June 8

Year 8 - let's finish up the narration on your digital stories.

Then on to the final stage in our project - Evaluate.

EVALUATE - Criterion E Maximum 6

Students are expected to evaluate the product/solution against the design specification in an objective manner based on testing, and to evaluate its impact on life, society and/or the environment. They are expected to explain how the product/solution could be improved as a result of these evaluations.

Students are expected to evaluate their own performance at teach stage of the design cycle and to suggest ways in which their performance could be improved.

To get a 6 the student: evaluates the success opf the product/solution considering the results of testing, and the views of the user. The student evaluates their own performance at some stages of the design cycle and considers improvements. The student considers the impact of the product/solution on life, society and/or the environment.

June 4, 5

Please continue with the CREATE.

Remember: you must have a process journal and follow your plan. Then write a paragraph saying if your plan worked or not and record any modification (changes) you have made.

May 28, 29

CREATE - Finally, what we've all be waiting for . . .

CREATE - Criterion D Maximum 6

Students are expected to document, with a series of photographs or a video and a dated record, the process of making their product/solution, including when and how they use tools, materials and techniques. Students are expected to follow their plan, to evaluate the plan and to justify any changes they make to the plan while they are creating the product/solution.

To get a 6 the student: uses appropriate techniques and equipment. The student follows the majority of the plan and mentions any modifications made, resulting in a product/solution of appropriate quality using the resources available.

CREATE - DEADLINE JUNE 5 (end of class)

May 21, 22

Plan - It all starts with a plan

PLAN - Criterion C Maximum 6
Students are expected to construct a plan to create their chosen product/solution that has a series of logical steps, and that makes effective use of resources and time.

Students are expected to evaluate the plan and justify any modifications to the design.

To get a 6 the student: produces a plan that contains a number of logical steps that include resources and time. The student evaluates the plan and attempts to justify any modifications.

May 14, 15

Year 8 - Continue with your storyboard. It is due May 15 at the end of class.



Design - Criterion B - Due May 15

Deadlines for Term 3

Investigation - May 7 - Beginning of Class
Design - May 15 (End of Class)
Plan - May 22 (End of Class)
Create - June 5 (End of Class)
Evaluate - June 18 (End of Class)

Remember - June 10, 11, 12 are HOLIDAYS!!!!!

May 7, 8

FABLE
Year 8 according to American Heritage® Dictionary a fable is:
(NOUN)
1. A usually short narrative making an edifying or cautionary point and often employing as characters animals that speak and act like humans.
2. A story about legendary persons and exploits.
3. A falsehood; a lie.

May 7 - Today we will take the time to write the script.

May 8 - Let's look at storyboarding and learn how to create a storyboard using Microsoft Word
http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/pdfs/inword.pdf

April 30, May 1 (Holiday!!!)

Year 8 - I hope you enjoyed the Assembly (Period 7 and part of Period 8) on Terry Fox. He lives on as an inspiration to all of us.

We don't have much time together this week. Today we will finish our Investigations and hand them in.

Next week we will learn how to create a storyboard using word and begin our Designs (Criterion B).

April 23, 24 (April 24 - Sports Day!)

Year 8, I hope you had a great break and are now back in the swing of things.

Today, we will look "properly" at the Unit of Work and finish our Investigations.

Let's first look at the Unit: Digital Story-telling

Remember, the Investigation has 3 parts: Identify the Problem, Develop a Design Brief, Formulate a Design Specification.

We have already Developed a Design Brief (this is the research part), and we have also Formulated a Design Specification (actually I gave you the design specification and you created a test to evaluate your product). Now, we only have to Identify the Problem.

As this is the FIRST part of the Investigate, we have to place this section BEFORE the other two (Develop a Design Brief, Formulate a Design Specification).

Identify the Problem (Write 1-2 paragraphs)

1-State the problem. Then restate (say again in your own words) the problem (from Unit of Work)

2-Explain and give details about the problem. Say who your "customer" is.

