Today's workshop, being our last one for this course, is filled with many fun and educational online activities for both teachers and students to appreciate!
We start off with the Zimmertwins website: www.zimmertwins.com
This is an awesome website to introduce or practise the art of creating a short animation. Even though this particular website is not a tutorial-based movie maker, it allows the user to select each frame and can then add in text and control the speed of the animation. It's a neat website, especially for the younger students. The following image is a sample picture from my movie.
How to create your own movie (from scratch):
- Select frames and insert text in text boxes
- Change characters/locations if desired
- Have fun and share
* incorporate literacy curriculum by having the students write the stories out before or after they create their own short animated films: focus on plot, climax, proper spelling and sequence.
Animals is a common theme throughout different grades. A very cool website that I know students will enjoy is http://buildyourwildself.com. It allows students to create their own 'wild self' using an assorted selection of body parts and designs. Here is an example of my wild self.
These pictures can be used as writing seeds for students to truly feel engaged with their stories. In addition to the picture, the website provides some background information on each creation!
Research, research, research? FOUND! Teachers often have to spend hours 'googling' different fun and engaging activities for students. The ABC Kids website RollerMache http://www.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/rollermache/about.htm offers a wide range of fun hands-on activities that students can create! This website is separated into four different sections: Inspire, Plan, Create, and Gallery. This process is similar to what goes on in the classroom - from engagement to sharing! We looked at Shaun the Sheep and Jane the Dragon as examples from the website. It is extremely important for children to understand what happens behind the scenes of movies, not just the main content. Take a look at this website and see what you can find for your classroom!
Cool concept but risky content!?!
As a class, we are introduced to Sketchswap.com. It is a simple draw and swap website with a cool concept but because you do not know what content or type of image will be returned, it is a risky choice to implement in the classroom. However, I believe the concept can be implemented in the classroom/school to encourage creativity and acceptance of differences. The following is an image that I drew on the website.
and the following image is what I received after swapping.
Do you know what message the drawing is conveying?!?
Teachers: Take a look, have a draw and see what you get in return!
Reasonably Clever
This website offers users to make their own Lego characters. We can choose different heads, body designs, bottoms, even shoes for our mini Lego characters. The only real issue is make sure that they kids DO NOT buy stuff.
Here is an image of my Lego version of a Ninja Turtle.
Nowadays, many of the younger students love computer games and characters. This gaming character creation can act as a process of engagement and the students can reflect on it in writing or presentation of some form.
ODE TO SPELLCHECKER!
The good old spellchecker! Where would we be today without it? Perhaps many of us would be better at spelling?! Without a doubt, the function of spellcheck is important but how does it affect the younger generations? If they become too dependent on spellcheck, imagine what their actual writing is like without the word processor?
In this workshop, we had to type out a few lines of text in Microsoft Word with our monitors off. This blind-typing activity gives us another perspective on what it is like to type without the instant recognition of grammatical or spelling errors (represented by red or green underlines). In addition, the use of homonyms is more common than we think.
Greg said that ten minutes of daily dictation would immensely improve the students' level of literacy - let's give that a try, shall we?!
Ziptales - www.ziptales.com.au (it's Australian!)
Ziptales is a great program for students of all ages and levels. Activities include puppet plays, stories, jokes, make and do, rhyme time, skill builder, etc. However, a subscription is necessary in order to access the activities. My placement school has an annual subscription to ziptales and students use it frequently. As an earned privilege, students can access the Make and Do part of ziptales and create their own mini projects. They range from paper planes to puppets - simple and fun!
On the same note, a great activity that can be implemented in the classroom is 'Connect the Story'. Have every student come up with a title and starting paragraph of their own stories, then have them switch seats to continue on another student's story. Have each student use a different coloured pencil or font (if on the computer); as this can be used for assessment as well.
Before wrapping this up, have each student return to their original seats and finish their stories. Just imagine how much thinking and engagement is involved; as well as a high level of creativity!
Last but not least... making our own animated clip online with mature subject matters!
www.dfilm.com/live/home.html
This website is very simple for everyone to use. There are different themes and images ready for us to choose from, to make our own short animated film. This is definitely not suitable for children and should only be a reference to how short animated clips are made. Once completed, the video can then be shared by using the embedded code. Check out my short clip:
