Digital Citizenship - From Research to iMovie Infomercials

We did it!  This week our 5th graders finished our Digital Citizenship Project!  It was a big project, so it was a long time in coming together.  Student began researching using several search terms - Digital Citizenship, Internet Safety for Kids, and Online Ettiquette.  With such big topics, it required a great deal of discussion, research, and data gathering.   Once the research was finished, student divided the topics, planned and created commercials using their research.  They used the iMovie App to put it all together.   The proof of their hard work is in their products, and now it is time to share with others!  Just take a look at a few examples...

4th Graders Dive Into Fiction Genres

Finding a really good book can be such a joy!  Helping students find that joy is one of my greatest professional pleasures.  But sometimes I think the greater triumph is helping them find "their genre".  Genre, simply defined, is a category.  Helping students discover the category of book that suits them will help them find books they love for the rest of their lives.  Book formats, whether it be paperback, eBook or some future format that is yet to be conceived, may come and go, but a person's favorite genre is often the same throughout their lives.

So I asked our 4th graders to help me identify the genres they had experienced.   Together we brainstormed examples of each.   I then asked them to research other book titles that fit into each genre.  We put together advertisements for each genre using the iPad app PicCollage.

Students took the information they had gained from our brainstorming session and used it to create videos about a selected genre.  Here is their inspired work using the iPad app iMovie.

1st Graders Create Their First Caldecott iMovie

As a followup to reading this year's Caldecott award winning books, each of the 1st graders put together their own iMovie!  It gave them an opportunity to learn how to create a video in iMovie.  For their movies, they learned how to add images of the books and reorder them based on their preferences. They recorded their voices, took "selfies", added background music and even learned how to manage the Ken Burn scrolling effect.  It was a great learning adventure!!

Screencasting in Quicktime - Who Knew!!!

Here are the step-by-step instructions for screencasting in Quicktime!  Check it out!

And The Winner Is....Green...at Least at OHE!

Every year, the nation's childrens' librarians wait for the announcement of the year's Caldecott award winning books. These books are considered by some to be the year's best children's picture books.  This year, when the nominees where announced, I quickly ordered each of them on Amazon.  While I awaited their arrival, I created a YouTube playlist of the book trailers for each book. Once the1st graders viewed the trailers, they joined my enthusiasm!

We decided to take our own class vote to determine who we wanted to win.  I created a simple survey in Google Forms to gather our votes.  First graders gave the first place award to the book Green. On January 28, the Caldecott winner was announced and the winner was This Is Not My Hat.  Oh well...we like that one too!

Google Blogger

When I began asking students to respond to questions on a blog I created using Blogger - a Google free application, I was excited to try something new with students. Along the way, I found that it was an excellent way to publish students writing.  The students immediately "bought in" to the thought of having their words online.  I found that they didn't want to stop writing!!  They were keenly aware that their audience just grew.  It just doesn't get better than that!  Next I would like to have each student have their own blog with posts reflecting their learning from a variety of subjects. 

Presidental Election Comes to Oak Hills - November 2012

The 2012 Presidential Election Comes to Oak Hills! by Slidely - Slideshow maker