Ms. Tyson’s 8th grade Civics and Economics classes used Voice Thread to illustrate and narrate the civic responsiblities of American citizens. The students used iPhoto and Voice Thread to complete their projects.
Mrs. Jones’ 7th grade history classes created posters of various artists of the Harlem Renaissance. They used iPhoto and Microsoft Word to make their creations.
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 Mrs. Craver’s world history class, the children traveled back in time to ancient Mesopotamia (WHI.3) to serve as consultants to village elders who were confronting big problems with their food supplies. The kids analyzed information about the main problem in groups, then recommended a possible solution (critical thinking). The village elders (Mrs. Craver with the actual historical decision) then made their decisions based on the recommendations.
Since the students had recorded their own proposals and rationales rather than the historical decision, the teacher had them create a Comic Life to portray the actual series of problems and solutions from history. This was a cause and effect, review assignment used as a follow up activity to an experiential exercise in class.
Capzules.com allows for students to create interactive time lines. Students can add dates, sound, pictures, and summaries describing the important events. Here is a link to a time line created by a student in Ms. McInnis’ 7th grade Social Studies class.
[flashvideo file=http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/wilder/saunders_d/StudentSamples/InuitMovie.flv /]
Stupeflix.com is an online video creation tool that students can access for free. The example above is a student creation based on the Virginia Standards of Learning USI. 3a-b. The movie centers around the Inuit culture and highlights how the Inuit were able to use their environment in order to meet their basic needs. Stupeflix is best for its simplicity and is a valuable web 2.0 resource.
[flashvideo file=http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/wilder/saunders_d/StudentSamples/manifest.flv /]
The sixth grade at L. Douglas Wilder Middle School worked on an iMovie animation project using the online image editor splashup and iMovie. This movie correlates with SOL USI. 8a and allowed for students to illustrate and provide narration on how the United States came to be. The link listed below will take you to a website to further illustrate this process.
http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/wilder/saunders_d/Destiny/Animation/Home.html