WebQuest

Here is the Spoken Word Webquest:

http://benjamingentry.wix.com/spokenwordwebquest

Field Experience Report

Observations:

On January 22nd, 2015, I was lucky enough to be invited into Gilbert H. Hood Middle School in Derry, NH by Mrs. T, one of the unified arts computer teachers. I met with Mrs. T in her classroom around 8:00am, 10 minutes before her first class of the day. Her room was set up with 20-30 iMac computers on desks along three of the walls. Mrs. T’s desk, materials, and storage space were in front of the fourth wall. The center of the room housed a medium-sized table, a projector unit, and mostly empty space. The three walls that had the computers in front of them were all whiteboards and had tons of important information written on them (such as class instructions, reminders for digital citizenship, and steps on logging in). The fourth wall had mostly various posters about computer use, motivation, and the like.

After giving me a brief overview of her classroom and some of the programs she uses in it (the big ones were Google Drive and Edmodo), Mrs. T welcomed in her 8th grade class and had them do typing exercises by playing different typing games online. Mrs. T placed herself in the center of the room so that she could easily see all of the students’ screens. This allowed her to efficiently manage the classroom and keep her students on task when they became distracted. Once the students had worked on their typing exercises for 10 minutes, Mrs. T informed them it was time to begin the day’s assignment: creating a Voki and placing it on the websites they had been working on.

Digital Story - The Birth of Slam

My digital story is a brief look at the history of Slam Poetry, its founder, and its essence. Enjoy!

 

Youth Spoken Word - Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan: Youth Spoken Word for English Class (Grades 11 or 12)*

By Benjamin Gentry

*Plan is based on a 50 minute block. Certain procedures may have to be adapted accordingly (or broken into separate classes) depending on actual class time.

“Big Idea” this lesson plan supports: How are alliteration, assonance, sensory detail, and simile used in youth spoken word?

Title:

Special Skills of the Slam Speaker: Alliteration, Assonance, Sensory Detail, and Simile

GSE’s/GLE’s/Frameworks:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.11-12.3
Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.11-12.5
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.3
Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.5
Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.D
Use precise language, domain-specific vocabulary, and techniques such as metaphor, simile, and analogy to manage the complexity of the topic.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.3.D
Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.

ISTE.1a: Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes

ISTE.1b: Create original works as a means of personal or group expression

ISTE.5b: Exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity

ISTE.6: Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations.
a. Understand and use technology systems
b. Select and use applications effectively and productively
d. Transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies

Objective(s):

1. Students will be able to define alliteration, assonance, sensory detail, and simile
2. Students will be able to observe, recognize, and isolate the use of alliteration, assonance, sensory details, and simile
3. Students will be able to demonstrate the use of alliteration, assonance, sensory detail, and simile in a spoken word piece
4. Students will be able to express a thought, theme, or concept via a spoken word piece that includes alliteration, assonance, sensory details, and simile

Materials:

Internet access, word processing software, a “SoundCloud” free account, access to pre-selected YouTube videos, a microphone equipped device (such as a smartphone or computer), access to lesson specific WebQuest with instructions and worksheet, paper and writing utensil (or laptop) for note-taking

Anticipatory Set:

Students will be shown a YouTube video of a youth spoken word performance.

Students will be asked to discuss how the performance differs from formal poetry. They will be asked what kind of techniques the performer used, making note of the lack of rhyme and standard verse. Students will be briefly informed about alliteration, assonance, sensory details, and simile.

Procedures:

1. Following the above anticipatory set (10 minutes), the teacher will assign the students into four groups – 1 minutes (Total: 11 minutes)

2. Each group will be given one of the four terms (alliteration, assonance, sensory detail and simile) and asked to use their phones, laptops, or other electronic devices to find the definition of their group’s term - 3 minutes (Total: 14 minutes)

3. The teacher will ask each group to prepare a working definition and two examples for their term - 3 minutes (Total: 17 minutes)

4. Each group will share their definition and two examples for the rest of the class – 5 minutes (Total: 22 minutes)

5. The teacher will hand out a worksheet with three HOT questions pertaining to the youth spoken word performance shown during the anticipatory set:

a. Which of the four techniques do you feel works best in the spoken word piece you chose? Give examples and defend your choice.

b. Analyze the theme or idea behind the performance and formulate one or two sentences to describe it.

c. Evaluate how the four techniques contribute to the speaker’s theme or central idea. What line, phrase, or word stood out to you and why?