3-Say how you will solve the problem (Explain and give details)

4-Say how Approaches to Learning connects to your project (Explain and give details, examples)

5-Say how Human Ingenuity connects to your project (Explain and give details, examples)

Finally, before leaving this afternoon, please give me a digital version of your Investigation;-)

Have a great day tomorrow at St. Julian's

March 26, 27

Year 8 - Today I would like you to make sure that you have finished your Questionnaire.

Then I would like you to do a tutorial on creating a digital story with PhotoStory 3:

http://millie.furman.edu/mll/tutorials/photostory3/index.htm

Pay close attention and READ the entire tutorial.

Then, explore the program and create a digital story which will be put on your blog!

Let's go!

March 20

Year 8 - Spring has arrived!

Remember there are 3 parts to the Investigate: 1) Identify the problem (we will do that next week), 2) Develop a Design Brief (Research questions 1-8) and 3) Formulate a Design Specification.

Today we will work on part 3.

I will give you the Design Specification because there are certain elements that your digital story MUST have.

Design Specification - List what your product is going to be, be like, be used for, be able to do and be made with.

The presentation will include:
-a minimum of 15 photos/images,
-at least 2 photos should include text/title,
-at least 2 photos should have an “transition/motion”,
-background music,
-narration (voice overlay) appropriate to topic,
-time length - approximately 2 minutes,
-each student presentation should creatively display relevant information.

March 19

Year 8 -

Let's finish the last four questions today.

5. What is a tutorial? Explain in your own words.
6. What is image hosting?
7. Research these the following web hosting services: www.photobucket.com , www.tinypic.com and http://video.google.com How are they similar? How are they different?
8. What is a storyboard? Explain in your own words.

Friday, March 13

Year 8 - Don't be afraid. We are going to have fun today.

Before we get started . . .

Let's recap. Yesterday we learned that everything that we create is automatically copyrighted. That means that noone can use our creations without our permission. That means that noone has the right to take our creations and use them or gain financially from them. Fair Use allows limited use of copyrighted work by students, teachers and researchers as long as the work is referenced.

Now please do a quick research on Creative Commons - What is it? To learn more visit this site: http://creativecommons.org/.

We are going to start our investigation.

Please open a word document. You can choose one of the cover pages if you want and personalize it. Then we will begin the design brief.

Develop a Design Brief
1.What is digital story-telling? Explain in your own words.
2. Which programs can we use f or digital storytelling? Name 2 programs that can be used.
3. Are either of these tools freeware ( Freeware: Legally obtainable software that you may use at no cost, monetary or otherwise, for as long as you wish . ) ? If, yes, name that program. If no, continue searching until you find one that is freeware .
4. Find 2 educational dig ital stories online. Supply each URL and give a small summary of each of the stories. (http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/)
5. What is a tutorial? Explain in your own words.
6. What is image hosting?
7. Research these the following web hosting services: www.photobucket.com , www.tinypic.com and http://video.google.com How are they similar? How are they different?
8. What is a storyboard? Explain in your own words.

Use in-text referencing. Let's finish 1-4 today.

March 12

Welcome Year 8

We have a great project lined up for Term 3. We will be exploring PhotoStory 3. This program is designed to create digital stories. But what is a digital story? Let's take a look at the YouTube video which offers an explanation.


Before we begin - let's do a small investigation about copyrights. What is "copyright protection"?

Here is a great site to check out: http://www.copyrightkids.org/

Answer these 2 questions. 1) What is "copyright protection"? 2) What is "fair use"?

March 5, 6

Year 8 - Time's up!

We are at the end of our project and the end of our time together. It was really nice "making movies" with you but, alas, it's time for you to continue on the carousel.

But before you go . . .

EVALUATE (Criterion E) maximum 6
Students are expected to evaluate the product/solution against the design specification in an objective manner based on testing, and to evaluate its impact on life, society and/or the environment. They are expected to explain how the product/solution could be improved as a result of these evaluations.

Students are expected to evaluate their own performance at each stage of the design cycle and to suggest ways in which their performance could be improved.

To get full marks: The student evaluates the success of the product/solution considering the results of testing, and the views of a user. The student evaluates his/her own performance at some stages of the design cycle and considers improvements. The student considers the impact of the product/solution on life, society and/or the environment.

