?
The thing that inspires me the most is watching people who are great at what they do. To me, that’s the best thing about being at FableVision — I’m surrounded by people I can learn from every day.

You have a passion for fonts, currently, what is your favorite font and your least favorite font. Why?
We use a lot of Google fonts at FableVision, because we do so many web projects. Lately I’ve liked Karla, a nice, clean sans serif that still retains plenty of character. My least favorite font is probably Arial. I get the hate for Comic Sans, but after working with teachers who had to make hundreds of cubby labels and classroom notices for small children, I can see it at least has its place. Arial just looks homely in any context.

You have a huge family (especially cousins). Can you share a bit about your cousin Christmas traditions?
Between all the aunts, uncles, cousins, spouses, and assorted children, there are about 50 of us, so we take up a lot of room. We always get together on Christmas Eve for a gift swap, but in our version, you cannot simply steal a gift. My cousin, Alex (who has a real knack for game design) has come up with a series of little games (think Minute to Win It). If you want to steal a gift that the person you’re stealing from wants to keep, you need to challenge them to one of these games — winner keeps the gift! It changes a little every year as Alex keeps the favorites and improves or replaces those that don’t go over as well. This year’s favorite was New Roach City. You can see a video of it here.

Who is Baxter?
Baxter is my cat. He’s too grouchy to come into the studio, but he’s been featured on the FableBlog before.

More about Loren:

Favorite
Meal to Cook: Roasted chicken and Brussels sprouts
Thing to eat: Tapas
Snack: Cheese, crackers, and olives
Movie: The Big Lebowski
Book: Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
Animated Movie: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Song: New song: Sunday Candy, Chance the Rapper; Older song: Fantasy, Mariah Carey
Vacation: Hawaii 

Least Favorite
Meal to cook: Chicken pot pie — I can never get it to come out right
Thing to eat: Cilantro
Snack: Anything with artificial sweeteners
Movie: Un Chien Andalou — I still haven’t recovered from being forced to watch it in college art history
Vacation: When I went to Chicago for St. Patrick’s Day with college friends and got food poisoning. I still went out, but couldn’t even have a beer.

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Zoombinis: The Journey’s Complete

zoombinis

Around this time last year in a packed conference room at FableVision Studios, the Zoombinis team mapped out a re-launch plan. What TERC, FableVision Studios, and Learning Games Network (LGN) didn’t know is that they were about to embark on an epic adventure of their very own.

Before we travel further let’s make sure everyone knows about Zoombinis. Not too long ago in 1996, the original game, The Logical Journey of the Zoombinis hit stores as a CD-ROM game. Kids loved it! Nearly 20 years later, TERC was ready to bring the game back with a mobile spin. We were excited, but the fans were ecstatic.

In Zoombinis, the player helps the little blue guys escape imprisonment from the evil Bloats – who had taken over everything and canceled holidays! Boarding a boat, crossing the Allergic Cliffs, topping the pies in Pizza pass, and jumping Mudball Wall – players use their logic and reasoning to solve unique challenges along the way to their new home – Zoombiniville. 

Zoombinis is equal parts fun and challenging, filled with memorable quotes – did some one say “Make Me a Pizza!”? – and loveable characters, but Zoombinis is also a learning game and provides a deeper understanding of logic. Hear what FableVision president Gary Goldberger has to say:

In the months that followed the kick-off, the Zoombinis team enjoyed the good life as they looked for ways to revamp the beloved ’90s game for its new digital home.

It feels like everyone had a hand in this journey. As the producer on the Zoombinis game (and a fan of the original game), FableVision’s Polly Searles sprung into action to keep all the pieces chugging along. Hear what she has to say in her Developer Diary:  

Maybe it wasn’t tackling Titanic Tattooed Toads, or conquering Lion’s Lair, but each FableVisionary lent his or her talents to tackle a series of challenges in this unique process. This process included redesigning the Zoombinis themselves, digitally painting rich backgrounds for the new aspect ratios and optimizing it all for the touch screen, developing the game in Unity to ensure the animations and the game play blend in the export for mobile and web play, retracing all the animation to provide fans with the classic look-and-feel within the new technology, launching and then celebrating a successful Kickstarter campaign, recording and editing developer diaries, prepping for news interviews; demoing the game at conferences, and so much more. 

