From Orange Co Register

The concept of challenge-based learning really does challenge the basic assumptions of our current educational system. We have an idea of what these kids should know by the time they exit high school and, by-golly, we’re gonna make sure they learn what we think they should know. No wonder they’re not engaged in this process.

I asked my daughter, who is in her first year of high school if she thought that what she was currently studying in school was relevant to her life and future work. “Not really,” she said. “Well then, what would you study if you could choose?” “Art, humanities, social studies, science, math that is actually interesting and applicable.” “So how is that different from what you are doing now?” I asked. She responded, “The math is not applicable; we’re not doing humanities and not a lot of writing in English, just reading; and science class goes too fast and we’ve only done, like, one or two hands-on experiments.”

After briefly discussing the concept of challenge-based learning, I asked her what she would be interested in doing.

“I would create a piece of art; a large wall mural that would show some of the problems in the world so that people could not just ignore them… like showing the difference between the wealth of countries and the hunger and stuff. Ideally people would take action (after seeing it) and do things beneficial to the world. I would work harder at this project than I do at school now because it’s something that I actually care about.”

Changing the world through art? Yes, it is possible. Books and movies and even paintings have managed to change and challenge society’s view of the world.

Elsa explained that math would be incorporated to her project as she used scaling to size for translating her planning paper to the wall, and making sure everything fit in the space that she was given. She would have to budget for the costs of materials and the right amount of paint, etc. Although she didn’t yet realize it, she would also have to negotiate the politics and economics of finding an available and appropriately-placed wall on which to display her artwork. She would also have to construct a sturdy but moveable scaffolding to allow her to work on her large-scale work of art and this would exercise her skills in geometry and physics.

Photo credit: Mike & Doug Starn on Metropolitan Museum of Art Flickr Read more: The Roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Sprouts a Bamboo Forest | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

Her proposed projects was beginning to have the needed attributes of a challenge-based learning experience. As Apple details in their outline, the project should include the following:

• Multiple points of entry and varied and multiple possible solutions
• Authentic connection with multiple disciplines
• Focus on the development of 21st century skills
• Leveraging of 24/7 access to up-to-date technology tools and resources
• Use of Web 2.0 tools for organizing, collaborating, and sharing
• Focus on universal challenges with local solutions
• Requirement that students do something rather than just learn about something
• Documentation of the learning experience from challenge to solution

One of her challenges might be how to engage a larger number of mural-viewers and spur them on to deeds of change-for-the-better. Perhaps large sections of the mural could remain outlined but not colored in. Prospective painters could earn a chance at painting in a portion by doing something that helped to even the gap between rich and poor or alleviated suffering in one part of the world, in a sort of altruistic Tom-Sawyer type of opportunity exchange. A time-lapse film might be made of the wall as it progressed with links to indicate what charity action each section of the completed painting represented. Viewers could then be encouraged to donate time or money in the various charities represented through embedded links. QR codes could even be incorporated into the design so that viewers with cell phones could connect with charity sites while they stood in front of the wall.

It becomes immediately obvious that the reaches of challenge-based learning go far beyond the walls of the school as students are, by the necessity of completing their project, pushed out into interacting with the community. I can see where many parents would hesitate here and pull back not wanting to risk that kind of exposure for their offspring. Still, they have to leave the nest sometime, and while I would not recommend this type of project for a student in grade school or middle school, most high schoolers can take care of themselves in the real world with a bit of practice and guidance.

Challenge-based learning may be more appropriate for middle and high-school students as it assumes a broader background of knowledge and maturity to formulate a feasible solution to a real-world problem. Project-based learning seems ideal for lower grades, however, as it develops student autonomy and can be accomplished in smaller, more manageable chunks of time and subject matter. Project-based learning encourages cross-curricular integration which increases knowledge retention. Teachers using PBL report that “PBL is a rigorous, relevant, and engaging instructional model that supports authentic inquiry and autonomous learning for students.”

Although I have begun to align my library lesson plans to support and augment the curriculum covered in each of the grade levels, I feel that I can do more in this area. Within some grade levels at various times in the year, the curriculum being covered is woven into all of the subject areas. Students seem to appreciate this integration and immediately comment on it when I have them in the library. They are hard-wired to make connections between all of the things that they are learning and experiencing throughout the day and seem to retain the knowledge better when they do make those connections. And they retain knowledge even better when, as soon as they have learned something, they do it. When I teach students how to find a book on the shelves by the author’s last name, we launch immediately into a relay race where students find books by their call letters and then return the book to the correct spot on the shelf. And if a student is slow to catch onto the system, another student is happy to leap up and help them figure it out. Seymour Papert has it right when he says, “We should be measuring what kids can do with knowledge, not how many right answers they can give to questions.”

