Beginning of the year activity

Make a movie using iMovie on iPads or Clipchamp on Chromebooks where students (depending on how old they are as to how many of the below options they cover)

• identify what their goals are for the year
• what do they think the year is going to be like
• what are they are watching on TV
• what are they reading
• what games they are playing
• what their favourite pastime is
• who their friends are

Students can do this again at the end of the year and make a comparison between what they said at the beginning of the year and the end of the year. They could talk about whether they achieved their goals for the year. Students will get a great kick out of seeing how much they have changed in a year.

Reading Activity Idea using QR codes and movie making

Create a book trailer in iMovie using the Trailer option which makes it approximately a minute long

• advertise the book for others to read
• tell the synopsis of the story
• explain one part of the story in more detail

Create the graphics by using the Free Adobe Illustrator Draw app. Follow instructions for how to use the app on this post 'Creating Clipart, Cartoons and Avatars'.






Once the movie is made and uploaded to a Youtube channel, copy the Youtube URL and make a QR code of it on QRStuff

Print out the QR code and stick it to the cover of the book. Build up a series of books that are kept in the Library.

Webcams and Kids

With the latest of rollouts of laptops a lot of them have webcams built into them and I am amazed at how many teachers do not realise that they are there! (Apples have had them forever!) This is a valuable resource that you can use with your children.

• read your story to the camera, turn your book around to show the picture (upload movie to wiki or blog)
• take a photo of your art masterpiece (print out or post on wiki or blog)
• read/act a play (place the laptop somewhere where it can see a large area, record your play, edit in Moviemaker or iMovie
• create your avatar (use the photo editing features of your camera to add effects)
• record your speech and watch it back (critique and make some improvements)
• Skype or iChat with students in other classrooms
• Skype or iChat with invited guests and ask prepared questions
• take your laptop for a walk and show your viewer what you are seeing
• record a newscast for podcasts

The Amazing Web2.0 Projects Book

This book has been compiled by Terry Freedman (@terryfreedman) website http://www.ictineducation.org/
Teachers and educationalists from all over the world have contributed examples of Web2.0 projects to this book and what a great resource it is. Teachers will find many practical ideas of how to use Web 2.0 technologies in their teaching and learning.

Amazing web 2 projects 2 online version

View more documents from terryfreedman.

Animation and Digital Cameras

I worked with a group of children and a teacher today showing them how they can make a simple animation. They are studying Maori Culture and Protocols on a Marae. Their focus is on Karanga (Welcoming onto the Marae), Hongi (greeting) and Wero (the challenge). The teacher would like them to show their understandings of these protocols by creating animations, so the class is divided into 3 groups each going to depict the 3 different foci.

Team Members
Each group needs to have a
- camera person
- tripod holder
- set designer
- several people in charge of animating and moving the characters

Planning
- research, gather information
- storyboard
- write script
- collect animation objects and set material
- animate using cameras
- edit adding text and music
- publish as movie, DVD or slideshow

Set Design
It is important to have an inanimate object like a tree or a building so that it really looks like the characters are moving. I have suggested coloured fabric for ground cover and sky. Students will also collect small rocks, sticks and stones.

Characters
We discussed what the characters could be made our of and these are some of the choices
- plasticine
- pipe cleaners and pegs
- small dolls
- Lego

Filming
- the tripod needs to be steady and all bolts and handles screwed securely
- the camera needs to be securely set into the 'foot' of the tripod
- one person operates the camera, one person holds the tripod
- one person animates their own characters
- the photos must be 'framed' within the Set (we don't want to see what is behind or above the set)
- all characters need to be firmly secured with blu-tak so they don't move

Editing
- download all photos to iPhoto or My Pictures, put them in a folder so that they are easy to find
- upload photos to iMovie or MovieMaker
- before dragging the first photo down to the movie tray, set the speed (0.01) and in iMovie (turn of Ken Burns)
- drag rest of photos down to the Movie tray (Ctrl - A for Win, Command-A for Mac)
- if the photos are not the right speed then highlight them all as above and adjust the timing
- add a Title slide at the beginning, then a credits at the end
- finally add music, crop if necessary
- save Movie file and then export to your computer and/or to a blog or a wiki