Ms. Myers 6th grade Reading class worked collaboratively using the ActivStudio software to summarize and illustrate the journal, Trapped By the Ice, written by Michael McCurdy. Their small group projects where then collected to form a short story video about the real-life story if Ernest Shackleton and the crew of the Endurance. Click on the links below to find out what happened to these brave men in 1914!
Ms. Alcazar used literature circles in her 6th grade reading classroom to allow students to openly discuss topics within the assigned book Surviving the Applewhites. After students read and discussed the book in class they were given the task of creating a digital project. Students were allowed to choose the media in which they would present the project but were asked to include the following criteria: book title and author, main character(s), conflict (and what type of conflict it is), important vocabulary words from the book, a one paragraph summary of the plot, using the words exposition, climax and resolution, a one paragraph review of the book – what was good or bad and why. The 1st picture is from an iMovie and the 2nd is from a keynote presentation.
Students in Ms. Mitchell’s physical science classes partnered up (collaboration) to create advertisements on various elements on the periodic table. Their task was to sell the element using persuasive techniques while providing factual scientific information on the element.
The groups of two had the freedom to choose either a radio or television advertisement. This lesson stressed to the students the difference between the two forms of advertising and allowed students to see the importance of audio and visual choices when creating these products. This student example was completed using iMovie combining both audio and visual components to sell the element, Helium.
[flv width="400" height="320"]http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/moody/jessup_k/helium.flv[/flv]
Students in Mrs. Clements’ 6th grade Gifted and Talented class worked together to create ad campaigns centered around a product of their choice. Students were organized into groups (“agencies”) that were responsible for creating an ad designed to sell their product. Students had to work together and effectively communicate key components of their product with a larger audience. In their groups, students created TV commercials, radio commercials, and billboards that highlighted their product. Once the products were created they had to share them in a professional and informative presentation.
This lesson allowed a wonderful opportunity for students to engage in a lesson that they could easily transfer into a “real world” context. Before creating their own campaigns, students used the internet to research PR firms, listen to adds, and generate ideas based on their findings. Technology enabled students to create multimedia products that were very professional. Students were engaged and excited about the unit.
Because students starred in their television commercials we will not be able to post them here, but can share some of their radio ad’s. We hope you enjoy!
“The Ultima Show” (Radio Ad)
[audio:http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/byrd/bostain_k/ultima.mp3]
“Groovy Gum” Bubblegum (Radio Ad)
[audio:http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/byrd/bostain_k/groovygum.mp3]
Miss Foley’s 7th grade social studies classes created talk shows and interviewed special guests, Andrew Carnegie or John Rockefeller (USII3.d). This assignment strengthened their research skills as they found information on their “special guest.” (research & information fluency) The students worked in groups and each assigned a different task. They had to learn to collaborate and rely on each other to get the job done in a timely manner. The roles included a web designer, video editor, and writer. (communication & collaboration)
The talkshows were video taped, uploaded on the student laptops, and edited by the students using iMovie. Once complete the videos then embedded onto a web page created using iWeb.
The 8th grade students in Ms. Cosby’s World History class became news anchors for WRMN Channel XII news for a day. Students formed small groups from the students in their class and collaborated on ideas of ways they could present the information they researched about a topic from Roman history. They were challenged to use their creativity and problem solving skills to communicate what they had learned about their topic and present the information in a way that was not only informative, but also entertaining. The groups then wrote scripts based on their ideas and video taped their presentations as if they were broadcasting the news live. The footage was then imported into iMovie where the groups worked together to edit and fine tune their final product.
Through this project, the students became more connected with the information they researched and learned how to work with others in an highly productive way.
In conjunction with their unit on The Diary of Anne Frank, Mrs. Hunnicutt’s advanced 8th grade English students researched and studied The Holocaust and other instances of genocide as a way to bring to life the idea of promoting dignity and respect among all people. For this unit, students completed a learning contract that offered a wide variety of topics of study topics and a wide variety of ways to demonstrate learning. Students were asked to utilize critical thinking and reading skills as well as a myriad of tools to create traditional as well as multimedia artifacts that demonstrated their knowledge and creativity.
Mrs. Hunicutt was consistently amazed and impressed by the depth of knowledge and feeling that students demonstrated in their projects from vodcasts about The Trail of Tears to original songs composed and recorded on Garageband, to scripted chapters of Elie Wiesel’s Night, to interviews with Holocaust survivors, to community service projects, to paintings and collages that profoundly communicate the pain and suffering caused by intolerance.
The SOLs covered by this project are as follows: 8.1, 8.2, 8.4, 8.6, 8.5 8.7
My Own Memory – Original Music Score
[audio:http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/byrd/bostain_k/myownmemory.mp3]
Why? – Original Music Score
[audio:http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/byrd/bostain_k/why.mp3]
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”
[flv]http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/staffdev/maddux_j/memoirspms.flv[/flv]
In Mrs. Murphy’s Computer Art class, students were to use stop frame animation to create a movie. Two 8th grade students spent countless hours preparing this one of a kind movie about taking care of a dog. They used many programs to create the final product including Photoshop and iMovie. Students were able to select the topic and collaborated with a partner. Students first brainstormed the script and story. They then began to develop the plot and the characters in the movie. Much attention was given to color and aesthetic appeal of the movie. This creative project took on a life of its own when students spent much of the time outside of class and school working on the movies. These students were selected to showcase the movie at TMS Apple School Night in the Apple Store at Short Pump TownCenter. Click here to view the movie.
[flashvideo file=http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/wilder/saunders_d/StudentSamples/Lifeishard.flv /]
Mr. Baker’s Civics and Economics Class at L. Douglas Wilder Middle School compiled a rap which focuses on today’s economy with an emphasis on the recession, opportunity costs, scarcity, and hope for the future. The class created the rap using garage band, and uploaded the final version to the web using iWeb.