After finishing my project, I feel great. I am happy to be able to find a story in my life to share. After finishing my project, suddenly I realized that I have many stories to tell and that they do not have to be big! Even small pieces of my life can be a basis for a Digital Storytelling!
Creating the story was time consuming. I was surprised how every time I was sure it is going to end, I had more things to edit or more additions to put in it (music, effects, etc.).
I am happy we had this experience and I am happy I have done the whole thing by myself - from finding and downloading the Movie Maker to the final product!
When corpora ting it in my classroom in the future, I think it is very important to have a strict plan and very clear steps. Otherwise, it will take forever! Especially for very young students, I think there should be a frame to which the story is to be inserted. I mean, some type of pattern that have certain structure or specific wording where the children can insert their personal narratives into.
I am curious to hear stories of teachers from our classroom who tried it with their children, or are going to try it!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Last week reflection
Last week, as always, we had some interesting resources and ideas of how to use technology in our classroom. The "Living Books" were fun. I liked the simplicity of applying it in class, having children creating a poem of their own!
The Web quest - it is great to have ready-made resources, but when I was looking for a language web quest, I only found a few, maybe 4 options to choose from. Most of the quests were in Spanish and one in French. I tried to take a look at the French one and didn't have much success in solving the question I tried... :-( However, I think their idea was pretty exciting: You are chosen to open a famous French restaurant, and have to construct the menu and some of the dishes. I think it is an original way of teaching basic language skills like foods. When I taught Hebrew, foods were one of the first vocabularies. I made a paper menu and the students and I pretended to be in a restaurant and play costumers and waiters. It was fun, but when I saw seeing the Web quest I thought to myself that this type of task can be very engaging and motivating, and at the end - you have your own 5 stars restaurant! It would be nice to learn how to plan such a web quest which will fit specific curriculum needs.
The web 2.0 second life - this is new to me and I have never tried it until we had the Club Penguin experience in class. I think it is amazing that you can create a whole 2nd virtual life...I started thinking how I will be able to incorporate it in the Literacy classroom, and I do not remember if it something I read in the article 2 weeks ago, or my own thoughts (or a mix of both) but it would be neat to create a world based on a book. Just for example - if the students read Harry Potter, it would be great to create a world of Hogwarts where the students become Hogwarts-students. In this world they would learn about different occurrences from the narrative, places and characters while spending time in this world.
Lastly, the Storyline online - I truly enjoyed it. It is so great to have actors read stories to kids. I remember myself sitting fascinated every Friday after school, when we had a TV show with an actor reading stories. With the stories being available for free online, children who do not have the patience to read a book, or have reading disabilities, can "read" a story or be exposed to literature. It is a wonderful website. I love it! I wish I had more time to explore it!
The Web quest - it is great to have ready-made resources, but when I was looking for a language web quest, I only found a few, maybe 4 options to choose from. Most of the quests were in Spanish and one in French. I tried to take a look at the French one and didn't have much success in solving the question I tried... :-( However, I think their idea was pretty exciting: You are chosen to open a famous French restaurant, and have to construct the menu and some of the dishes. I think it is an original way of teaching basic language skills like foods. When I taught Hebrew, foods were one of the first vocabularies. I made a paper menu and the students and I pretended to be in a restaurant and play costumers and waiters. It was fun, but when I saw seeing the Web quest I thought to myself that this type of task can be very engaging and motivating, and at the end - you have your own 5 stars restaurant! It would be nice to learn how to plan such a web quest which will fit specific curriculum needs.
The web 2.0 second life - this is new to me and I have never tried it until we had the Club Penguin experience in class. I think it is amazing that you can create a whole 2nd virtual life...I started thinking how I will be able to incorporate it in the Literacy classroom, and I do not remember if it something I read in the article 2 weeks ago, or my own thoughts (or a mix of both) but it would be neat to create a world based on a book. Just for example - if the students read Harry Potter, it would be great to create a world of Hogwarts where the students become Hogwarts-students. In this world they would learn about different occurrences from the narrative, places and characters while spending time in this world.
Lastly, the Storyline online - I truly enjoyed it. It is so great to have actors read stories to kids. I remember myself sitting fascinated every Friday after school, when we had a TV show with an actor reading stories. With the stories being available for free online, children who do not have the patience to read a book, or have reading disabilities, can "read" a story or be exposed to literature. It is a wonderful website. I love it! I wish I had more time to explore it!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
digital storytellong
I think I finally got something. It was so much more difficult than I thought it would be. I have read the instructions over and over again, starred at the story boards, visited CDS (http://www.storycenter.org/resources.html) and watched many other people's stories there (which finally got me depressed so I stopped. I have to add here that in spite of not seeing any humorous stories there, I recommend visiting this web site and watch some stories since they are performed so beautifully. "In my shoes" was my favorite). I looked at all the picture albums I have at home; thought of pictures I do not have with me here. I thought of events in my life. Nothing seemed to be interesting enough for other people to hear.
I think my story would be about a hot topic at our home those days. I realized that if it interests me - I may be able to make it interesting for my audience.
I think my story would be about a hot topic at our home those days. I realized that if it interests me - I may be able to make it interesting for my audience.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Main points on digital storytelling from readings
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.
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.
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 :-)
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