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Assignment Title: Online instructional video
Uses in the Classroom: This is a supplemental instructional video for teaching bar graphs to third graders. This video should not be used instead of instruction but alongside instruction for reinforcement and clear, concise visuals. This is a lesson I did on the white board every year, reviewing scale and the difference between and the total amount of things represented in the bar graph. It's nice to have it in video form not only for the initial lessons but also for putting it on a blog for parents to be able to view it so they can help with homework; it would be helpful for end of the year review as well.
Other things that this video could lead into would be students taking their own surveys and making their own bar graphs on paper or on the computer. Then they could come up with three questions to ask about their bar graph which could then be exchanged with a partner to answer the questions.
Issues to Consider: Lessons should already have been taught so the students are familiar with the vocabulary and the general idea of bar graphs. There needs to be a way for students to view the video either individually on computers or on a projector.
Copyright: There are no copyrighted media objects in this, I made the graphs and video myself with PowerPoint, CamStudio, and Windows Live Movie Maker to edit the two sections together.
Assignment: Screencast tutorial
Uses in Classroom: This was something that I actually did without a screencast for my classes. My kids were pretty tech savvy, we would head to the computer lab at least once a week starting the first week of school. They were good with Word by the end of the first month among other programs that were used at our school. They also had a "technology" special once a week starting in first grade and every year beyond to fifth (at least at our school). So this screencast was something I did verbally with the children.
Doing this as a screencast would have saved a ton of time. I could show it on the projector and pause where I needed to, to make sure the kids were keeping up. I would make it available so they could find it if they needed to re-watch to remember how to do something. I would try to make it available so they could watch it at home, too.
Issues to consider: Making sure the students are already familiar with the basics. I spent a whole lesson, before this particular screencast would be used, on how each student could find their file on the server and how to save to that file, as well as retrieve a previously saved document from their file.
Copyright: My voice, using Microsoft Word and CamStudio recorder.
(You can make this High Def and full screen and it looks beautious :)
First of all I would like to state that I will not be using my dogs for every assignment, I promise. :) It just worked out well this way this time. Secondly, I had a lot of fun doing this assignment and I really think it can be used for such a variety of things. Photo Story made it super easy.
Assignment: Digital Storytelling
Uses in the Classroom: There are a ton but for this assignment I wanted to focus on writing. Narrative writing and being able to identify story elements such as setting, characters, point of view, and transition words is all part of the third grade curriculum in both GA and MI. Using Photo Story the kids will see their stories come to life and I think it will engage them more in the writing process.
My idea for this would be to use this as an example story for the kids to read along with and then fill out a sheet identifying parts of the story such as setting, dialogue, and inferring what the characters are feeling. Then, in groups or individually, they would write their own story, being mindful of all the same elements, and then take pictures using a digital camera for their Photo Story.
Pictures could be kids acting scenes out in the classroom, using stuffed animals to act scenes out, or finding supplemental pictures from valid sites such as Pics4Learning.
A few Michigan GLCE this would cover:
Issues to Consider: All stories will need to go through the writing process, including being evaluated by the teacher for appropriateness and picture validity. Time will need to be spent showing the students how I created my Photo Story so they know the steps in creating theirs.
Time is a factor to consider. Time to take the pictures/find the pictures, and put it together in Photo Story.
Availability of digital cameras. At my old school we had plenty that could be checked out but it is expensive equipment for children to handle. Consider having the children set the scenes while the teacher takes the photos. It would also be best for the teacher to download the photos to an appropriate place for the students to access in the computer lab.
Copyright:For my Photo Story, all photos were taken by me. The music was provided from the Classical section of Photo Story's "create music" part of the program.
Assignment: Talking photograph
Uses in the Classroom: Each student will pick a picture and come up with five nouns, five verbs, and five adjectives that are found in that picture. Students will be able to recognize and classify the different parts of speech in an image. They will record their findings over the picture in fotobabble.
Issues to Consider: A microphone is needed to record the student voices. Each student needs a picture, either from home or provided by the teacher, with no copyright infringement of the images. Practicing online and a copy in front of the children when they record is also a good idea.
Copyright: The image was taken by my sister for me, it is a family photo.
This will be my blog portfolio for EDU 642: Instructional Multimedia. This is a test run post to make sure everything looks nice and pretty. I look forward to adding to it as the semester goes on.
Me, my sister, my dogs from Christmas. Mia is the black one, Bailey is the brindle, Tilwyn, the family dog, is the Westie.
Mia and Bailey, my baby girls. Yes, I make them do this every Christmas. They love it, if you can't tell. :)
