iPads, iMovies, and All That I Learned...

After a solid month spent doing iMovies with all three levels of my students, I feel like I've received an honorary degree in it. I surprised myself the other day when a student from another class came in with an iMove question, and without missing a beat, I showed him exactly how to find what he needed. And, after posting the movies here, and receiving lots of acclaim from our administration, I've learned a few things that I want to share...

1. Choosing a theme for iMovie gives it that special polish and tone that makes it seem professional. The best videos used a theme.

2. When iMovie does not have the exact music you want, never fear! Record your video clips, and then go in a quiet location and play your favorite song as you would do for a voice recording.

3. Always upload the iMovies to YouTube, especially before you post them on blogger. Not only are the videos on YouTube easier to access, but they don't do this. (By the by, I'll repost the rest to YouTube soon).

Commercial #3

Commercial #2

This one might be my favorite! Have you seen this commercial?

GT English 6 JMS Commercials

My 6th graders have been studying advertising and persuasive techniques. Their assessment was to first analyze a commercial, and then to create a new one which reflected the advertising claims and persuasive techniques of their original ad. As a class, we choose to market our school for incoming 6th graders. Here are some of the great commercials they came up with for our school!

More great commercials to follow!

Sorry for the posting delay... we're plugged in!

This was the scene out of my 7th grade GT class today.

My 7th grade classes recently read The Giver. As part of their previous project, they choose a scentific element out of the novel to explore. Several groups choose the death penalty, growth hormones, climate change, etc. For their last assignment, they create a graphic novel about their endeavors.

Our current assignment has them focusing on persuasive writing. Each group is currently researching their topic and formulating a "pro" or "con" written argument. Today, they groups were plugged into our online library date base, reading through credible sources, and finding atleast 5 for the task at hand.

Most students used:

*Safari (for internet)

*Google Docs (to store their citations and notes)