- 3 minutes (Total: 25 minutes)

6. The teacher will show the performance again and allow students to respond to the three HOT questions, walking around the classroom to provide help where needed. – 10 minutes (Total: 35 minutes)

7. The teacher will inform the students of their homework assignment: to follow the steps of the Webquest (as referenced below).

a. Write their own short spoken word piece that must include at least 2 of the 4 techniques discussed.
b. Create a SoundCloud account.
c. Record and upload to the group a reading of their spoken word piece (along with the text of the piece)
d. Listen and give positive and constructive feedback via a comment on at least two classmates’ pieces

- 10 minutes (Total: 45 minutes)

Closure:

After explaining the homework assignment, students will be asked to turn-and-talk to a partner, reflecting on which of the four techniques is their favorite and why. The teacher will collect the HOT worksheets at this time and answer any questions about the homework assignment that students might have. – 5 minutes (Total: 50 minutes)

Assessment:

Assessment of objectives will be achieved in four major ways.

1. Through direct question and response, students will be assessed on their ability to formulate a working definition and example based on procedure steps 2-4.

2. Through observing and listening to students’ responses during the aforementioned group work and also during the HOT worksheet and reflection segments.

3. Through the physical collection and evaluation of each student’s responses to the three HOT questions on the worksheets.

4. Through the examination and evaluation of the end product of the WebQuest (a sound recording and text inclusion of a spoken word piece)

Student Artifact:

The student artifact will be a two-to-three minute sound recording uploaded into the course’s SoundCloud group along with the transcript of the performance posted along with the recording.

Modifications/Accommodations:

Students with disabilities or learning impairments:
- Could be allowed to take the HOT worksheet home for additional work time.
- Could be only required to complete a 1-to-2 minute recording while using only 1 of the 4 discussed techniques

Students who are gifted:
- Can be a resource for students who might be struggling with the assignment
- Could be asked to think of their own HOT question pertaining to the lesson
- Could be required to include at least one instance of all 4 techniques in their spoken word performance

Resources

https://soundcloud.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/YOUTHSPEAKS
Webquest link will go here once it is completed

Shane Koyczan

For any EDU 533 students who might be browsing my blog, I wanted to share these videos I mentioned in class. For anyone who isn't my EDU 533 class, watch the videos anyway, they're fantastic.

To This Day by Shane Koyczan

Troll by Shane Koyczan

Shane's website: http://www.shanekoyczan.com/

Response to Frontline Technology Videos

Image retrieved from http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/50-educational-video-games-that-homeschoolers-love/ (Which is also a great resource for educational games!)

I found both of the PBS Frontline Technology videos, Growing Up Online and Digital Nation, to be fascinating documentaries. Despite the fact that I, myself, was part of the generation that "grew up" online, I hadn't previously taken the time to consider just how much of an impact the internet has had and continues to have on my growth and way of life. Not only did I find the videos eye-opening, but I found parts to be terrifying and jaw-dropping. This was especially true of the exposes on Autumn Eadows and Ryan Halligan in the Growing up online video - I can't imagine being a parent and discovering that my child was doing those kinds of things online (exposing themselves or being cyber-bullied).

That being said, I found the second video (Digital Nation) to be less of a shock-and-awe campaign and more of a thought-provoking look at how the internet and technology can be used to both help and hinder. I found the section about the drone pilots particularly intriguing (it's fascinating to see such a drastic shift in military resources and mindset), but the section about video games, virtual worlds, and relationships really caught my attention, so I decided to respond to the third question posed under the assignment tabs:

3. Do video games serve a purpose in education or are they a waste of time?

I think the most obvious place to start would be to link to a previous post in which I reviewed an article by a teacher-librarian who implemented game design into her class. In short, she discovered that the elements of game design fit naturally into a wide number of core values that are taught in schools today (such as story-telling, mathematics, problem solving etc.).

However, what was discussed in the Digital Nation video - particularly about the game World of Warcraft - fascinated me. This is a different angle of education than what was proposed in the above article. Instead of considering math or English or the like, the video focused on how online video games can educate on and build individuals' sense of teamwork, relationships, and collaboration.

