Writing with Samorost
“Phew!” what HARD work! but ….. what fun! We have had a couple of sessions working with Samorost this week – everyone is still really motivated and I am really pleased with the quality of work produced. What do you think?
We worked first on setting the scene and mood of the story. Students tried their hand at using the setting to create different atmospheres – lonely, peaceful, mysterious:
Roaming peacefully, the planet drifted calmly through the tranquility of space. Timothy
Floating in the isolation of space, the miserable planet wandered… Marshall
Drifting through the silence and blackness of outer space, the mysterious planet sways through the bright lights of the stars…. Natalie
The silent planet, waiting for the unknown to become known. Celia
Swinging like a pendulum, the ball on the rusty chain starts descending through a pitch black tunnel. Emily
Feeling dizzy and confused and helpless, I dangled amongst the mossy roots and branches of the gnarled trees, in an ancient, rusty ball ……… Timothy
Swinging from a chain in the round, brown sphere, I felt sick and dizzy. Squeaking and screeching, the sphere suddenly came to a stop. I thumped onto the floor of the metal ball. I grabbed the metal window and pulled myself up like a baby trying to stand…….. Sharon
The hollow, swinging sphere fell down and down, leaving Samorost to listen to the deafening clanking of the old and rusty chains. The chains finally stopped clanking and everything seemed still and quiet. Samorost peered curiously out of the circular, barred window wondering what was going on…………. Nancy
I was falling in a ball, so fast. I could hear the chain rattling. I sat in a corner of the ball, the falling seemed to last forever. Finally the terror stopped and I was swinging gently from side to side. I just sat there. I was like a mouse ath the time, afraid of seeing what was out there …….. Clement
I peered through a little window and caught a glimse of a larger forest, inhabited with fungi, moss and mushrooms spread across the forest floor like butter on toast …….. Gloria
The branches of the trees look like the massive body of a pterodactyl. On the neck of the pterodactyl – like branches, sat the lazy and hungry anteater. Marshall
In the maze of prehistoric trees, an old box was hidden ….. Naomi
The trees were like tentacles, all twisted up together, connected to an unknown monster, waiting hungrily for a lost traveller to approach. Sarah
…..I decided to explore a bit more. I walked a few metres to my right and saw roots that were tangled up like a dozen cords all trying to get into the one power point…….. Ramiz
Feeling helpless I dangle amongst the ancient branches and plants of the aging rainforest, suspended only by a rusted metal chain……… This was just like an amusement ride, I think to myself, but the only difference is that if something goes horribly wrong there will be no one to help me if I am wounded. Rocking unsteadily in the darkness of the metallic ball I wonder if I will get to the ground safely or drop to my death ……… Martin
on June 14, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Wow! What amazing writing! I wish I had my own class still to be able to try this with them. You’ve all done so well. Maybe one of the kids could write a wee post on how they approached the game and the writing. Are there any things students/teachers need to look out for in the class when doing this? How did this work time-wise, too – done little by little or all in one go? Sorry for all the questions – just so excited to see someone doing what I was dreaming about just three weeks ago!
on June 14, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Thanks for sharing your excitement – we are all really blown away here too. The kids are just so proud of what they have written
I will answer your questions in a post tonight, the kids are writing about Samorost on their individual blogs, and we will get a post up on the class blog about what how they approached the writing aspects.
on June 18, 2007 at 5:21 am
Thanks for doing that – your project is providing me with some great foundations for something similar using other games like this. I’ll make sure I share as I go (hopefully by next session I’ll have caught up with my backl.og of stuff to do!)
on June 27, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Ewan,
Sounds like you have even more great things “bubbling away”. Don’t forget to take a break though – back logs never get to be “front logs” ??????
on June 29, 2007 at 10:03 am
I love the samorost scentences. Some people have some really good imagination.
There are things that adults wouldn’t think of.
Toooooooooodles
on September 5, 2007 at 5:33 am
This stuff is just amazing.
incredible description. superb word choice.
such imagination, really invokes great imagery.
Richard
on September 5, 2007 at 8:36 am
Thanks Richard – I was totally blown away with what the kids came up with too. They really responded to the visuals and the character and the writing bubbled up!
KimP
on October 30, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Hi!!
Have only just picked up on Samorost and your excellent work with it … better late than never …you can read what I have said ( if you wish) at http://www.dougdickinson.co.uk/blog.
on April 19, 2008 at 8:55 pm
I heard about Samorost fairly recently so haven’t tried it with my class yet. Your students have produced some stunning results. It has definitely inspired me to give it a go. We have been looking at narrative in Term 1 in view of the NAPLAN, but still have a way to go I think. Thanks for sharing this inspiring work.
on April 19, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Thanks Pam.
I have been using a game called Haluz this past term – specifically with the narrative aspect of the NAPLAN test in mind. I will have to get the rest of my posts up this week
on September 3, 2009 at 5:38 am
[...] September 2, 2009 by literacyadviser For the past few days I have been playing games, or one game to be precise, to explore some of the possibilities for using it in the context of improving literacy in the classroom. Samorost is a free online adventure/puzzle game created by Jakub Dvorsky while he was a student at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague; it is produced by his freelance Flash and web design agency Amanita Design. I first heard of the game from Andrew Brown at Learning and Teaching Scotland, who are doing some really interesting development work on Games-Based Learning. I am also indebted to Dave Terron at Elgin Academy who has used the game in his English classes to very good effect, and to Kim Pericles, a primary teacher in Sydney, Australia who has used the game with her students for some time now – you can see some of their creative writing by clicking here. [...]