February 19, 20

Year 8 - Continue with the Create.

We only have 4 microphones to work with (3 of them are mine personally - so please be careful!)

It is imperative that the room is quiet for people to record. Remember that we will submit at least 6 of the final products to the Life 'Round Here project. If there is a lot of noise in the background we will look BAD!!!!!

February 12, February 13 - Activity Day

Year 8, it's time to CREATE!

Students are expected to document, with a series of photographs or a video and a dated record, the process of making their product/solution, including when and how they use tools, materials and techniques. Students are expected to follow their plan, to evaluate the plan and to justify any changes they make to the plan while they are creating the product/solution.

Sutdents will sometimes embark upon a very ambitious project, or they may encounter unforeseen circumstances. In some circumstances a product/solution that is incomplete or does not function fully can still achieve one of the levels awarded for this criterion.

To get full marks: The student uses appropriate techniques and equipment. The student follows the majority of the plan and mentions any modifications made, resulting in a product/solution of appropraiate quality using the resources available.

Tasks:

-produce a beginning slide and ending slide with publisher,

-begin creating our project

Feb 13 - Activity Day

February 5, 6

Year 8 - Designs are due today;-) February 5

After handing in your design the next step of the Design Cycle is PLAN (Criterion C).

Students are expected to construct a plan to create their chosen product/solution that has a series of logical steps, and that makes effective use of resources and time.

Students are expected to evaluate the plan and justify any modifications to the design.

The student produces a plan that contains a number of logical steps that include resources and time. The student evaluates the plan and attempts to justify any modifictions.

Plan - Due February 6

January 30 - Extension

Year 8 - As we discussed in class today, the deadline for the Design has been extended.

The new deadline is Thursday, February 5 at the end of class. As agreed, if you haven't finished by then, you will attend the deadline detention on Friday to finish.

January 29, 30

Year 8 - It all begins with a story

This week we need to finish our storyboard.

Check out this great tutorial showing you how to create a storyboard using Microsoft Word.

http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/pdfs/inword.pdf

As I mentioned you need 3 possible images for every frame. It seems like a lot, but it really isn't. When you are searching for your image online you will come across pages and pages of possibilities. You are naturally scanning for the "right" image and are mentally accepting and rejecting images.

However, you need to JUSTIFY your choice.

My suggestion is to make 3 columns for images (Column A, B, C). Keep all of the images that you will actually use in the same column so it will be easier for you and someone looking at your storyboard to actually visualize your story. Look at the example below.

Deadlines

Deadlines for Term 2

Investigate - January 16
Design - January 30
Plan - February 5
Create - February 19
Evaluate - March 5

*Remember - February 13 - Activity Day - no classes
- February 23-27 - Half Term Break - no classes

We have 9 (doubles) to complete our project

Jan 22, 23

Year 8 - Have you completed: the tutorial? the practice photostory? opening an account with an video host? uploaded your video to the host? embedded the video in your blog? Wow! That's a lot of IT!

Now on to the DESIGN

Let's begin writing our scripts. You are going to create a digital story based on this theme: my life in Portugal. The first thing to do is to write a script.

January 16

Year 8 - Time's Up - Investigations are due today at the end of class.

For those who have finished - complete the PhotoStory Tutorial, then create a practice digital story. After you have finished, decide which video hosting service you will use: PhotoBucket, Tiny Pic, or Google Video and upload your video to that server. Next, obtain the html code and embed (insert) your video into your blog.

Way to go Year 8 - You did it!!!!

Investigation Due Today Jan 15

January 15

Year 8 - Let's take a deep breath and see where we are at.

We want to do 2 things today - organize and finish the Investigatigation.

The Investigation has 3 parts:

1) identify the problem,

2) develop a design brief,

3) formulate a design specification and create a test.

January 15, 16

Year 8 here are this week's tasks:

1) Make sure you have your 10 questions answered.

2) Complete tutorial

3) Create a photostory with a maximum of 15 images

4) Choose a video-host (Google Videos, TinyPic, PhotoBucket) and open an account.