When children return home from school, they are often asked the question, “What did you learn in school today?” My husband remembers being asked a different question everyday…. “Did you ask any good questions today in school?” Now, students might consider the following: “Did you find solutions to any important problems today and what did you actually do to help solve the problem?” How would the world be different today if we all actually acted on what we know?

TPACK, of course, stands for “Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge,” (which you probably knew anyways, although I didn’t).  I’m not sure what the “A” stands for… I suppose it’s just there because pronouncing “TPCK” without spitting on your neighbor is just too difficult. Explaining TPACK to your neighbor may be even harder than controlling your phlegm, but I will try anyways.

When a teacher is surrounded and immersed in technology, she or he must be very careful to hold on to their best teaching practices while, at the same time, making sure that the content is taught clearly and vividly. The knowledge to do tech, pedagogy and content at the same time, without throwing your back out or spitting on the front row, is TPACK in action. TPACK inaction is when you are surrounded by the technology, but so confused by it all, that you have no drive  whatsoever (hard or soft) and are unable to make use of the wonderful tools being developed to assist and amplify your teaching.

Here’s what I said in official language:

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK)

Technological pedagogical content knowledge refers to the knowledge and understanding of the interplay between CK, PK and TK when using technology for teaching and learning (Schmidt, Thompson, Koehler, Shin, & Mishra, 2009). It includes an understanding of the complexity of relationships between students, teachers, content, practices and technologies (Archambault & Crippen, 2009).

That’s from the wiki that has a “pedia” on the end.

When a teacher has done the tech-integration thing for a while, it becomes a second-nature-teacher-thing; as easy as eyes in the back of your head or recess duty. But when one is first starting out, like many of us, it’s best to start working on your TPACK beginning with the smaller weights… one class blog assignment a week or a class podcast at the end of a full unit of study. Once one skill is under your belt, you can add a few more, slowly working your way up to the multi-media, sound-and-lights extravaganzas to be submitted to the Cannes Film Festival review committee once they have been polished.

Building an impressive TPACK six-pack is just like most other challenges, best tackled one step at a time. But once a teacher has packed on the ability to handle the tech tools competently, then they can begin to try out the really creative approaches to education; ones that use the new technology in a completely new and original way. Jeff Utecht, in his popular “Thinking Stick” blog suggests that truly innovative tech-rich teaching creates new and different learning experiences for the students that would not be possible without the technology. To continue the “six-pack” analogy, only an athlete that has trained hard and developed muscles that can handle difficult challenges can attempt new, extreme sports that no one has attempted before. Only teachers who gain experience by daily using technology and slowly adding to their knowledge base can launch into creative and original uses of technology to teach curriculum in new and challenging ways.

The movie followed the book’s plot-line fairly closely and was a perfect vehicle for the partially fictional story which centered on one of film’s early pioneers, Georges Méliès. Scorsese claims that he decided to make the film after one of his children complained that they were not allowed to see any of his films, which often carry an “R” rating. When I discovered that Scorsese had started a visual literacy program for middle school students, everything seemed to fit together.

The program was created when Scorsese realized that kids needed to tools to interpret the  visual imagery that they are immersed in every day. “So much of today’s society is done visually, and even subliminally, for young people, that it could be dangerous. One has to know that it is a very, very powerful tool.” The director should know. He was not willing to let his own young children watch his powerful movies; the images and ideas that they presented were not appropriate to their stage of development. The awareness of other images that they were being confronted with on a daily basis, no doubt occurred to him at the same time.

Helping students develop visual critical thinking skills in the area of film is like teaching them a new language. Once they learn the syntax of film-making, they can understand how a commercial or YouTube video or Hollywood movie is using  all of filmmaking’s vocabulary and structure to evoke a response or shape an opinion. Fluency in a language is a powerful tool. Once students understand how a movie is attempting to communicate or even manipulate them, they are no longer easily controlled by those images. “The Story of Movies” is a free curriculum package available to educators in the U.S. It teaches about how movies are made in a cross-curricular format, delving into both the science of lighting, and the psychology of the different uses of light, for example.

