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Using a camera for an ongoing class/team project will allow students to captivate on film any and all activities done in class for the year, relay teacher expectations, and explain points of interest at our school.

The selected activities will be documented and used to make additions and subtractions in an effort to make all projects more student friendly, and to familiarize parents and students with their new school.

Documentation would also pinpoint strengths and weaknesses of the project. Students will scrapbook the project photos and journal specifics about the project. The pictures, journaling, and narration will be stored and placed in a PowerPoint presentation for a digital story at the end and beginning of the school year. This presentation will also document transitions and successes for students as well.

This is a great project for students because it will engage them and their friends. If they are working and doing something they like, then chances are they are also learning and being more successful. Students will also take shots on field trips, at sport and social events, and narrate the different activities. A typical lesson plan would involve taking pictures of a school wide celebration and then narrating a story of what happened with highlights of the event.

Through this project, students' self esteem will improve, reading and writing will be more fun than work, and most importantly reading and writing will be useful and important. Students with cameras will be happy and involved students. Working on class/team projects as well as community projects, will give the students a better sense of responsibility and maturity. Having the characters from a class novel tour a different state/country will require that research is done before travel arrangements for the characters can be made. Visiting landmarks, making dinner reservations, and being entertained will require research for presentation, accuracy of information, and narration.

The purpose of this lesson is to improve Language Arts through digital images, writing, and sound. Students will work individually and in groups. After all material for the year has been turned in, (due date preassigned) students will use a word processor to record and document class projects and events in a PowerPoint presentation. Students will use the Multimedia Lab to create a slide show to share with the class, family, and community. The end product will also be shared at the next open house and presented as part of a team effort to alert parents of upcoming practices and expectations for their child for the new school year. Presentation will be recorded on a CD and sent home at the beginning of the new school year with all new 6th grade students. Parents could use CD as a reference for the entire school year.



LESSON TITLE: Surviving 6th Grade
GRADE LEVEL: 6th

The purpose of this lesson is to write to improve language skills. Students work individually and in groups. Students take pictures of school events, activities, and projects. Using a camera, students narrate activities and events from the beginning of the year that will directly impact new 6th grade students. Students photograph 6th grade events, projects, class maps, school places to know, etc. The pictures and narration is placed in PowerPoint for a digital story of the school year. We write the PowerPoint to a CD. The CD is given to students and parents at registration for all 6th grade students.



LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this lesson, the students will:
• Be able to effectively operate a digital camera.
• Be able to narrate an event.
• Be able to sequence the events in a school activity.
• Be able to create an electronic product using Multimedia Lab V.
• Orally present electronic products for evaluation by peers.

LESSON INTRODUCTION
Lessons will begin with writing simple sentences and captions about pictures and will evolve into sequencing and narration of several pictures that will tell a story.

ACTIVITIES
Prior to going to computer:
Day 1: Digital camera usage demonstrations and practice.
Day 2: The teacher will demonstrate photo editing. Students will learn how to take photographs and how to edit them.
Day 3: Students will take pictures of an event and use paper and pencil to record notes about the event(s).

At the computer:
Day 5: Students will choose pictures to insert into a Microsoft Word document. Students will write a paragraph for each picture as they narrate a story.
Day 5 (cont’d.): Groups will print out their Word Documents.
Day 6: Complete Multimedia Lab V Tutorials in the Computer Lab.
Day 7: Groups will use the Slide Show to tell their story.
Day 7 (cont’d.): Groups will work on their Multimedia Lab V project.
Day 8: Students will review their projects together, complete or revise as desired, and all of the projects will be saved to a CD.
Day 9: Make presentations to the school as the students watch these project via an in-school television system.

Open House: The projects will be displayed in a selected wing for parent viewing.


Evaluation: (1) Students will be able to take pictures, sequence, explain, and narrate with them.
(2) District and local writing standards will be addressed such as: Students write paragraphs that are clear, coherent, and focused. The writing exhibits the students' awareness of the audience and purpose. Students progress through the stages of writing as needed.
(3) Students and parents support and participate in this project.