This is a field of research I've dug into before and everything that I've found points to the fact that video games CAN serve a purpose in education. They have been proven to improve several skills (such as those listed above) in addition to having artistic value. On the other hand, video games CAN also be a waste of time - just like television, the internet, or any other medium can.

But what does everyone else think? Are video games art? Are they educational? Are they a waste of time? Or are they somewhere in between?

References

Digital Nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier [Motion picture]. (2010). PBS. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/view/

Growing up online [Motion picture]. (2008). PBS Home Video. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/view/

Infographic of my Digital Footprint

Literature Review of Mary Fran Daley’s article “Using Video Games to Embrace Inquiry: Learning for Life Through Fun”

Mary Fran Daley - Image retrieved from: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryfrandaley

Summary:

Mary Fran Daley, a second-year teacher-librarian (at the time of her article in Knowledge Quest), creates an empathetic rapport with fellow educators by laying things out as they are. Right from the get-go she explains that, as a newcomer, she had little-to-no classroom management skills and no real knowledge of video games – despite opting to teach a video game design course to “difficult” students.

Before diving in to the meat of her article, Daley explains why she decided to teach the class, claiming that “Technology may not be a panacea for education, but it certainly is one of the most powerful tools at our fingertips to do so much more with less, as we are increasingly asked to do (Daley, 2011, p. 67).” She clearly states that her mission is to guide the 21^st century learner in education with the help of technology.

Having set the stage, Daley then breaks her article down into four main sections – think, create, share, and grow – reflecting on the ups and downs of her pioneering technology class throughout.

Firstly, in the Think section, she explains how video game creation (via programs such as MITs “Scratch”) can and does get students thinking. Daley describes how the complexity of game creation involves higher-order thinking skills as well as media literacy.

Vision of Technology - Teaching a Tech-Saturated Generation

Photo retrieved from http://www.upsidetrader.com/2014/04/02/buy-old-tech-said-will-make-rich-said/

Though many of us that were born earlier than the 90s have commented on this fact, it still astounds me that in my short life-time of nearly 26 years I have seen floppy-disk-drive-capable, black-and-yellow screen computers evolve into lightning fast tablets with high definition touch screens and endless possibilities. Furthermore, it is simply incredible how quickly children are able to pick up and use this new technology in our 21st century world. For example, just a few weeks ago, I opened a simple game up on my Samsung Galaxy S5 phone and handed it over to my 3 year old nephew to play. After chatting with my parents for a few minutes I looked back over to see how he was doing only to discover that he had somehow successfully exited the game and opened the Netflix app, logging into his family’s account in order to watch his favorite shows – this was the first time he’d used my phone without supervision and he was already more tech savvy with it than my parents.

As a student in the Master of Education program at Southern NH University, the above example resonated with me and kick-started my thinking as I prepare to teach. Though not all students learn the same, it is apparent that many children are now exposed to various forms of technology at an early age and it would therefore seem unproductive to not include some form of that technology in the classroom. The question remains, then, how do we as educators prepare to teach a technology-saturated generation of diverse learners? I believe that the answer comes down to using technology as a helpful tool in the classroom (as opposed to a necessary adaptation) and focusing on two areas: connectivity and accessibility.

Slam Poetry

So I just realized that I've posted a good number of Slam Poems but I've never actually taken the time to explain to all of you what Slam Poetry actually is. Luckily, I had the opportunity to give a brief lesson on Slam during a friend's creative writing college course so I made a handy hand-out. Without further ado, here you go:

A quick Taste of the SLAM revolution

 “What is Slam?” From the Founder Marc Kelly Smith:

"Competitive poetry.

That's what slam is.

I looked it up on Wikipedia."

When the uninitiated hear the term "slam poetry," they say "slam what?" or serve up the quick and easy answer quoted above or the equally facile interpretation that slam is "rap without music—what Eminem did in 8 Mile or what that singer Grande Corde Malade does in France." Chances are they got a taste of slam at the French Nationals or at the Starry Plough in Berkeley, but it was only a taste. A deeper drink would tell them more. And here's that drink, served up by the Slampapi himself:

Slams are captivating poetry events that focus a live audience's attention on the presentation of poetry that's been composed, polished, and rehearsed for the purpose of being performed—very often in a competitive arena, but not always. It's a carnival, a pageant, an interactive classroom, a town hall meeting, a con game, a versified boxing match, and a churchlike revival that electrifies and animates the people listening to and watching it.

