Illustrating the Elements of Poetry with Technology June 23, 2008
Posted by Dottie Black in : Events, Projects, Rogers-Herr Middle School, Uncategorized, Video , 1 comment so farThis is a description of a project Ms. Spataro did with her 7th grade language arts classes.
Poetry Project using Movie Maker:
This year I decided to assign my students a project to complete after the End of Grade (EOG) tests. Each year the last two-three weeks of school is hard to accomplish something because the EOG signify the end of the school year for the children and they are less likely to complete standard class assignments. This year I tried a different route.
We were in the middle of our poetry unit when the EOG’s were scheduled. I always like to have the children create their own poetry to demonstrate their understanding of the literary elements that make up poetry. Typically, I have them complete a poetry book with a class element that they have to take home to remember the year by. This year I decided to have them do something different. I noticed that anytime we added the element of technology to a lesson or project, the kids were more engaged and willing to complete the assignment. Engaged is what I wanted them to be during these few weeks that they are normally in “shut-down mode.” So, I designed a poetry project that required the children to create a piece of poetry that included the literary elements I would normally require them to demonstrate, but add four additional steps. First, they would need to find pictures that displayed and demonstrated the theme of the stanza. They were required to write a five-stanza poem, which would then require 5 pictures: one for each stanza. We used www.freefoto.com to find pictures. This site allowed the pictures to be used for educational purposes without being sited back to the site. Second, the students went to www.freeplaymusic.com to choose an instrumental music track that related to the mood or tone the students wanted their audience to feel while viewing their project and reading their poem. Next, the students put the first three steps (poem, pictures, and music) together using Windows Movie Maker. Finally, students recorded themselves reading their poem and added this to their presentation.
While completing this project, I noticed that the students really enjoyed it. I didn’t hear the normal complaints of “Why do we have to do this?” “School is over, why are we still working.” They dug in and were excited to put together this visual and auditory representation of their thoughts. A lot of the poems the children wrote were about what they were dealing with at the time in regards to their peers. Many students wrote about finding love or being picked on by their classmates. Others wrote silly poems that reflected their individual personalities. It was amazing to see what the kids were thinking and feeling. Things we as teachers sometimes miss or don’t notice as we interact with them all year.
Another quality that was noted was the children who normally don’t do well on standard writing projects really excelled with this project. They created a high quality poetry piece which would have only been sub-standard if it was just hand written. In most of these cases, these students were the first to complete their project. These students were asked and gladly accepted to help walk their classmates through the steps of converting their project into a video and then importing the video into a new project in order to record their voice. These children, who in most cases sat on the sidelines most of the year, stood out as being an expert. It really made them feel important and special.
Since this project was assigned during the last few weeks of school we had several schedule disruptions that took time from class . At our school we have a class period called Core Plus. This is a class like study hall that students can work on homework; receive extra help, read a book, etc. During this time, I took groups of children to the computer lab to give them extra time to work on their projects. Each morning I had students come up to me and beg to be able to go work on their project. At the end of each class period they would also ask if I could put them on the list for the next morning. The kids were so involved in this project that they wanted to come work during a period that by this time in the school year meant “free time.” They all wanted to finish their projects and to proud of what they accomplished. This was really nice to see from a teacher’s standpoint.
All in all, I think this project was a huge success and will definitely use it again. The children were engaged at a time in the year where everything around them was being brought to a close. There were no disruptions, behaviorally that normally may have happened. Finally, the kids completed a project that was creative, included all the elements they enjoy (music, pictures, and individualized thoughts). This year, language arts ended with a movie day of our poetry videos that were enjoyed, celebrated, and appreciated.
Argh-It’s fun to learn about Pirates and Technology-Ms. Daquano’s 3rd Graders make a movie June 3, 2008
Posted by Dottie Black in : George Watts Montessori Magnet, Projects, Video , add a commentThe inspiration for this project came from Time Warp Trio: The Not So Jolly Roger by Jon Scieszka. My third graders became very curious about the real Blackbeard after reading this book during their guided reading unit. Each of them researched Blackbeard on the computer and produced 5 facts about him. They shared their findings with each other, but still had many questions about him.