 

On Aug. 6, the Zoombinis reached the shores of their new home in the Apple and Google Play stores, ready for a new generation. Mac, Windows, and Kindle Fire versions will be released later this summer. What are you waiting for? Jump on over to start building your Zoombinis, and be sure to tell your friends and leave us reviews! Now…who’s ready for slice of pizza?

Here’s what a few more FableVisionaries had to say:


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March FableFriday: Didi Hatcher, Lead Animator

didihatcher_fablevision

Spending her childhood summers in a small village in Bulgaria, Didi Hatcher was a member of the maker movement before it was even called the maker movement.  

While today’s technology educates and engages children’s imaginations one way, children have always used their imaginations to explore and learn more about the world. Didi, FableVision’s Lead Animator, discovered this first-hand in her grandparents’ technology-free Bulgarian village.

“Without TV, video games, smart phones, or even a lot of toys or other kids to play with, my sister and I made up games and built things out of raw materials, creating our own fun,” she said. “We had the perfect free-range childhood there, riding bikes, playing with animals, exploring the hills, and coming inside only to eat and sleep.” 

This creativity followed Didi as she discovered her love for animation, which she still uses today at the Studio. Read on to discover more about Didi’s animation experience at FableVision – and learn how she harnessed her love of making stories move into her life as an animator.

When did your interest in animation start?
I distinctly remember the moment that sparked my animation flame. It was the summer before I left for college, and I was watching a behind-the-scenes special on how some 3D animated film was made. They were showing an animated elephant walk cycle, and it looked all wrong. Elephants didn’t move like that, not even cartoon elephants! Animals have always been a passion of mine, so it really bugged me. If only I had the skills, I could make this animation truly shine! I’d never been fully happy in any one medium before,  but animation just clicked. I signed up as soon as I got to college, and absolutely fell in love. Animation is my calling in life.

How does the animation in Bulgaria differ from the animation in the states?
Animation in Bulgaria is mostly in the form of artsy shorts, rather than commercial feature films. Even the largest animation studio, Boyana Film in Sofia, doesn’t have the capacity to produce a feature film. The height of Bulgarian animation was in the 1960-80s, and it looked strikingly similar in style to other European and even American animation.

Nowadays, there’s a really annoying trend, which I was unaware of until people started routinely misunderstanding what I do for a living and asking me if I get to hang out at resorts a lot. It turns out that the word for “animator” has been hijacked, and has acquired a second meaning - “entertainer,” as in, the guy in the giant Mickey Mouse suit at Disneyland or the clown at a kids’ birthday party. Such “animators” are very popular at the seacoast resorts. So all this time people had thought I was a clown. Now whenever I’m asked what I do for a living, I make a point to stress that I’m a REAL animator!

What’s your background in animation?
I studied animation for four years at Harvard. That was my major, with a focus on stop-motion animation. Unfortunately, stop-motion work is hard to find and unsustainable these days, so after graduation I focused on 2D. FableVision was my first job out of college. It’s hard to believe that back when I first started, over seven years ago, I barely knew Flash, and now I know it inside and out so well that I feel like I have experienced every bug imaginable that it has to offer, and some unimaginable ones, too!