5) Upload your photostory to the video-host

6) Embed your video into your blog

Wow! That's a lot of Computer Technology for 2 days. Great job Year 8!

Homework - Begin to write the script for your story

Jan 8

By Popular Vote Guiding Question: How does tourism affect Portugal's culture?

January 8, 9

Year 8 - Welcome Back!

1 - Continue with the Investigation

2 - Complete a tutorial: http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/photostory.html

December 18

Year 8 - When we return we have 7 weeks to complete our entire project. That's not a lot of time.

Today, let's continue with our Investigation until 3pm then you can explore the internet at your leisure.

Happy Holidays Year 8!

December 11, 12

Year 8 - The electricity problem seems to be solved so we are back on track.

Let's begin the Investigation.

Let's begin.
It always begins with an investigation - sooooo, let's investigate.
You need to document your research. Remember to keep all the url's of the sites you visit. Open a Word Document and type - INVESTIGATE at the top of the page.
1. What is a "Creative Commons license"?
2. What is "copyright protection"?

Here are some sites to check out:http://www.copyrightkids.org/, http://www.richmond.k12.va.us/schools/jones/Copyright-Kids/,

3.What is digital story-telling? Explain in your own words.
4. Which programs can we use f or digital storytelling? Name 2 programs that can be used.
5. Are either of these tools freeware ( Freeware: Legally obtainable software that you may use at no cost, monetary or otherwise, for as long as you wish . ) ? If, yes, name that program. If no, continue searching until you find one that is freeware .
6. Find 2 educational dig ital stories online. Supply each URL and give a small summary of each of the stories. (http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/)
7. What is a tutorial? Explain in your own words.
8. What is image hosting?
9. Research these the following web hosting services: www.photobucket.com , www.tinypic.com and http://video.google.com How are they similar? How are they different?
10. What is a storyboard? Explain in your own words.

December 5

Let's begin.

It always begins with an investigation - sooooo, let's investigate. You need to document your research. Remember to keep all the url's of the sites you visit.

Open a Word Document and type - INVESTIGATE at the top of the page.

1. What is a "Creative Commons license"?

2. What is "copyright protection"?



Here are some sites to check out:
http://www.copyrightkids.org/, http://www.richmond.k12.va.us/schools/jones/Copyright-Kids/,

December 4, 5

Year 8 Welcome to CT

The skill that you will learn this term is Digital Storytelling.

The tool that we will use is: Microsoft PhotoStory 3

We will be part of a bigger global project called Life Round Here: http://liferoundhere.pbwiki.com/

November 28 - Last Class

Year 8 - this is it! It's time to part but don't despair because we will meet again next year.

To finish up you must EVALUATE

The evaluation has 3 parts -
-1)asking others to rate your movie then analyzing the feedback
-2)describe how well you worked at each stage of the design cycle (Investigate, Design, Plan, Create) and how you can improve
-3)describe and explain how your photostory will impact life, society or the environment.

Print your work and put it on my desk please. All work is due TODAY!

November 20, 21

Merits for being responsible and meeting commitments:
Bianca -1, António - 1, Rudy - 3, Kiko - 3, Luís - 3 Thank you for caring about your work! Good luck!

Year 8 - You should all be finished with your storyboards (Criterion B - Design) and you should be creating your PhotoStory today.

Remember that you must document the creation process. Take screen shots (print screen) and paste it into Paint. Then, save as a JPEG. It will then be easy to insert.

I will Not be here tomorrow (Friday, Nov 21) - I will be at a conference in Lisbon. Therefore I would like you to continue.

You must upload your video to either Google Video, Tiny Pic, or Photobucket and then embed it into your blog. You must then ask at least 5 others to evaluate your movie and fill in your questionnaire.

November 13, 14

Year 8, this is the moment we have been waiting for! CREATE (Criterion D)

Let the fun begin!

November 6, 7

Year 8, Continue with your Storyboards.

Design (Criterion B) due November 7 (end of class)

October 30, 31

Year 8 - Mid-Term Break

Have a great week!

October 23, 24

Year 8 - Let's storyboard!!!