Competitive slam poets battle against one another like wrestlers vying for a championship belt. Each poet takes his or her turn onstage to play at proving their superiority as both poet and performer. The audience is prompted to get involved, and it does! Crowds have been known to roar approval or stomp their boots in scorn for the poetics they love or pretend to hate.

Excerpted from: Smith, Marc Kelly, and Joe Kraynak. Take the Mic: The Art of Performance Poetry, Slam, and the Spoken Word. Naperville, Ill.: Source MediaFusion, 2009. Print.

The kicking, screaming birth of slam:

• In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, even the biggest names and most famous poets were facing dwindling audiences due to the stiff, formal, monotonous, and even flat-out-boring nature of poetry readings (usually in libraries or bookstores)
• So what changed? Passion! Power! Performance! Marc Kelly Smith wanted to steer spoken poetry away from the highly specialized (or often non-existent) audience of highbrow poetry aficionados to the general public.
• It worked! Despite the scoffers and naysayers, Smith started hosting ‘Poetry Slams’ in Chicago during the summer of 1986 at the Get Me High Lounge.
• Just three years later, in 1989, Smith had kicked off the National Slam competition in San Francisco. By the competition’s second year (back in Chicago) it had sold out to over 700 audience members – the biggest poetry event The Windy City had witnessed in decades.
• Today, Poetry Slam competitions and Slam open mic nights are held all over the world from Boston to Bosnia.

Information pulled from: Smith, Marc Kelly. The Spoken Word Revolution: Slam, Hip-hop & the Poetry of a New Generation. Naperville, Ill.: Source MediaFusion, 2003. Print.

The “RULES” of slam:

While the rules can be different depending on where you go, and Slam is more about creative performance than competition, but there are a few generally adhered to “rules.”

1. 3 Minute Cap – Limiting slammers to three minutes per poem (with a ten second grace period) keeps Slams from falling back into the stagnant territory of poetry readings where authors might drone on for upwards of ten or fifteen minutes (usually losing their audience’s attention on the way).
2. Audience Judges – Judging is generally done in two ways (but both are audience based)
1. Audience members are pulled at random by the host and asked to judge.
2. The host judges whose Slam was best by audience feedback (clapping, thumbs up, stomping etc.)
3. Scored 0 – 10 – If judging is done via the 2a method above, judges usually grade on a scale of 0-10 which can occasionally go up to 30 or even infinite if a Slammer knocks it out of the park.
4. What do I win? – Slam prizes can be anything from a free drink to a bunch of money but mostly Slammers participate to get their poems out there and try to win for bragging rights and respect.

Slam resources: killer poets and where to find them:

Marc Kelly Smith: 
The author of Slam himself. Enough said.
www.marckellysmith.com or check out his official foundation: www.poetryslam.com 

Shane Koyczan:
Canadian Spoken Word artist and Slam Poet. Winner of the 2000 National Poetry Slam
http://www.shanekoyczan.com/ (Check out Spotify for his three spoken word albums, they will jolt your mind and crack your heart wide open)

Sierra DeMulder:
Two-time National Poetry Slam champion and one of the most recognizable young women in the world of Slam Sierrademulder.tumblr.com

Jack McCarthy:
Winner of numerous Slam awards and a brilliant, hilarious, Slam poet who sadly passed in 2013 www.standupoet.net (Check out his poem, ‘Careful What You Ask For’)

Button Poetry:
Button Poetry is one of many groups that promote Slam. Check it out to see some great poets like Neil Hilborn. www.buttonpoetry.com

The Disney Poem

I'm going to update this post when I'm not exhausted but I wanted to get this poem up now. I felt like it's been a long time since I wrote a mushy gushy love poem. I also wanted to write a longer slam poem than usual. So here's the combination of those two. Straight up for now. I'll probably make edits and add photos soon. In the mean time, let me know what you think and enjoy!

The Disney Poem [Tentative Title]

When I was a kid and I woke up with a headache and a sore throat I used to smile. Not because I was a masochist or some delirious mess but because it meant that I didn’t have to get dressed and go to school. That fever was a reliever from any and all scholarly grievances. It meant that I’d get to spend the entire day in my dinosaur pajamas eating banana popsicles.

