Transformations

The students created a short video using PhotoStory3 (a free download), Word and PowerPoint.

Here is a link to student examples.  Directions below.  http://mrscooksfantasticfourthgrade.blogspot.com/2012/02/transformations.html

In Word we wrote a few sentences explaining translation.  After we wrote the sentences we used an animal figurine (we used a chicken or rooster) to demonstrate translation on a grid.  Then, using italics, we added the information about pictures we wanted to add to the paragraph. 

1.       Example Paragraph:

Translation is when something moves from place to place.  It means to slide.  I can remember slide and translation are the same by the sl in both words.

2.        

After the paragraph, the students figured out how to show slide with the animal and the grid.  They added this information to their paragraph in italics.

Translation is when something moves from place to place.  It means to slide.  (Picture one:  chicken on (4,4))  (Picture two:  chicken on (5,4))  I can remember slide and translation are the same by the sl in both words.

Now for the fun part!  Take the pictures of the chicken using the directions determined earlier

.

(When the pictures were inserted into PowerPoint, they were edited using picture tools.)

5.        

Repeat the process with reflection, then with rotation.

6.        

Open PowerPoint and create a title page.  Then type the transformation information on a slide or copy and paste from the Word document.  Leave a blank slide for each picture. Insert pictures in the correct places.  Draw a red line to show the movement.  Do this for rotation and reflection.

 Then save the powerpoint as jpeg files.

 After files are converted to jpeg files, open PhotoStory3 and import the pictures.  Once the pictures are imported you will want to change the motion (transitions) on the pictures.  We left the first two slides alone and allowed the defaulted transitions to happen, then we fixed the transitions on the rest of the slides. 

If you don't do this, your movie will look like this.  We think it is distracting.

This movie has the transitions fixed.

Water Cycle Story

We are writing stories about the water cycle.  Students are using a drop of water as their character.  Their character has to have a name and feelings.  We've worked on using similes and sound words in our stories.  This story will allow us to pull those in along with demonstrating our knowledge of the water cycle.  We are also working on transitioning from one part of the story to the next without using transition words of next and then.  After the stories are done the students will get to illustrate the story using Paint.  They will create a background that will be used for every page of the story and the background has to match the setting of the story.  The stories and illustrations will be used to create a PowerPoint presentation.  Then the slides will be turned into jpg files and used to create a PhotoStory3 presentation.  This gives us the opportunity to use the PowerPoint program and PhotoStory3.

Student examples:  http://mrscooksfantasticfourthgrade.blogspot.com/2012/01/some-more-water-cycle-stories-1-2-3.html

http://mrscooksfantasticfourthgrade.blogspot.com/2011/12/water-cycle-movies.html

Reading Large Numbers

I wanted the students to get a chance to work with PowerPoint and we needed practice with commas and reading large numbers.  We combined the two in an project that will end up being a how to movie on reading large numbers.  Yes, a movie.

First I walked them through creating text boxes, changing fonts/sizes, moving boxes, duplicating screens, and moving items behind or forward.  We did the first 23 slides together.  Seems like a lot but several slides only had one thing changed on them as we "walked" the commas to their spot in the big number and we labeled place value spots.  The students were responsible for the last four slides.  I expect the last four slides to duplicate theprevious last four slides we did together except the number should a new one.  The first slide of the last four had the new number on it.  The second slide had the millions place highlighted (by putting a yellow box behind the millions place) and the words reading the number were highlighted and typed below.  The third slide had the thousands place highlighted in orange and the words highlighted in orange.  The fourth slide had the ones, tens and hundreds highlighted in blue with the words for the numbers highlighted in blue below.

After completing the slides we saved our file and then saved it again as jpg files.  To do this click save as and change the file type to jpg.  PowerPoint will ask if you want one slide or all.  We wanted all.  All of the files were converted to jpg files and placed into a folder for later use.

We opened PhotoStory3 and imported our jpg files from the PowerPoint.  We did all of them at once.  To make it easy we changed our view of the jpg files in the folder to a list.  We clicked the first file, pressed shift, clicked the last file and then clicked open.  ( I think that is what the pop-up window said...)