What is a storyboard? According to Computer Desktop Encyclopedia (http://www.answers.com/topic/storyboard): A storyboard is
a sequence of images and annotations for a cartoon, animation or video. Storyboards are previews of the final version and typically contain mockups rather than final art and images. Before computers, storyboards were drawn with pen and ink on lightweight cardboard.

The earliest storyboards date from the cartoon and animation industry of the 1920s, including the talented artists at Walt Disney's original California studio. Above you see a photo of Walt Disney (with 2 children) and a storyboard.

October 16, 17

Year 8

First, Let's open the Plan (Criterion C) and look at how far you got. Let's finish them and hand them in by the end of class today.

Next, let's build a script for your PhotoStory

Early Dismissal Oct 17 - No Classes

October 8

Year 8 - as you know well done projects all start with a plan!

Today I would like you to work on your Criterion C - Plan

Students are expected to construct a plan to create their chosen product/solution that has a series of logical steps, and that makes effective use of resources and time.

Students are expected to evaluate the plan and justify any modifications to the design.

Your task is to think about all the steps that you need to do to create your photostory (including writing the script, collecting images, etc). Think about how much time it will take to accomplish each step. Think about all the resources that you will need to create your photostory.

Next, I would like you to create an outline or timeline that you will follow when you actually create your photostory. Include the steps, time, and resources;-)

You may use any tool that you like to record your plan: Microsoft Word 2007, Microsoft Visio,
Timeline maker: http://teachers.teach-nology.com/web_tools/materials/timelines/,
another timeline maker: http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/timeline/index.html

Please be respectful of your substitute teacher.

Please finish your Plan today.

Don't forget to make your reflection in your blog.

If you stay on task and work hard, you may have 15 minutes at the end of class to "explore" the internet at your leisure. In other words, if you work hard you can earn 15 minutes at the end of the day where you can play games.

Have a great weekend Year 8!

October 2, 3

Year 8

Tutorials can be a learner's best friend! They provide a step-by-step explanation on how to do something.

We are going to do a tutorial instructing us how to create digital story using PhotoStory 3 for Windows.

Here are a couple of links to get you started;-)

First - Watch the photostory on creating a photostory (hahahaha).



Then follow this tutorial: http://millie.furman.edu/mll/tutorials/photostory3/index.htm

You choose the topic as this is just practice.

September 25, 26

September 25 Activity Day -- No Classes - Have a great day!

September 26 Period 7 -- Assembly

Period 8 - Finish you Investigations.

When you finish, start the PhotoStory 3 tutorial.

September 18, 19

Year 8 - try this new typing game - it's really fun: http://resources.kaboose.com/games/super-hyper-spider-typer.html

Guiding Question: Can ICT be used to record 21st Century routines? (HI) (ATL)

Investigation
· Design Brief - State Why/What/Where/Who and How for your problem
- Describe what the problem is and how it relates to HumanHuman Ingenuity or Approaches to Learning
· Research the problem citing your sources in a full, organized bibliography
- Use more than 5 different sources
· State which information you found to be useful/and not useful and why?
· Include these questions:
1. What is digital story-telling? Explain in your own words.
2. Which programs can we use f or digital storytelling? Name 2 programs that can be used.
3. Are either of these tools freeware ( Freeware: Legally obtainable software that you may use at no cost, monetary or otherwise, for as long as you wish . ) ? If, yes, name that program. If no, continue searching until you find one that is freeware .
4. Find 2 educational dig ital stories online. Supply each URL and give a small summary of each of the stories.
5. What is a tutorial? Explain in your own words.
6. What is image hosting?
7. Research these the following web hosting services: www.photobucket.com , www.tinypic.com and http://video.google.com How are they similar? How are they different?
8. What is a storyboard? Explain in your own words.

· Design Specification - List what your product is going to be, be like, be used for, be able to do and be made with (bullet point this list).
The presentation will include: a title page and end page - created with PowerPoint, at least 10 photos, at least 1 photo should include text , 1 photo should have an “transition/motion”, background music, narration (voice overlay) appropriate to topic., and less than 2 minutes. Each student presentation should creatively display relative information.
· Test Plan - Describe a test that will check each point in your design specification
-Make sure that you describe who the test is for and how it will be used

September 11, 12

September 5

Year 8, remember to look for patterns this term in all that you do! Make note of the patterns in your blog.