Top 10 Worlds That Need to Be in Kingdom Hearts III

So Kingdom Hearts III is finally happening. I know this was announced months ago but I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the awesomeness. The Kingdom Hearts franchise is easily one of my favorites (even if it has been stumbling along through handheld systems for nearly ten years now) and as a long-time fan, one of the most exciting aspects of the announcement is getting the chance to speculate what new Disney worlds might be featured this time.

So without further ado, here are my personal choices for top 10 worlds that need to be in Kingdom Hearts III. If you disagree or think I missed something, then feel free to let me know in the comments.

February: Haiku Reviews Plus a Line or Two (Including: The Lego Movie, The Outsiders, and Assassin's Creed IV, and more)

Okay, so I've been trying to figure out for a while now how I can cram in reviews for all the neat things I've seen, read, heard, and played. Then it came to me: simplify. And how do we simplify? Haiku! So without further ado, here are some haiku reviews for you to view. (I will also include a one-two sentence mini-review for those of you who just aren't attracted to Japanese poetry.)

NOTE: This list will be updated until the end of February so check back for more!

Film:

The Lego Movie (February 2014) 

Haiku:

Genius voice casting,

Great A.D.D. Visuals,

Everything awesome.

Plus a Line or Two:

The Lego Movie is playfully fun, creatively endearing, and easily my favorite film of the year so far. There are too few genuinely funny and clean inspirational movies (as I mentioned in an earlier post), so I'm glad to see one more added to that list.

Hats and Sunbeams in February

It's one o'clock and time to leave work. I throw on my coat and gloves and pull on the crocheted 'My Neighbour Totoro' hat that my mom made me for my birthday. I push open the back door to Robert Frost building on the Southern New Hampshire University campus. I'm twenty-five, it's February, and I'm single.

The sun has been engulfed by the dense grey clouds above and the sidewalk is glazed with snow and ice. I shuffle along past Belknap building and hold my breath inconspicuously when I come to the exit where the international students crowd to smoke and speak into their cellphones in loud foreign languages. The air is stifled there by the strange brands of cigarettes that reek of some inexplicable smell, like burnt pine needles or sour evergreen. Once I'm clear, I let out my breath and descend the stairs.

I come to the large stone memorial plaque, dedicated to the school by the class of some-year-or-another, and stand at the edge of the crosswalk. I look left, then right, then left once more before I start to cross. That's when I see her. She is bundled up in a warm winter coat with the hood pulled just over her head. Her sandy blonde hair falling around the sides of her face and disappearing beneath a warm-looking plaid scarf.

She tilts her face up and I see her green eyes brighten in recognition from behind her glasses. But it's not me she recognizes.

Genius Idea: Frozen Yogurt + Hot Cereal

So here's a random blog post for you. I was driving home from work and I passed by my local frozen yogurt (or 'FroYo' for those who don't have time to speak or type full words) place and I got to wondering: what do they do in the winter time? I should probably clarify that I live in the northeast of USA where winter = lots of snow. And lots of snow = low demand for frozen yogurt.

So what, do they just close up for the winter and cut their losses? I know there are a number of seasonal businesses but that seems kind of crazy to me. And that got me thinking, what could they sell in the winter time so that they could stay open? Then it hit me: Hot cereal (or porridge or oatmeal or whatever you want to call it).

I stole this picture from Panera.

The Perfect Pair, 

Together at Last

I know it might sound weird at first but stay with me for a minute here. Most frozen yogurt places are set up so that they have a little topping buffet area with fresh fruit, granola, nuts, etc. What would go great on a hot bowl of cereal? Fresh fruit, granola, nuts, and etc!

Beautiful Things Don't Ask For Attention (Including Slam Poem - Designed)

I want to start this post off with two doses of honesty. 1: I love technology: computers, movies, video games, all that great stuff. 2: I spend too much time sitting in front of screens. It's slightly ironic that a film, in part, opened my eyes to this but that's beside the point. The movie I'm talking about is The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. If you haven't seen it yet, go now before it's completely out of theaters and turns all 'ghost cat' for a few months during that in-between the silver-screen and home screen period.

Yes, the film has been called heavy-handed on the 'go live your life' mantra, and it is a bit on the formulaic side, but it more than makes up for both of these so-called 'issues' with it's genuine, inspiring heart and soul, as well as its beautiful cinematography and score/soundtrack.