Next we started adding the audio to our movie.  Students were instructed to read the words on the slide but were also told they could had more verbal words if needed to make their how to video clearer.

Our last step will be to preview and make any corrections to the audio.   Then we will create the video.  I'm happy they will be ready for conferences.

I would have liked to completed this with Windows Movie Maker but the students use Netbooks and the Netbooks struggle to run WMM.  Once we have the video done with PhotoStory3 we could convert the file and pull it into WMM on a bigger machine and add a credits screen.  We'll see if we have time for that part.  I only have one machine for WMM in the classroom.

Expectations Videos

In groups, students have been brainstorming expectations for different parts of our building and for our classroom.  They are writing a song, a skit or just making a documentary about the expectations in the part of the building they requested or was assigned.  They have planned what they are going to say, who is going to say it, what kinds of pictures/video they want and in what order everything should appear.   They are taking staged pictures or making short video clips to illustrate the points they want to make.  PowerPoint is being used to make title pages and/or information pages as they will save them as jpeg files and pull them into PhotoStory3.  When they are done they will create a video which will be pulled into Windows Movie Maker.  In WMM they will add any video clips and add credits.  When they are done they should have a video for me to use next year to help explain expectations for the lunchroom, the hallway, the bathroom and other places in our building.

You may be asking, why PhotoStory3 and then WMM...the kids have netbooks and WMM doesn't work that great on them.  We'll have to use the computer lab or take turns on the couple of laptops we have in the room for WMM.  I try to keep their time on WMM as brief as possible so everyone gets time to edit and put a rolling credit at the end of their video.  Rolling credits are pretty cool!  :)

Conference preparation

Because of snow days, our conferences have been rescheduled and shortened.  I really want students to have the opportunity to show their parents their technology knowledge and projects. 

We have four days until spring break and we are going to use the time to create a PhotoStory3 video about the school year.  Friday we spent some time going through our electronic folders.  We created a conference folder, deleted some files and converted some files to jpeg images.  The jpeg files were placed in the conference folder.

We have had some trouble using PhotoStory3 with the netbooks because of the screen size.  We've learned to go into the advance settings and change the screen resolution.

When I say we, I mean we. With adult guidance, they change the resolution.  They create folders, delete files, and save files as the intended kind in the proper folder.  (Their ABC books were created with Publisher and then saved as a PDF file.) 

Back to the conference folder, students have some choice in the files for their video.  Some files are not a choice.   Each student will have a personalized video when we are done.

Monday we will work again in the electronic folder determining what can be trashed and what should be saved as a jpeg.  During the rest of the week the students will write the script to go with their pictures, pull the pictures into PhotoStory3 and create their video.  They are looking forward to it.  I am, too.

PhotoStory3

The students are close to finishing their PhotoStory3 projects.  After reading Snowflake Bentley students came up with facts about snow.  Because of snow days and other interruptions to our time we chose three facts as a class and then in our teams students worked on a storyboard to create their PhotoStory.  Originally I wanted each student to create his/her own story.

We used PowerPoint to create 8 slides.  Slide 1 is the title slide, slide 2 has the first fact on it, slide 3 is for the fact from slide 2 turned into an opinion, slide 3 has the second fact on it, and that continues until slide 8.  Slide 8 is the credit slide.  The book Snowflake Bentley is listed along with a website we will use for snow pictures.  The website contains copyright free pictures.  Once the slides were created (pictures were NOT added to the powerpoint and the slides with the opinions did not have the opinions written yet) they were printed.  As a team students wrote the narrative for each slide by the slide on the printed paper.  The opinion slides had the opinion written by hand in the slide.

Once the students have their storyboard completed they will choose the picture to go with the facts and opinions.  A picture will be selected for the title and credit slides, too.  The picture information will be noted on the slide.  Then students will create the PhotoStory3 using the information from their storyboards.  Each team is responsible for one PhotoStory.

The projects should be finished this week...which is good as we are starting a new project - the one described in the previous post.