I put this post mainly for myself. I thought it would be nice to have an online access to main ideas of our readings regarding storytelling, and that my blog would be a convenient place for me to have it.
So here it is. Just a few excerpts:
G. Bull and S. Kajder (2004). Digital Storytelling in the language arts classroom. Learning & Leading with Technology Volume 32 Number 4.
A digital story consists of a series of
still images combined with a narrated
soundtrack to tell a story
The digital story reveals the
writer, as opposed to offering facts
about a distanced topic.
An effective digital story works
to pursue, discover, and communicate
new understanding that is rooted in
who we are as humans.
The process of digital storytelling
allows students to record themselves
narrating their own scripts.
There is no substitute for using your
own voice to tell your story.
It is important to address copyright
when music is employed. Some
sites such as the Creative Commons
offer music that can be legally downloaded
and used for educational applications.
the following sequence of steps works well:
1. Write an initial script.
2. Plan an accompanying storyboard.
3. Discuss and revise the script.
4. Sequence the images in the
video editor.
5. Add the narrative track.
6. Add special effects and transitions.
7. Add a soundtrack if time permits.
It can provide a voice to struggling readers and writers
who might not otherwise find
an authentic means of expression.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
A few comments about articles
I would like to comment about 2 last week's readings.
It very interesting to read about the original ways teachers incorporated technology and literacy, and got me thinking about future teaching ideas of my own.
The first article - See Jane Read - See Johnny Write - a wonderful idea which involves developing older students tech and writing skills while presenting fun reading to the young ones. I believe that not only 10Th and 11Th graders can produce children stories by using Power Point, but younger students can do it as well (as we seen from Dr. Schmidt's elementary school children's books).
The second article is Writing the Book on Online Literature Circles. It is a great idea to have someone outside the classroom (preservice teachers) to mentor students with reading difficulties. I can certainly understand the pleasure and motivation of the students when having someone other than their group and teacher to tutor them! Like one of the students said - it feels like receiving a letter - it is exciting.
In another class I am taking those days we were discussing Where is today's students motivation? If we teachers provide opportunities for increased learning motivation among our students - we are doing a great work.
It very interesting to read about the original ways teachers incorporated technology and literacy, and got me thinking about future teaching ideas of my own.
The first article - See Jane Read - See Johnny Write - a wonderful idea which involves developing older students tech and writing skills while presenting fun reading to the young ones. I believe that not only 10Th and 11Th graders can produce children stories by using Power Point, but younger students can do it as well (as we seen from Dr. Schmidt's elementary school children's books).
The second article is Writing the Book on Online Literature Circles. It is a great idea to have someone outside the classroom (preservice teachers) to mentor students with reading difficulties. I can certainly understand the pleasure and motivation of the students when having someone other than their group and teacher to tutor them! Like one of the students said - it feels like receiving a letter - it is exciting.
In another class I am taking those days we were discussing Where is today's students motivation? If we teachers provide opportunities for increased learning motivation among our students - we are doing a great work.
Monday, October 20, 2008
podcasting idea
After catching up a little bit from last week, and watching a few podcasts for kids, I had an idea of one way to use podcasting for a particular project. This project is done in Israel every year for long time by 6th graders. I have done it myself when in the 6th grade and recently I saw my cousin's project. His project looked much more professional, typed and printed by computer whereas mine was hand written. However, both projects were wrapped in a binder, the same old fashioned way of handing a paper.
This big project is called "Roots" and its purpose is to research the family history. Through this research the students, many times, discover many interesting facts about themselves, their family members and the historical period in which they lived in.
Since this research involves a lot of family members interviewing and pictures, I think it can be a great candidate for podcasting. A student could post some audios or videos of his family members' interviews along with their pictures, as well as reading what he learned about them. Since podcasts are portable, the child's family members can watch and listen to it, and have a wonderful souvenir about their family history for years to come.
This big project is called "Roots" and its purpose is to research the family history. Through this research the students, many times, discover many interesting facts about themselves, their family members and the historical period in which they lived in.
Since this research involves a lot of family members interviewing and pictures, I think it can be a great candidate for podcasting. A student could post some audios or videos of his family members' interviews along with their pictures, as well as reading what he learned about them. Since podcasts are portable, the child's family members can watch and listen to it, and have a wonderful souvenir about their family history for years to come.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Learning in Hand lesson plan: Aesop’s Fables for 3rd grade
I like reading Fables and I chose this lesson plan since it directly involves reading. This is a lesson plan that is targeted for 3rd graders. In this lesson, after the teacher beams the fables to the child's palm, students have to choose one fable, read it to a partner, then, to work in pairs to compare the two fables via Ven diagrams. After that, they use PiCoMap individually/in pairs to make a traits diagram for the fables and then as a class, make a fable traits diagram and display in their room. Lastly (and my most favorite part) - students perform a reader’s theater for their kindergarten reading buddies.
To conclude, in this lesson students discover the characteristics of a fable, compare and contrast two fables, recognize the moral of the fable read, and perform fables in a reader’s theater.
It is not written how much time this lesson plan should take but I imagine that it consists of at least two lessons.
I liked many things about this lesson plan. First, working in pairs is important since students are able to teach and learn from each other. Second, this lesson addresses many Intelligences, thus truly engaging as many students as possible. In addition,the idea of hosting a theater play for their kindergarten buddies is a great way to take an active part in a story they read and make this experience significant, fun and memorable. But most important for our purpose - teaching children that they can use technology for reading a book is unbelievably simple yet remarkable! I think that the idea of reading e-books teaches children that they can read everywhere and any time and that reading is easy and enjoyable. They learn that even if they do not want to go to the library, they can still read books.
