HCPS Middle School

The students in Mr. Cross’ 8th grade English class spent some time studying abridgements. (Specifically- The Princess Bride)  After finishing their study, they were given the task of taking one of the Grimm, Perault, or Anderson  fairy tales and abridging it.  In groups, they wrote, directed, filmed, edited, and starred in their own “abridged” versions of the fairy tales.  Students used iMovie to create their movies.  Here is an example from a group that abridged “Little Red Riding Hood”

Popularity: 12% [?]

Students in Mrs. Deyo’s 6th grade English classes spent some time writing poetry based on paintings currently featured at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.  Their poems were based on the point of view of a “character” in the painting or on the point of view of the artist. After writing their poem, students recorded it into GarageBand and added music that matched the tone of their poem and painting.  Here is an example based on the painting by Eastman Johnson called “A Ride to Liberty- The Fugitive Slaves, March 2, 1862″

Popularity: 8% [?]

The students in Mrs. Sommer’s 8th grade English classes were asked to write a memoir of an experience in their life.  This experience needed to have a lasting impact on their lives.  After writing this, the students proceeded to create digital stories based on their memoir.  During their story, they needed to find a creative way to tell the “lesson” they learned through the experience.  Students used iMovie and iPhoto to create their movies.  Here is an example from an 8th grade girl that learned that “No one is perfect”

Popularity: 9% [?]

The students in Mr. Conway’s 7th grade social studies classes were asked to create a presentation using the free online application- VoiceThread

Their assignment was  2 part.  First, they had to to recite the preamble and find pictures that appropriately represented its meaning.  All of this was recorded into VoiceThread.  Then, they listened to each other’s presentations and commented on them through text, audio recording and video recording.  Here is an example:

Popularity: 10% [?]

Through the study of the Great Depression and the New Deal, Mr. Conway’s 7th grade students discovered radio broadcasts that President Roosevelt created to address the American people.  These were called “Fireside Chats.”  Students then wrote and recorded their own “Fireside Chat”  (using GarageBand) to discuss a specific topic that they supported.  The following is an example:
http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/staffdev/maddux_j/7_Cook.flv

Popularity: 12% [?]