Now it's time to begin the INVESTIGATION

Open Word 2007.

Click on the Insert tab.

In the extremel left-hand column, click on Cover Page.

Take a few minute to explore this aspect of Word 2008.

After choosing a Cover Page title it "Year 8 Unit of Work".

You can also include your name and the date.

Next, go to the next page and type INVESTIGATE at the top.Now let's start researching;-)Investigate *Remember to record the URL and name of the sites you visit AND the images you collect.

The MYP Investigate (Criterion A) has several focuses:

1. Students identify the problem to be solved,

2. Students develop the design brief,

3. Students formulate a design specification.

Remember our problem is: How could you use ICT to record early 21st century routines?

1. What is digital story-telling? Explain in your own words.

2. Which programs can we use for digital storytelling? Name 2 programs that can be used.

3. Are either of these tools freeware (Freeware: Legally obtainable software that you may use at no cost, monetary or otherwise, for as long as you wish.)? If, yes, name that program. If no, continue searching until you find one that is freeware .

4. Find 2 educational digital stories online. Supply each URL and give a small summary of each of the stories.

5. What is a tutorial? Explain in your own words.

6. What is image hosting?

7. Research these the following web hosting services: http://www.photobucket.com/ , http://www.tinypic.com/ and http://video.google.com/ How are they similar? How are they different?

8. What is a storyboard? Explain in your own words.

September 4

Year 8 - Welcome to ICT!



Blogs are primarily a communication tool. People are more motivated when their blogs are visited and comments are made. I love visiting your blogs. However, I have more than 115 blogs to visit and, unfortunately, am unable to make it to all of your blogs on a timely basis.

Therefore, we will organize groups whereby students within that group will visit and comment on each other's blogs and actively participate in each other's learning. Also, invite your friends and family to visit your process journal/blog.Create a link list in the side bar to add links to the other members of your group.

Way to go Year 8. This is going to be a great term!

June 23/26

Year 8 - we are crossing the finish line.

Today you should have your final photostory uploaded to your blog.

Today you should work on (and hopefully finish) your Evaluation.

June 16/19

Year 8 - The sun is shining and you are rested from last week's holidays. Let's stay focused and try to finish our project by Thursday! That would allow you to have time to explore the www your way!

A. Comment on your finished photostory. In the text error free? Are you happy with the outcome?
• Is the movie error free?
• Evaluate the product against the Design Specification. Does the newsletter meet the design specification? Explain.
• Are you happy with the outcome? Explain
• Look critically at your final project. If you had the opportunity to change something what aspect would you change and why?
• Did you encounter (have) any problems? Refer to your “process journal/blog” for details.
• Comment on your own performance throughout each stage of the project (investigate, design, plan, create, evaluate).
• If you had the opportunity, would you change anything? If yes, what aspect would you change and why? Refer to your “process journal/blog” for details)
• How could you use PhotoStory 3 in the future?

B. Product Analysis - Student will solicit feedback from others.
• Student will produce a list of 5 questions and post them to the student blog to solicit the evaluation of 5 others (classmates, parents, friends, teachers). Answers should be included on the blog post as comments.
• Analyze the feedback

June 12

Quiet on the Set, Year 8 - You should be recording by now. This is the fun part.

June 9

Year 8 - We are lucky and meet both times this week (Monday and Thursday). This will give us plenty of time to work on your project. You should be at the CREATE stage by now.

June 5

Happy "Environment Day - 2008" Year 8

According to Wikipedia, "World Environment Day (WED) was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972. WED is hosted every year by a different city and commemorated with an international exposition through the week of June 5."

Here is a link to the UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme) which offers a wealth of info: http://www.unep.org/wed/2008/english/

Then continue with your Create!

June 2

Year 10 - Looking into the future is always fun.

Check out this link to hear what "those in the know" have predicted for the year 2058: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/books/365088_future30.html?source=rss
Take 10 minutes and make a prediction in your blog about the future.

