Poetry in Motion

Objective: Students will produce a movie maker project that illustrates an original poem written in the target language.

Materials:
Computers (with Movie Maker)
Internet Access
Microphones
Headphones

Procedures:
Part I
1. Choose a theme for the poem. (love, nature, dreams, injustice, etc.)
2. Create a pattern for syllables per line and rhyme.
3. Follow the patterns in order to write a poem with a 12 line minimum.
4. Type the poem and include the following information: theme, syllable pattern, rhyme pattern.
5. Send the poem via email to teacher for grading purposes.

Part II
1. Open Movie Maker to create a slideshow with images that relate to each line of the poem.
2. After importing images into the slideshow, add a title to the "movie".
3. For each illustrative slide, add subtitles for the corresponding line of poetry.
4. Using a microphone and headphones, use Movie Maker's voice function to record the poem as it is read aloud by each student.
5. Trim each photo to match the length of each spoken line. (this is the most time consuming step)
6. Add at least one video effect to the movie and at least one transition to be used throughout the movie.

Helpful hints:
-Save project to a flashdrive at end of each session.
-Reset Auto Recovery Time to a shorter period of time (movie maker has a habit of freezing up depending on a computer's RAM)
-Save often to lower the risk of losing work
-Too many bells and whistles can distract attention away from poem
-Search for a rhyming dictionary in the target language to help with writer's block