We arrived in Silver Spring around 11:30 AM and hurriedly threw our stuff into our hotel rooms and scurried over to the Discovery Headquarters for lunch. Over the course of the next hour the vast majority of DEN LC members arrived. We were immediately thrown into a group project (we love them!). Our task? Create our own version of the Discovery “Boom-De-Yada” video that highlights what we love about the DEN. We had two hours to write song lyrics, record video, take or download pictures, throw them all into the mix, edit, and produce our video. No pressure, right?
In all, five videos were produced. They were all excellent. They were all different. It made me realize once again that we cannot afford to pigeon-hole our kids into performing “one right answer” tasks. When their imaginations are tasked their creativity compels them to make something totally different from their peers. Each is great. But enough of a soap box. Below is our team effort for Boom-De-Yada. It is professionally amateurish. We ran out of time before we could over dub voices at the beginning, so the silence you experience is not your computer. Like Iron Man, don’t stop watching when the credits start to roll….
I first saw this over on the Second Life blog. I had to go check it out for myself. And yep, it’s true. You can make a photo appear to talk using PQ Talking Photo Software. For a limited time (to January 15), they are offering the software free to anyone who posts a blog about it. The only stipulation seems to be that the blog must have at least 10 previous posts.
I not only recommend you check out their website, but if you have an active blog one post is a very small price to pay for free software!
PostScript: After first posting this earlier today, I received my registration code for the software. It is extremely easy to use (just upload a picture, drag six dots to various points on a face, and add an mp3 file). In less than 5 minutes, I had played with several different pictures and a couple of sound clips I already had recorded. At the end, I settled on the one below to post to the blog.
I just received John Norton’s "Of Particular Interest" email newsletter for middle school teachers. His review of The Story of Movies website caught my attention, so I took a brief trip over there.
The Story of Movies currently offers 3 DVD curriculum choices: The Day the Earth Stood Still, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Here is what is included:
Each middle school unit from The Story of Movies curriculum has four interrelated components:
A DVD of the selected film for in-depth study. The Film Foundation recommends that all classes view the entire film prior to beginning the teaching unit.
A Teacher’s Guide, featuring lessons with teaching objectives, detailed, step-by-step instructions for presenting each activity, and answer keys. Appendices include chapter tests with answer keys, performance-based assessment activities, and National Film Study Standards. A glossary provides definitions of key terms relative to the study of film. In addition, transparencies for projecting graphic organizers are included.
A Student Activities Booklet, which includes graphic organizers, Screening Sheets to be used while viewing the film clips, and reading, writing, visual-thinking, and group activities sheets.
A DVD that includes selected film clips or segments, most of which have a running time of 3 minutes or less. Also included on the DVD are movie stills and photographs.
Best of all, all the materials are free! I signed up to receive the materials for To Kill a Mockingbird (although my favorite movie on the list is Mr. Smith Goes to Washington!).
The Story of Movies is a co-production of the Film Institute, IBM, and Turner Classic Movies.
One thing to note: currently materials are out of print, so it will be next year before I am able to use them. Keep your eyes out for a review of how it goes!
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