Then continue with the StoryBoard or start the Create portion of your project.

Now, let's look into YOUR future for June.
June 6 - Create
June 9 - Create
June 12 - Create
June 16 - Evaluate
June 19 - Evaluate

May 29

Year 8

I'm sorry that I'm not with you today but I am a bit "under the weather".

Please continue with your StoryBoard. You must select 3 possible images for each frame. Then you must JUSTIFY your choice. That means that you must say "why" you chose to use a particular image in your final project.

If you finish that, HOORAY. Now start to plan your: Music, Motion, Titles. These must also be included on the storyboard.

May 26

Year 8, Wow! Today you should finish the narration part of your story-board. Next, you must gather 3 (three) images for each frame of narration. You will then select the image that you will use and JUSTIFY why you chose that one.

Remember that we are following the Design Cycle set forth by the MYP (Middle Years Program of the IB Organization) and we must produce an array of feasible designs. That's what we are doing by gathering photos and music;-)

PS: The above photo is The Thinker (French: Le Penseur), a bronze and marble sculpture by Auguste Rodin held in the Musée Rodin in Paris. According to Wikipedia, it depicts a man in sober meditation battling with a powerful internal struggle. It is often used to represent philosophy.

May 19

Year 8, continue with the Design Portion of the Project.

1) Complete the Narration, frame by frame
2) Music
3) Motion (must have at least 1)
4) Title (must have at least 1)

Year 8, unfortunately we won't meet on Thursday because we have a holiday. You kids are hard workers so enjoy your time off.

May 15

Year 8 Continue with your Story Board.

First, include your narration - frame by frame

You were correct Year 8 - a doctor listens to his patient's heart using a stethoscope!

May 12

Year 8 - Today we will begin the DESIGN part of the project.

You will begin to create a story board for your project.

11. Produce a digital storyboard that will contain the steps for creating your digital story. Justify your choice of image (from at least 3 images gathered and stored in a file) for each frame.

12. Justify your choice of music (from at least 3 options).

(Tutorial for using Word for a storyboard: http://www.coe.uh.edu/digitalstorytelling/PhotoStory3-Tutorials/Tutorial_Storyboard.pdf )

(*Keep in mind: elements that make a story, target audience)

Evaluate against the design specification .

May 12

Year 8 - This is a Photostory showing how to create a PhotoStory (hahahaha).

Dr. Randy Pausch

This is the YouTube video that I would like to share with you. . .

In turn, you should find a YouTube video that you would like to share with class, embed it on your blog. You will then visit the blog of the person sitting to your left, watch their video and comment on it.

Besides looking at the content, look at the qualities of the video (how professional is it?)

May 8

Year 8 continue with a big part of the project - writing the script. Remember, we decided to create digital stories about your home country/city or a country/city that you have lived in. It's now time to write the text for your story.

First of all, think about what you want others to know about your topic. You will need at least 10 images - so you could organize your data into 5 topics and have 2 images of each. (Remember YOU are the expert;-). (Do you want to show a map? Do you want to include a brief history of your topic? Do you want to include information about: royalty, monuments, museums, food, wine, important people from that city/country, interesting cities, things to do.)

Collect lots of images because you will need to have 3 options/images for each bit of narration. Next week we will be creating a storyboard as part of the Design portion of the project. You will need to show 3 images and justify why you chose the one which will ultimately be in your PhotoStory.

Next organize your ideas in a sequence that will be easy to explain and easy for your audience to understand.

Write a small script. This is the most important part of your presentation. The images you select will be there to emphasize the information you are giving.
If you have any questions about content, please raise your hand!

Let's go, Year 8!

May 5

Year 8

After you finish your practice run using the program, upload it to your image host, then embed it on your blog. It look's great, doesn't it?

Next, on to a big part of the project - writing the script. Remember, we decided to create digital stories about your home country/city or a country/city that you have lived in. It's now time to write the text for your story.