This visual fluency also translates to technological fluency. Those most adept at using computer tools will be the most adept at manipulating and taking advantage of others (on the dark side of this skill set) and most successful at educating and teaching important truths and discoveries (on the light side of this skill set).

from Wikipedia

Just as a linguistic language is used to teach throughout the school day in many different subjects, computer literacy must be woven throughout the curriculum as a way to understand and communicate the actual content. There are times when one must stop and intentionally teach a language, but then that language is immediately put to use for many important purposes.

The ISTE standards do not do much good being taught on their own, apart from the many subjects of study at school. They need to be woven throughout the content, used where and when appropriate, and as the students become more fluent in these standards, the results become more and more sophisticated and polished. The more a language is practiced and used in real-world situations, the more fluent the speaker becomes. Many students at our international school are already mastering second and third languages, and this is very valuable to them as they navigate between several countries, cultures and peer groups, often within the space of just a few years. Because these students are already navigating the choppy waters of a media-rich world, we, as educators, need to be facilitating tech-speak and media-speak as an essential second language in the lives of our learners. Learning the language can help them from being blown off course or diverted by a technologically-savvy dastardly villain.

This connection has been on my mind lately after watching a lovely Academy-Award winning movie directed and written by William Joyce, produced by Moon-Bot Studios:

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

And here is the link for purchasing the full digital version which has been getting great reviews:

iTunes Apple; The Fantastic Flying Books

The main character of the story, starts out as an avid reader of books and has begun to write his own. A library adopts him as their caretaker, and by the end of the tale, he is back to being a writer once more, and is succeeded by his works even as he takes his leave of mortal life, pulled gently aloft by his beloved flying books. His own authored work is left behind to be discovered by an eager young reader who wanders into the library.

Producing books that may one day immortalize an author might seem to be a compelling reason to write, but I think that realistically, this is seldom the impetus for a writing career, or even for a single story. It is, instead, more the result of a story needing desperately to be told. There are some nights, when a story will not let one sleep, will not cease from jumping up and down upon one’s head, until it is written down. Writers don’t approach stories, as often as stories approach authors. I think the images in the “Fantastic Flying Books” movie have it right, with the books walking up to Mr. Morris and swooping down at him from their perches on the shelves. The prospective author just has to catch the inspiration and have enough patience to polish the tale.

Now that I am aware of all that could be done with the construction of original written content, I have to intentionally decide what should be done. In the creation of content and in the teaching of creative content, I need to be intentional with the tools that I select for each intended purpose.

Obviously, in teaching students how to create a digital story of their own, I should choose tools that are simple enough to be grasped quickly so that the actual writing and editing process remains at the forefront. Google Docs seems to lend itself well to this process, allowing the teacher to keep track of the students’ progress and to edit directly. If iPads are available in the classroom, then iBooks Author is another easy and intuitive tool for students to create their own polished-looking books that can be shared with other iPad users.

Here is an example of a story created using iBooks Author and presented in a PDF format for ease of viewing:

 Gretel and the String Factory

This story was created during a weekend EARCOS Workshop (Authentic Assessment and Digital Media in the Classroom) taught by Andrew Churches and our COETAIL instructor Kim Cofino. In just a few hours, working together with a team of two other teachers, we created an example to accompany a language arts lesson plan (included below). Students are encouraged to try their hand at writing a new fairytale based on a traditional story line, preserving the basic message of the story, but with their own original twist. The students study the original story, summarize a few of the embedded messages, and then write their own fairytale. They are provided with a large sheet of paper that has been divided into a grid where they can illustrate scenes from their story to accompany the text. Requiring only simple black line drawings can speed the process along. Once the storyboard has been completed, the students can photograph each block, import the illustrations into the book format, add the text and publish.

The advantages to creating a story in digital form include ease of sharing and sending, ability to facilitate collaboration and a wide range of illustrating platforms and sources. The finished book has a very polished look and can be emailed to all the appreciative relatives (without wasting any trees) or even printed out in paper form (if deemed worthy of the pulp).

Lesson Plan:

As an introduction to this unit, I have been sharing with the students my own writing process and struggles in producing a new book designed for the iPad with special attention being paid to the details in order to take full advantage of the high-resolution screen of the newest iPad. The intention is for the viewer to be able to zoom in on the tiniest detail in the story. Sounds will also be built into the story so that certain characters, scenes and areas in the illustration will have unique effects and music to enhance the story experience. It will be a story with deeper dimensions and interactions.

