Abby Who?

I love that scene in Young Frankenstein when Igor is sent to get a brain. He is supposed to get the brain of a scientist/saint. However, he drops that brain and picks up another brain.

Later, Dr. Frankenstein questions him, and he tells him it is the brain of Abby Normal.



Those, and many other scenes in that movie always crack me up!

Today's site is a fun little beta site that will have your students making their own memorable movies.


Xtranormal
Xtranormal is a site where students type in text that is converted to an animated movie scene. Students pick the characters, scenery, actions and extras, then type in the dialogue. The scene is converted to a movie in seconds. A movie can be made and viewed, but not saved, without creating an account. Accounts appear to be free, at least while in beta.
This could be used in every subject area, for character ed, bullying prevention, careers...the possibilities are endless!

Who's On First?

Who doesn't know about that famous Abbott and Costello skit "Who's On First?" We've heard it, or tried to repeat it, many times in our lives. Did you know that it was first a part of their stage act and then was featured in the 1945 movie, "The Naughty Nineties"? It is a classic! We get caught up in the tongue-twister-like dialogue, but it does illustrate a very elemental math concept: ordinal numbers. Wouldn't it be fun for students to watch the short clip when learning about ordinal numbers?



Mathematics in Movies
Today's site was shared with me by @maggiev, a fellow Twitterer. The site has several short movie clips that deal with mathematics. Mathematics in Movies was created by Oliver Knill, from Harvard University. His site says that he will continue to add movie clips as he finds them. What a fun way to introduce a new math concept, or to spur a math journal entry. Thanks Oliver and @maggiev for this awesome site!