Our First Attempt

We don’t have access to video cameras (yet…working on a grant). We did what we could with PhotoStory 3.

The Newbie’s Pages are now open

The Newbie’s Corner has been added as a new Blog where you can view trailers submitted by teachers and their students. as links Topic This Blog is open to registered subscribers. We do not charge for this service but keeping the pages private in order to keep the site safe from spammers.

The Newbie’s Forum is place where members can solicit feedback from the videos they have posted. We have also posted a rubric for you to use for this purpose. Registered members can post links to the URL where their trailers are posted. Usually this is your school’s Web page. If you would like for us to host the video, simply fill out the form on the Newbie’s Page and indicate the URL where we can view it. At your request we will host appropriate videos. To do this we will convert the files to Flash File formats to protect them from being appropriated without your permission and to make it easier for viewers to watch them without having to download anything to their computers.

If you cannot see this Blog, it is either because you are not logged in.

Trying it Out

We are just trying digital booktalks for the first time.  It seems as though the posts I have read are from people who have finished already so if you are reading this and have any advice, can foresee pitfalls to avoid or whatever, please jump in!  I am a teacher-librarian and I am working with the grade 3/4 teacher and her class. 

They just finished an easy chapter book entitled, “Marvin Redpost: Why Pick on Me?”.  As they were working through the novel, the class came to the library to learn about theme.  We used poetry and pulled out themes from various poems.  The classroom teacher and I took the theme and content from one poem and acted out a scene to illustrate this.  Then we had the class identify the themes from other poems with us, then in groups.  Finally, we asked them to illustrate a  poem through drama. 

They did this with varying degrees of success.  Some acted out the whole poem, missing the point.  Some created an effective tableau but completely baffled the rest of the class.  They all had fun, however.

The next sequence of lessons we tried was with the use of picture books.  The teacher and I demonstrated a short skit illustrating the essence of the picture book.  The kids guessed what the book would be about and then we read it aloud.  After we read, we discussed other ways we could have illustrated the book through drama.  Then we read a second story to the kids.  It had a similar theme.  The kids broke into groups and each group tried to dramatize the book into a “trailer”. 

We quickly identified that while the theme gets us started and gives us the essence of our scene, it is essential that the “problem” of the story is presented.  The kids revised their skits and re-enacted the scenes. 

Some problems we encountered:  difficult to hear, no expression on faces/bodies/voices, leaps of understanding (assuming the audience knows something they cannot possibly know).

We are now ready to work with the novel.  Any suggestions?

Thanks,  Holly

Forum changed

The forum has been changed from bbpress to simplepress.  It appears that the intergration breaks with wordpress 2.6.  This means you might have to delete your cookies for this site to get it to work properly.

Success!

Great site, current, supported by research and fun to use with students!!!