Everyone has one, what’s your journey to FableVision story?
It was a pretty convoluted journey. I was looking for work after I graduated from college, and mentioned it one night when I was having dinner with my college roommate and friend Becca and her family. Her dad worked at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) at the time, and said he could put me in contact with somebody who did instructional animations in the medical field. So I went to MGH, but the job wasn’t a good fit. The guy put me in contact with the girl who had done it previously, in case she had any leads or recommendations. She couldn’t help me, but said she had a friend at a company that might do animation. Her friend’s name was Naomi Greenfield. Naomi said that I should talk to Karen Bresnahan, and Karen said come to FableVision for an interview. The interview was on the very last day of my Visa, and I already had a plane ticket to Bulgaria for the next day. It was all or nothing – either FableVision hires me, or I leave the U.S., potentially for good! I didn’t tell anybody until after the fact, but they hired me, and changed my life forever! That was one of the best things that has ever happened to me, and it allowed me to have the amazing life I have now!

didi_hannah_fablevision

Walk us through your animation process. How do you start?
I start from the storyboard and character designs, which have been provided by the board and design artists. I go over the script and description of the project, to get a feel for the style and tone. And of course I have to keep in mind the schedule and budget. For quick, low-budget projects I have a “biggest bang for the buck” type of strategy, focusing on a couple of “money shots” and doing the rest more minimally. For larger, more demanding projects, I do more elaborate animation, with less reuse and more unique drawings. And for interactive games, often it’s a collaboration with the developer, where I do some of the animation and they do the rest.

What’s one learning experience you’ve had at FableVision?
The “jack of all trades” experience. In addition to animation, I’ve had to do all kinds of other stuff – design, post-production, audio editing, project management, even recording scratch voice over. Flexibility is important in a small company, so switching gears has definitely been a good learning experience. I love variety and trying different things though, so the challenge has been more than welcome!

What’s one of your favorite FableVision projects you’ve worked on?
This would be a somewhat masochistic pick, but I’d say it’s the Scholastic iRead Direct Instructions project. It was huge, it was difficult, and often very frustrating, but it challenged me in new ways and gave me a new kind of power. I didn’t do much actual animation, but I had the chance to lead and manage the production process of a very complex and complicated large-scale project. It was the first time I had a team. Overcoming the many obstacles we had was thrilling and very satisfying to my problem-solver self.

didi_chriscyr_fablevision

Can you tell us about your role on the relaunch of Zoombinis?
I’m playing my usual dual role – doing some animation, and overseeing the art production and animation process. I’m also working with the developers to make sure the art and tech sides mesh well. This project has a unique mix of art and tech, in that we’re using new software, so the two sides have to really play well together.

What’s one “cool” moment you’ve had on the Zoombinis project?
Reading people’s comments on Facebook and YouTube and discovering the huge fan base that the Zoombinis have! We don’t usually get to see the life of our projects beyond the studio. They are just things we work on and then send off into the world. But every once in a while, we see a project in context, whether it’s a glimpse of it on TV, or at a museum exhibit, and it all comes together. With the Zoombinis, it was that, plus the bonus of feeling almost like a celebrity, for being The People who are working on The Revival of The Zoombinis!

What’s your favorite place to visit while in Bulgaria?
I love visiting Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast. It’s lined with sandy beaches and diverse resorts, from flashy Vegas-style monstrosities to quaint little fishing villages. Unlike the ocean, which is always some variation of cold, the small Black Sea actually warms up in the summer quite a bit. It’s a lot less salty than the ocean, too, and it doesn’t have any sharks. It’s the perfect place for a beach vacation!

You and your husband are incredible dancers! Where did you two learn to bust a move like that?
We met on the Harvard Ballroom Dance Team. For both of us, it was our first experience with partner dancing, though we didn’t actually dance together until after we’d both quit the team, in our senior year. We had one dance together at a salsa party, and decided it was too much fun to stop. So we joined the salsa team as partners and just kept dancing...

didi_baby_fablevision

Fun questions:
Favorite animated movie: The Lion King (I have a soft spot for African animals, and for old-school, realistic 2D Disney animation)
Favorite TV show: House (I feel like we’d get along well)
Favorite snack: Hazelnuts from grandma’s tree. She mails them to me.
Favorite vacation spot: Anywhere away from civilization.
Favorite game to play with your baby: Speed games: can I smooch her fat rolls before she yanks my eyeball out.
Favorite book: Born Free by Joy Adamson
Favorite hobby: Gardening.

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