The more I think about it the more I like it. I think e-books are great especially for Iowan kids who experience those cold-cold winters. In addition to watching TV and playing computer games while getting lazy to bundle up to get outside, there is a great option of using technology for literacy purposes - READING!
I went "out" to the www to search some children's e-books and found that there are many websites which offer free e-books. I even found an international website with books from all over the world (take a look: http://www.icdlbooks.org/icdl/SearchWorld)!
Now, after getting so excited about it, I only have to learn how to download the e-books to the Palms :-)
To conclude, in this lesson students discover the characteristics of a fable, compare and contrast two fables, recognize the moral of the fable read, and perform fables in a reader’s theater.
It is not written how much time this lesson plan should take but I imagine that it consists of at least two lessons.
I liked many things about this lesson plan. First, working in pairs is important since students are able to teach and learn from each other. Second, this lesson addresses many Intelligences, thus truly engaging as many students as possible. In addition,the idea of hosting a theater play for their kindergarten buddies is a great way to take an active part in a story they read and make this experience significant, fun and memorable. But most important for our purpose - teaching children that they can use technology for reading a book is unbelievably simple yet remarkable! I think that the idea of reading e-books teaches children that they can read everywhere and any time and that reading is easy and enjoyable. They learn that even if they do not want to go to the library, they can still read books.
The more I think about it the more I like it. I think e-books are great especially for Iowan kids who experience those cold-cold winters. In addition to watching TV and playing computer games while getting lazy to bundle up to get outside, there is a great option of using technology for literacy purposes - READING!
I went "out" to the www to search some children's e-books and found that there are many websites which offer free e-books. I even found an international website with books from all over the world (take a look: http://www.icdlbooks.org/icdl/SearchWorld)!
Now, after getting so excited about it, I only have to learn how to download the e-books to the Palms :-)
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Palm OS
I have to write about the experience with the OS palm - it was fun and useful and time - saving!!!
I was so happy to be able to do my assignment right after class, on my way to the bus and until I got home. This is a huge advantage of the handheld device!
I was so happy to be able to do my assignment right after class, on my way to the bus and until I got home. This is a huge advantage of the handheld device!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Ambiguous Ubiquitous computing and gadgets
After reading the articles for tonight I feel very much behind in terms of familiarity with various gadgets as well as with few technological terms.
The terms Web 2.0 and Handhelds where new to me and I know I am behind with operating Palm OS, Pocket PC (how do I create electron cal work sheets?), i pods, and the new generation cellular phones with regard to what is written in the Learning while Mobile article.
Realizing that, showed me how many teachers maybe behind with relation to new technologies and in order for them to integrate technology into their curriculum - there is a big gap to overcome.
I am not THAT old and already have so much to learn about it... I think Digital Boom (Kettere, 2006) is just the right term here and although not being a practicing teacher right now, I can totally understand that these are demanding times for schools and the added strain that new media literacy place on education is not making life any easier (Van't Hooft, 2008).
I am very happy to have the opportunity to learn about new technologies and learn the tools for the purpose of integrating it into my future classroom curriculum. I hope we will have the chance to learn a bit how to operate Pocket PC'S, since the article about Personal Literacy Assistants (Baumbach, Christopher, Fasimpaur and Oliver, 2004), got me curious.
Regarding the article Learning while mobile - I think the option to take our studies outside the classroom walls is very exciting. As a studend in Israel we used to go out to Museums and other field trips, then talk about it in the classroom. However, the option of creating Web-based galleries to share with others sounds exciting to me. In Israel almost everyone has a mobile phone. Many times there are more than one phone per person, including children who have phones of their own. As much as I personally resist using mobile phones for talking because of health issues, (especially for kids), taking photos with it is less harmful. Moreover, it can be a fun experience and contribute to the students' desire to learn more in depth in order to be able to create a good, sharable web-based art gallery. This idea turns the Museum visit from a passive visual experience into an active, hands on, engaging practice.
The terms Web 2.0 and Handhelds where new to me and I know I am behind with operating Palm OS, Pocket PC (how do I create electron cal work sheets?), i pods, and the new generation cellular phones with regard to what is written in the Learning while Mobile article.
Realizing that, showed me how many teachers maybe behind with relation to new technologies and in order for them to integrate technology into their curriculum - there is a big gap to overcome.
I am not THAT old and already have so much to learn about it... I think Digital Boom (Kettere, 2006) is just the right term here and although not being a practicing teacher right now, I can totally understand that these are demanding times for schools and the added strain that new media literacy place on education is not making life any easier (Van't Hooft, 2008).
I am very happy to have the opportunity to learn about new technologies and learn the tools for the purpose of integrating it into my future classroom curriculum. I hope we will have the chance to learn a bit how to operate Pocket PC'S, since the article about Personal Literacy Assistants (Baumbach, Christopher, Fasimpaur and Oliver, 2004), got me curious.
Regarding the article Learning while mobile - I think the option to take our studies outside the classroom walls is very exciting. As a studend in Israel we used to go out to Museums and other field trips, then talk about it in the classroom. However, the option of creating Web-based galleries to share with others sounds exciting to me. In Israel almost everyone has a mobile phone. Many times there are more than one phone per person, including children who have phones of their own. As much as I personally resist using mobile phones for talking because of health issues, (especially for kids), taking photos with it is less harmful. Moreover, it can be a fun experience and contribute to the students' desire to learn more in depth in order to be able to create a good, sharable web-based art gallery. This idea turns the Museum visit from a passive visual experience into an active, hands on, engaging practice.
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