I am excited by the prospects of the varying degrees of interactivity  and dimensionality that literature has taken on. Every type has its place and fitting function. There will always be a place for simple text on paper, but now, the permutations of depth and connections are endless. And our students are just beginning to discover the new publishing tools.

The term, “encyclopedic impulse” in Henry Jenkins’ blog post, “Transmedia Storytelling 101” struck me as being very evocative. I can imagine a student reading a text and telescoping individual words and phrases out of that flat page into the three-dimensional world of deeper understanding. This is, after all, what each of us does when we read. We usually have some background knowledge which we apply to help us make sense of what we read. We add bits of personal information which helps to deepen our understanding of the text and connect it to our lives. We collect a few assumptions about parts that we are not sure about and wade through the rest of the reading hoping to solve the mysteries with which the text might be complicating our final understanding of the content.

Now, with digital texts, we can literally embed into the reading a veritable encyclopedia of information: definitions, pertinent links, deeper explanations, pictures, maps, related stories, etc. Whatever we don’t know or fail to understand at first glance, can be dug up to increase our understanding.

This works wonderfully with non-fiction readings. We can indulge our encyclopedic impulses until we are sated with information. But the possibilities of adventure and depth of meaning are also waiting to be plumbed in the world of fiction as well. Students  at our school are beginning to have a renewed interest in “Choose Your Own Adventure” books where, depending upon the choice you make at the end of a section, you are directed to one page or another to continue the adventure, or possibly to meet an early demise. The book is a bit like a precursor to the now-ubiquitous adventure games (like “Adventure Quest“) where one’s avatar roams through a fantasy world on a quest.

How would we apply the modern capacity for creating an encyclopedic story with a web of storyline possibilities or a depth of background information? This type of project seems perfectly suited for collaborative storytelling where a whole class works together to build a rich literary experience.

The 4th graders at our school are beginning a unit on story writing and will produce a digital story with illustrations, using the simple presentation tools embedded in Google Docs. Initially, the student and teacher will be the only collaborators, but once the students master the tools and hone their storytelling skills, there is the possibility of creating a story authored by the whole class since Google Docs works well collaboratively. The story could be tied to a curriculum unit, such as the “Arctic Regions” where each student would be responsible for creating depth and detail for certain animals or environments that enter into the story. Along with the storyline, information, photos, maps and even videos could be worked into the project. It would be interesting to see what a class could produce using this encyclopedic writing type of approach.

Presenting real information and even fictional stories has become increasingly visual. While the comic book market is decreasing (at least in the U.S.) the graphic novel market is exploding. At the same time, consumers of information want to see the data presented in a visually-compelling way.

In Richard Byrne’s blog, “Free Technology for Teachers,” seven tools for constructing data visualizations are detailed. The first tool, Better WorldFlux, with its pre-entered data is an amazing example of how visually-intelligent graphics can quickly elucidate complex sets of data. I went to their site and experimented with the graphics by choosing just a few countries and data parameters. I could immediately see how Japan lagged behind most civilized countries in its inclusion of women in the legislative process and government, and how far ahead Norway was in comparison at the data starting point of 1987. Then, by scrubbing through the years to the most recent data set, I could see how far Japan had caught up in this area, so that it is almost in the average range now, and how Norway has remained in the lead among world countries in this aspect. Here is a snapshot of the percentage of women in parliament with data included showing ratio of girls’ to boys’ education in 1990:

One can see at a glance how far Japan lags behind the world average in this aspect and how progressive Norway is. If we scrub ahead using the year-indicator bar to 2010, we see that Japan has made considerable progress and is approaching the world average, while Norway still has a large proportion of women serving in the government.

For my own purposes, I use Google Web Analytics to keep track of trends in web traffic flowing to my website of free children’s sermon resources at www.kidsermons.com. I can compare the amount of web traffic for the current week with the traffic from two years ago, for example. I can see when the peak access times occur, and this can inform me as to when I should be posting the new children’s sermon for the following week.

The challenge for me is to find the correct tool and type of display for the information that one wants to clearly communicate. One of the best examples of visually displayed information that I have seen is the progression of economic and physical health of world countries over the years. While I have only begun to learn to use this tool, some are already masters of visual display. In one of the best demonstrations that I have seen, Hans Rosling shows how the general trend is toward richer and healthier countries worldwide. This is the type of visual information that can transform the world:

The World from 1810 to 2010

The print advertisement was developed at M&C Saatchi, Melbourne, by creative director Steve Crawford, head of art Murray Bransgrove, art director Rebecca Hannah and copywriter Doogie Chapman, with photographer Christopher Tovo and retoucher Ed Croll.