This is where the movie came into play. They each wrote down one question they still had about Blackbeard. I researched the answers and wrote it into a script as if the kids were interviewing Blackbeard. A fellow coworker agreed to play the role of Blackbeard (hidden behind a screen).His identity was a surprise. My students asked him their questions and used an Ipod to record the interview.
After listening to their interview, they found pictures on the internet of Blackbeard that would fit their answers. They came up with a script to put at the beginning and made up a song for the end of the movie. They even created their own story about being the last buccaneers to interview Blackbeard before he died. I used Audacity to edit the interview and placed the edited sound and pictures into Frames to make the movie.
Here is the result:
Fun with Claymation May 7, 2008
Posted by Dottie Black in : Morehead Montessori, Schools, Technology , add a commentI have been working with Ms. Kelly’s 3rd graders on a claymation project. They are creating short animations about fractions. William and Hannah are one of the teams.
Hannah and William decided what their Movie would be about.
Then they drew a storyboard.
They created a set and chose the characters.
They worked together as a team to shoot each individual frame for the movie.Here is their final product.
Save the Lakewood Y did just that! May 5, 2008
Posted by Dottie Black in : Lakewood Elementary School, Projects, Uncategorized , add a commentBack in September, I met with one of my new teachers,Libby Montagne from Lakewood Elementary. She told me she was working with a group of her students to help save the Lakewood YMCA. The YMCA board was trying to sell the building and Durham would lose a fantastic community resource. I suggested that her students use a WIKI to document what they were doing.
Last week it was announced that the building will be shared by a new Durham Public Schools Montessori middle school and the YMCA. A win-win-win situation for the YMCA,Durham Public Schools and the Lakewood community.
Congratulations to Ms. Montagne and her students for helping be a part of the process.
Ms. Franklin’s 2nd Graders Learn About Sound April 9, 2008
Posted by Dottie Black in : Lakewood Elementary School, Technology , add a commentKindergarten isn’t what it used to be. April 8, 2008
Posted by Dottie Black in : Morehead Montessori, Technology , add a commentMs. Sander’s Kindergartner’s created multimedia alphabet books using Pixie 2 from Tech4learning.
Anna’s Project
Isaac’s project
2008 Technology Showcase March 24, 2008
Posted by Dottie Black in : Events, Teacher Resources, Technology, Uncategorized , add a commentAll I can say is WOW! We had a great turnout for the second annual Durham Public Schools Technology Showcase. All the reviews have been very positive and we are so proud of all the teachers and students who worked hard on projects to present.
On a Quest to solve problems March 23, 2008
Posted by Dottie Black in : Rogers-Herr Middle School, Teacher Resources, Technology , add a commentQuest Atlantis (QA) is an international learning and teaching project that uses a 3D multi-user environment to immerse children, ages 9-15, in educational tasks. QA combines strategies used in the commercial gaming environment with lessons from educational research on learning and motivation. It allows users to travel to virtual places to perform educational activities (known as Quests), talk with other users and mentors, and build virtual personae. Explore our site and learn more about this exciting project. To learn more about this program click here.
Hear Gavin (A Rogers-Herr Middle School Student) talk about his Quest Atlantis Missions:
WIKI WIKI December 10, 2007
Posted by Dottie Black in : Teacher Resources, Technology, Uncategorized , add a commentWhat the heck is a wiki anyway? Simply put, a wiki is a webpage that can be authored by as many people who want to add to it. For example, a teacher can set up a wiki and have all of the students in the class be authors. There are ways to track who adds to the wiki and the administrator decides who can author and who can view the site. Here is an example of a wiki done by a fifth grade class about the book Turn Homeward, Hannalee.
Activeboards part 2 December 10, 2007
Posted by Dottie Black in : Uncategorized , add a commentI happened to stop into Ms. Steven’s 7th grade social studies class while she was using her new activeboard. I shot a short video of her teaching.