First of all, think about what you want others to know about your topic. You will need at least 10 images - so you could organize your data into 5 topics and have 2 images of each. (Remember YOU are the expert;-). (Do you want to show a map? Do you want to include a brief history of your topic? Do you want to include information about: royalty, monuments, museums, food, wine, important people from that city/country, interesting cities, things to do.)

Next organize your ideas in a sequence that will be easy to explain and easy for your audience to understand.

Write a small script. This is the most important part of your presentation. The images you select will be there to emphasize the information you are giving.

If you have any questions about content, please raise your hand!

Let's go, Year 8!

April 28

Year 8 - Please continue creating your "Practice" photostory according to the following Design Specification:

The presentation will include: a title page and end page - created with PowerPoint, at least 10 photos, at least 1 photo should include text , 1 photo should have an “transition/motion”, background music, narration (voice overlay) appropriate to topic, and be less than 2 minutes.

Then upload your digital story to your chosen video host and embed it on your blog!

BUT FIRST, let's run through the procedure of making a title page with PowerPoint.

Well done Year 8!

April 24

Well, Year 8, we did it! The Investigations are over and handed in:-)

We didn't get to the tutorial on Monday - so let's do it now!!!

http://www.jakesonline.org/photostory3.pdf

Follow along on the overhead projector.

*Remember to raise your hand if you have a question;-)

Year 8 Ifound a PhotoStory on How to Create a PhotoStory (cool).

April 21

Year 8 - Investigations are due today!

I had a great idea - we are going to go through the TUTORIAL together. That way we can benefit from everyone's questions.

April 17

Year 8 - Help the Earth! Please take a few minutes out of your class-time to make a difference. As you know April 22 is Earth Day. This is a day that has been set aside to celebrate our great planet. As custodians, it is our responsibility to protect the planet and act as caretakers for future generations.

A Voicethread has been created and will become part of an Earth Day initiative (Earthcast 08 Project). Please contribute to the SDIS Earth Day Voicethread and offer advice for protecting our world.

1. Go to http://voicethread.com and register
2. Click on Browse
3. Type - SDIS Earth Day, then click on the magnifying glass
4. Record your message

That was quick and easy. You have just added yourself to the list of contributors and helped make the world a better place.

Thank you Year 8.

Now, after you have finished your "Investigation," you can move on to the tutorial. (Click on the word "tutorial" or locate the tutorial in the sidebar;-)

This is way fun!

April 14

Year 8 - Let's try to finish the Investigations today!

April 10

Year 8 - Let's forge on with our Investigation . . .

*Remember to record the URL and name of the site s you visit AND the images you collect.

1. What is digital story-telling? Explain in your own words.

2. Which programs can we use for digital storytelling? Name 2 programs that can be used.

3. Are either of these tools freeware (Freeware: Legally obtainable software that you may use at no cost, monetary or otherwise, for as long as you wish.) ? If, yes, name.Include the URL for the download.

4. Find 2 educational digital online. Supply each URL and give a small summary of each of the stories.

5. What is a tutorial? Explain in your own words.

6. What is image hosting?

7. Research these the following video hosting services: http://www.photobucket.com/, http://www.tinypic.com/ and http://video.google.com/ How are they similar? How are they different?

Then choose a video hosting service and open an account.

Finally, explain WHY you chose that service.

8. What is a storyboard? Explain in your own words.

April 7

Good Morning Year 8.

Let's continue the Investigation - Do RESEARCH then explain in your own words

Investigate *Remember to record the URL and name of the site s you visit AND the images you collect.

1. What is digital story-telling? Explain in your own words.

2. Which programs can we use for digital storytelling? Name 2 programs that can be used.

3. Are either of these tools freeware (Freeware: Legally obtainable software that you may use at no cost, monetary or otherwise, for as long as you wish.) ? If, yes, name that program. If no, continue searching until you find one that is freewar.

Include the URL for the download.

4. Find 2 educational digital stories online. Supply each URL and give a small summary of each of the stories.

5. What is a tutorial? Explain in your own words.

6. What is image hosting?

7. Research these the following web hosting services: http://www.photobucket.com/, http://www.tinypic.com/ and http://video.google.com/ How are they similar? How are they different?

8. What is a storyboard? Explain in your own words.