And while we may consider the modern mash-ups and remixes a completely new type of storytelling medium, it is just another way in which storytelling reworks available material to create old stories in new ways. All art recombines and storytelling is no exception.

Storytelling has always been a visual art. The storyteller relied on her actions and expressions or on his masks and props. Storytelling has used puppets, music and actors since ancient times. Now we have so many visual choices to choose from that the prospect of telling a story can seem overwhelming. The story itself, is the most important component, of course, but now it has become obvious that the supporting visuals of storytelling can make or break the story itself.

Most would agree that “Star Wars” is a compelling story, but the truth is that George Lucas could not “sell” his story concept to any movie studio until he had engaged the services of a technically skilled and inspired artist named Ralph McQuarrie, (who has just recently passed away). Ralph drew some compelling illustrations to accompany George’s movie pitch, creating from his fertile imagination, the imposing menace of Darth Vader and the appealing innocence of C3PO. Accompanied by these compelling images, when Lucas pitched his movie to 20th Century Fox, it was immediately financed.

Teaching our students to visualize stories as they write them and then giving them tools to illustrate their stories in a rich variety of ways will equip them to communicate the story lines that the future longs to hear and, in some cases, needs to hear. Exercises in crafting original stories based on old, traditional themes can be as easy as interpreting a fairytale.

During a weekend workshop, we were challenged to create a lesson plan that resulted in the writing of an original digital story. In just a few hours, our team of three was ready. With the intention of encouraging students to write a modern version of an old fairytale, we hammered out a rubric and produced an example story. One told the story, while another quickly illustrated the action in storyboard squares, while the third wrote the lesson plan out in detail. The result was a book created in iBook Author that can be viewed on an iPad or exported as a PDF viewable on any laptop device. Here is our original fairytale sample:

Gretel and the StringFactory

Original fairytale

Another quick and easy way that students can create and share their stories is through Google Docs. The tools provided allow students to create simple drawings, import photos and artwork and even embed videos to accompany their text. Using Google Docs is also a great way to encourage collaboration between students on a story. Because the teacher can be included as an editor on the document as well, students can get immediate comment and feedback on their stories as they write. Here is an example, unfinished but quickly created for a short workshop on digital books that I offered last Friday during a teacher Pro-D work day at our school. The last few pages were added by various teachers as they experimented with the functions of Google Docs. Take a look at the result:

DustyMcHoofers

The PDF version does lack the functionality of the Google Docs version. It does not play the embedded video or show the WordArt “Water” disappearing, etc., it does show a basic sample of what can be produced in a very short time with a minimum of instruction and prep.

We are now ready to set our 4th graders loose to unleash their creativity within the generous and expanding boundaries of a wide range of storytelling tools. It will be exciting to see what they come up with.

There are plenty of great examples of bad presentations and this gives comedians plenty of rich material to draw from. The reactions of the audience in this humorous demonstration gives us an indication that they have all had to suffer through many irksome PowerPoint presentations:

What not to do

Because I am needing to create a presentation on Storytelling next week during an in-house staff professional development day, the content of this week’s readings was especially compelling to me. Storytelling is a big part of my life and my teaching experience. A good story can often teach a lesson better than any well-documented explanation ever could. Students gain their deepest learning through stories and experiences that include a strong emotional connection.

So how do I convey this very important information while including instructions to future storytelling teachers? I could tell them some true stories that have shaped my story-centered philosophy of teaching. I could enhance those stories with visual aids that would make the stories about storytelling even more memorable. I could add music and stage directions. Apart from turning my presentation into a full-blown Broadway musical, I need to focus on how to get my message across with clarity and style. How do I make a powerful point and not merely a run-of-the-mill PowerPoint?

Daniel Pink makes a very good point in his book “A Whole New Mind” when he says that the current era belongs to those who can “think different,” (never mind the ungrammatical nature of that statement… its form also represents a deviation from the norm.) Because anyone can now “look it up,” the business world no longer values a mind that can recall facts and figures instantly. The need now is much greater for a mind that can take all of the available data and come up with a creative solution that has never been tried before.

And once a brilliant idea has been pulled out of the seething swamp of creative musings and has taken on a recognizable shape, how do you share it with the world?  Well, you could use the six fundamental aptitudes proposed by Mr. Pink to give your idea the attention it deserves: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play and Meaning. When all six of these elements are woven into a presentation, you have an idea worth listening to.

