DST Lesson

Storybird Example

Above is a link to an example of a storybird.com book that I created. It is an example of the end product that will result from the DST lesson I created for first grade students. For the lesson, students will use storybird to engage in prewriting activities, create a story on the website, revise and edit it with the help of the teacher, and publish it so that their classmates can enjoy their story! For more information on storybird, check out this prezi I made.

Green Screen

Today in class we got to try our hand at the art of Chroma Key, or "green screen." Our objective was to find a background video in youtube and to film ourselves in front of the green screen so that we would "fit" into that video. I was really excited about this project when it was presented. I wanted to put myself into a walk through the rainforest, in a jeep on a safari, in an empty seat on a roller coaster, a surfboard or, what I ultimately chose, running with the bulls.

Once I began searching for a video to use for the background, I found that my perfectionist tendencies kicked in. I had a hard time finding a video in which I would "fit" in. I wanted it to look like I was naturally in the video. I had to come to the realization that this was not going to happen. It was going to be extraordinarily difficult for me to look like I was really in the video. Once I let go of the idea that I had to fit into the video, I actually had a lot of fun finding video options!

Recording in front of the green screen was a blast! I was surprised at how easy it was to merge my green screen film and the youtube background video using iMovie. I really enjoyed this project and would LOVE to do it with my students at school.

20% Time

Part of our grade for this course is called “20% Time.” For this assignment, our only requirement is to work on what we are passionate about and can tie into technology in some way. This project also counts for 20% of our grade. I know that the ambiguity associated with this project has caused some fellow students stress, but I actually loved working with the loose guidelines to create a project that I was really excited about.

I actually got the idea from a fellow classmate, Dave. I decided to use imovie to create a video for parents to view on Curriculum Night. I used a flip video camera to interview each of my first grade students as they told their parents what they would need to know about first grade and what they enjoyed doing at school. Of course their answers were adorable (although not always quite on topic). I then used imovie to create a video on their responses. I was not too familiar with imovie before doing this project, but I found it to be pretty user friendly and, with the help of some online “how to” videos, I was able to create a video that I was proud to show parents at Curriculum Night.

Needless to say, the parents loved watching the video and I loved that the kids were involved in preparing for the evening. It was a success for all and I look forward to doing this project with my class again in the future.

The Door Scene Project

Editing the Door Scene Project

This week we had the opportunity to export our door scene project from the iPad to an iMac and do some editing in iMovie. I was really excited about editing, with creative thoughts of eerie sound effects, choppy transitions to create tension, and super close ups to show more suspense.

Although I had a lot of fun working with iMovie, I found it really difficult to create the images that I wanted. When recording the video using the iMovie app on the iPad, the app automatically adds transition between clips. I was not able to delete those transitions when working on the iMac. I split clips many times in many places, but was never able to rid the clips of the ghost images of transitions past- those from the iPad app, that is. I spent the time allotted in class working with my video. You can see the fruits of my labor in the video with this post. The editing is okay, but I feel that with more experience and time I could have added so much more interest to our video through the editing process.

iPad App Review

Story Wheel

Rating: 5 / 5 stars

Story Wheel is a great digital storytelling application for the iPad or iPhone. The basic version of this fun and educational app is free and is great for all ages. Once you have downloaded the app, simple tap “create a story” and choose a theme. Although the “story teller” theme is free, additional themes including space, knights and princesses, and pirates, cost an additional $0.99 each.

Once you have chosen a theme, you can add 1-4 players. Once you have chosen your players, the story wheel will appear on the screen. The player one will spin the wheel to get a picture. Player one then thinks of something to say, taps the “record” button, and has up to 30 seconds to record a narration. If player one is happy with what he/she recorded, click “next player” to move on. If he/she is not happy with the narration, there is an option to redo the recording. Keep spinning and recording for up to 12 pictures. Once your story is complete, tap “done.” You now have the option to add a title and save your story. Afterward you can listen to your complete story with the animated images from the wheel playing on the screen. All saved stories are saved on the main page of the app under the section “listen to stories.”

Pros:

- Great way for kids to practice the art of storytelling by adding a beginning, middle and end

- Improves oral language skills

- Since you are recording and listening to your own voice, it is a fun way to teach kids to tell stories with fluency and expression

- The free version is robust and will provide hours of fun

- The additional themes are inexpensive

- No objectionable material- appropriate for young kids and classrooms

- Promotes creativity and imaginative play

- Encourages collaboration when creating a group story

Cons:

- Once you’ve spun the wheel, you cannot skip a picture; you are stuck with your spin

Image: Story Wheel www.storywheelapp.com

The Door Scene Project, Parts 2 and 3

After “completing” the Door Scene Project, we were surprised to find that it was only step 1, we still had many steps to complete! For step 2 we took some time to storyboard our scenes, fleshing out the scripts and adding details to create an even better short video. Once the storyboarding was complete, we were thrown for another loop- for step 3 we had to exchange our storyboards with a classmate and, without any discussion, we had to create someone else’s digital story solely from their storyboard! We were not allowed to add, change or enhance the storyboard at all. We were to read their storyboard and film it exactly as written.

This proved to be very difficult. I read through the storyboard that I was given several times, but I did not understand the vision of the group who created it. In the end, we filmed it as it was written, but I am sure that the end result was not what the writers’ had in mind. Although step 3 was a tough challenge, it provided an excellent learning opportunity. We all instantly realized just how important it is to create a detailed storyboard, so detailed that anyone who picks it up will be able to create our vision. This project was a challenge and a great learning experience.