Interestingly enough, before I even went to go see the film I had been ruminating on the idea of the inherent beauty in this world, and how we often miss it because we're so busy texting and computing and worrying about what we have to do next. The awakening, or renaissance (just because I love that word), came about when I started my car a few months ago and looked up to see that my windshield was covered in the most beautiful design of frost and snowflakes. It looked like someone had taken a spirograph and mathematically calculated out a design entirely unique and specific to my ol' Trailblazer's windshield.

This was a few days before I heard the news that Paul Walker had died. Scanning through some of the articles that were posted in the aftermath, I found two beautiful quotes from the much-loved celebrity, humanitarian, and generally all-around nice guy:

Do You Remember?

Do You Remember When I Used to Have a Blog That One Time?

It's funny how the best of intentions mean nothing if you don't follow through. You know how people always say "well it's the thought that counts"? I don't think that's right. I think it's the following through with that thought that counts. Are you picking up on the hypocriticism... hypocriticality... hypocriticalness... the fact that I'm being hypocritical here? If not, take a moment to see the date of my last post. I'll wait.

Okay, are you back? Good. Yeah, I feel like a blogger that posts every two and a half years is probably not going to get very many people to read his or her work. Either that or the uber-elusive nature and low-to-non-existent frequency is so tantalizing that this very post will receive thousands of views because of the incredible anticipation (that's my understanding of supply and demand, anyway) I've kept my fanbase waiting in. What is the minimum number of fans required to call it a 'fanbase' anyway?

Okay, so before I lose you with my ramblings - but really that's why you came, right? - this is all to say that I intend to start blogging again. (Please hold your applause until the end of the post). So expect more writing snippets, rambling thoughts, slam poems, movie/game/book/music talk and reviews, and of course general shenanigans and I'll do my best not to disappoint you.

Before you move on to the newer posts with actual writing content in them, though, I thought perhaps I should give a brief update of what I've been up to in those past two and a half years. And so as not to bore you (further), I'll do it in semi-Seussical rhyme.

When last we left off,

With the fellow named Gentry,

He'd written about games,

For his final blog entry.

5 Reasons Why I'll Be Getting the PSVita

So E3 2011 has now come and gone and while you may have expected me to immediately toss up a reaction to the *makes sour face* Wii U. I think I'm actually more excited about the PSVita at this point. Don't get me wrong, Nintendo's new system - let's just refer to it as "the system that shall not be named" - looks like some awesome technology, but I think Nintendo did an absolutely terrible job of revealing it during their press conference. Their showing brought up far too many questions and far too few answers (though some answers have trickled through the media since Tuesday).

But all of that is besides the point because I'm writing up this blog today to discuss Sony's new handheld. Why am I doing this? Because I feel like I'm the only one excited at this point and that the system is receiving a lot of flack or is just generally unknown. I'll agree that Sony has taken some very big missteps - especially in the handheld market *cough* PSPGo *cough*- but I'm hoping the following five reasons as to why I'll be picking up the Vita might help to change your mind.

E3 2011: Big Three Predictions and Third Party Hopes

With just about a week until gaming's biggest event, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), I decided it was just about time to chime in with my predictions, hopes, and fears for what is promising to be a very exciting year. To make things easier I'll divide this blog into the familiar breakdown of the big three conferences and then wrap up with some third party games I'd like to see. Let's start with the system I no longer own, X-Box 360.

Top 5 Franchises Traveller's Tales Needs to Lego-ify

If you have somehow managed to never play a Traveller's Tales Lego video game before this point do yourself a favor and slap yourself across the face. After you're finished with that, go ahead and find a copy of Lego Star Wars or Lego Indiana Jones and get started. However, if you're like me and you can't get enough of the genius combination of everyone's favorite connectable bricks and movie series in video game form, then you've probably just played through Lego Pirates of the Caribbean and are wondering what Traveller's Tales has up their sleeve next. Well the answer to that question would of course be the second half of the Harry Potter series, which was officially announced not too long ago. But, considering the fact that the Lego game franchise has raked in millions of dollars, it would be very surprising if TT called in quits after that. So the question remains - after the likes of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Batman, and Pirates of the Caribbean, where does a developer go next? After much consideration, here are my top five picks.

Top 5 Franchises Traveller's Tales Needs to Lego-ify Next