For me, the most difficult of these six is the first: Design. I know how to tell a story, but it is difficult for me to lay out a poster, drawing or a blueprint. Learning about some of the basic design basics, such as the “Rule of Three” has helped me, but it is still a struggle. I know what looks good to my eye, but I don’t necessarily know how to build it from scratch.

But I have to try. By next week, I will need to be able to explain the importance and structure of storytelling in a memorable and compelling way. For now, I can begin with templates provided by Keynote, but I hope to be able to go beyond that and use the visual as a launchpad of sorts for a more interactive audience experience so that we can “do” storytelling at the same time as we are learning the basics.

March 1, 2012:

Drum Roll…. Finished the Keynote presentation just in time. I will present a 40 minute workshop tomorrow on Storytelling; Traditional and Digital. I tried to keep the text simple and the images compelling. Of course, it is hard to get the complete content just by looking at the Keynote. It is meant to support what I am saying and showing to my audience. Here is a Quicktime of the Keynote to give you a brief idea of the workshop:

(Click the down arrow to advance to the next slide once the presentation loads.)

Storytelling; Traditional and Digital

The outline of the presentation runs something like this:

• Oral and Digital Storytelling Workshop at CAJ; Friday, March 2    1:05 – 1:45

• Storytelling and Education

1. Why is storytelling crucial to education? Storytelling has been at the heart of education for thousands of years. Never meant to be a dry subject. Rich and memorable experience that weaves stories into all subject areas.
2. Motivation; lighting the fire of learning desire
3. “True story”; any time that students heard this phrase, they would truly listen
4. Deep Learning; stories go deep, stay with us longer
5.  Story about courage; Story of terrified MS girl with claustrophobia who was determined to enter the dark tunnel and cave at Yosemite.
6.  Students construct personal meanings w story; engage emotional response for deeper retention and fire up the imagination
7. Learning on the Highest level; creative construction of content
8. Opportunities to create stories and projects that stretch the students limits

• The Storytelling Teacher:   
If you can relate, they can relate; students listen and connect to true stories.
• Find a story that applies to the concept that you are trying to teach.
  Example; Defining courage; Story of terrified MS girl with claustrophobia who was determined to enter the dark tunnel and cave at Yosemite.
  Model good storytelling techniques:
  a. Diction and volume
  b. Character and emotion
  c. Body language
  d. Visuals or music

• 
The Storytelling Student
:  Synthesize a concept and create a story

1. Example; students can practice storytelling and then watch and critique their own performance; results in 5th grade posted in link on library site
2. Students can create original book using one of the tools listed at the end

• Bloom’s Taxonomy
Presentation Empowerment
Learning how to use the tools effectively
• Story-making Tools:

1. Keynote
2. PDF to FlipSnack; http://www.flipsnack.com/
3. iBooks; http://www.apple.com/ca/apps/ibooks/?cid=jm
4. Google Docs

• 
Demonstrations:

1. Keynote; Lady Ramona, Beloved of Beasts (original story formatted for the iPad)
2. FlipSnack;
3. Google Docs books

Girl Reading; 1888; CC Attribution 2.0 Generic

The fifth graders have just begun a “Read-Aloud” unit in the library. They are required to choose a picture book of an appropriate length (around 5 min.) and read it out loud to the rest of the class with correct speed, clarity and expression. They must remember to show the pictures, especially when they are an integral and complimentary part of the story. It would be nice to remind the students visually of the reading requirements, so I set about looking for a Creative Commons image that would underline the importance of an excellent read-aloud.

I pictured a Keynote presentation where the proper and improper portrayals of read-alouds and public speaking would be visually illustrated, but I was stymied by the lack of free-use photos on the internet. I used various methods of searching, but finding good photos of bored kids or storytelling scenarios was frustrating. Even when I searched within the parameters of Creative Commons, the usable photos were always labeled, “All Rights Reserved.”

So I had to change my approach. I would get the students to create the images themselves and they would be responsible for producing a short video demonstration or a instructional poster for the library.

The rubric grades students on reading speed, clarity, expression and visibilty (which applies to the showing of pictures in a book.) The students could stage photos or videos to illustrate each and add their own graphics and lettering to further elucidate the point.

As they create this instructional material, the content will be further embedded in their minds to help them do better in the final evaluation. Creatively teaching a concept or skill is, after all, the deepest and most effective way to truly learn something.

I will post images and short clips to demonstrate the students’ progress as they complete the steps of the project. Stay tuned….