Using Sketch Book Pro and iMovie to Retell a Narrative
As part of our literacy rotations, I have been working with groups to retell a narrative. The activity runs over three 1.5 hour sessions with some overlap of the activities due to student progression.
In the first session we read the narrative as a group. Students then read it to themselves. We discuss the main events and the language used. Students then write the story in their own words in their literacy book and edit this.
In the second session students use Sketchbook Pro on iPads to draw images for the story. Students are equipped with styluses and I demonstrate how to use zoom to improve the quality of illustrations. I explain how to duplicate the page (by clicking on the ++ icon) so that students can modify their previous pages rather than starting from scratch each time.
Once students have illustrated the key events in the story, they import the images to the Photo Library (using the flower/arrow icon). Students then open a new project in iMovie, using the 'Simple' template. They drag the photos into the storyboard in the correct order. I demonstrate how to modify the start and end positions of each image. Students make an audio recording of themselves reading the retell they wrote in the first session. They then modify the length of time each image is displayed to fit with the audio recording. Finally they add titles and share their work with the group using AirPlay.
In the third session all groups present what they have created in the first two sessions.
Thoughts
The second session is very ICT heavy, with a long explanation about the process at the start (with demonstration). Students are engaged in the task and work hard to complete it. For many, this is the first time they have used a stylus with an iPad and they are adjusting to writing/drawing in this format. The resulting movies look quite professional and students are proud of their efforts. I found that if I put more effort into my demonstration, showing how to draw, add colour etc, then students put more effort into their drawings also. I have included my basic demonstration images and video (the story is incomplete).
It has been a great week - productive with a sprinkle of fun. I've been feeling good as I've been getting back into my morning run which seems to do wonders for managing stress! Miss Eschauzier and I did a lot of team teaching throughout the week which meant we could do more targeted teaching.
Story Writing This week students in my literacy group worked with Miss Eschauzier to determine features of quality writing. In small groups, they read books that have been nominated for awards over the years and considered elements of characterisation, plot, and language. As a class, they then put together a Kidspiration mind map to organise their ideas. Students then did a self-evaluation of their own writing and considered areas to work on further.Miss Eschauzier introduced a planning tool we developed for writing stories. Students used this for planning new stories. Indigenous Australians Project Groups On Monday students decided who they would like to share a cabin with at camp. We rearranged the desks in the classrooms so that they could sit in these groups during our Integrated Inquiry lessons to work on a project together. The task is for students to research the history, culture and traditions of Aboriginal Australians from a particular region and present the information digitally (audio, video, PowerPoint Presentation, Museum Box or other as negotiated). These digital products will then be stored on our My Classes page so that students can explore the work of their peers and reflect on the similarities and differences between the regions.
As a group we created a rubric that will be used to grade students. I provided some books that I borrowed from the local library and we arranged for some extra sessions in the computer lab. Students have made a great start to the task and are learning a lot about how to research in the process. We taught students where and how to look for information that is useful and relevant. We also explained about the copyright licensing surrounding online images and showed students how to find pictures they can use and how to give appropriate attribution.
Fractions and Decimals In Maths this week we explored Fractions and Decimals using a video and one of the manipulatives on Math Playground. Students completed drills adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominator using worksheets from Math Drills. We also used MAB blocks to represent decimals and played with a range of fractions games and activities.
Peer Support Our Year 5/6 students have been leading mixed-aged groups through activities to explore issues around bullying. These lessons are supplemented by lessons in home classes in alternate weeks. This week we discussed issues around bullying and students made this Y chart about how bullying looks, sounds and feels: For more Friday Fun, click here.
It was great to be back at work this week with a fresh start to the term. As always at the start of the term, we had a couple of pretests to determine what students know and the direction we should take with their learning. The Maths test covered the topics we will be studying this term, so we can group students by ability to cater lessons to their needs. The Australian History test shows us what students already know about Australia's history prior to 1900 including Indigenous lifestyle, significant historical figures, and major events and phases. We were quite glad to see that they don't know much at all yet, because that means that we can continue with our program as planned! Now that the tests are out of the way, let's look at what we did for fun.
Fun This Week
Readers' Theatre On Tuesday we watched the video of the Readers' Theatre Performance at the end of last term. Students used a self-evaluation sheet to record their thoughts about their own performance. They also jotted down notes about the performances of others and shared these with their peers. On Thursday we read a poem/folk song called The Wild Colonial Boy and students worked in groups to decide a way to perform the poem to the class. Here is a You Tube video performance of the song from raymondcrooke.
Bus Timetables This week students learnt about calendars and timetables. I talked to my class about catching buses and suggested that while they don't use buses much at the moment, they will probably want to use them more when they go to high school so that they can meet up with their friends. I told them about the first time I tried to catch a bus and how I failed miserably! We looked at a few bus timetables that you can pick up at the bus interchange, and then I showed students the phone number they can call for information and also the website. We went onto the website and looked at the local bus routes that would get us to the closest shopping centres. I handed out copies of the map and timetables and students could use these to create their own imaginary journeys. One boy worked out how to get to McDonalds for dinner and home again. Another went from home to a cafe for breakfast and then still arrived at school in time. We finished up with a sharing circle where everyone shared their journey and then we did a quick review of the steps for reading the timetable. This was a lot of fun and I'd be keen to revisit it again later in the year.
Story Parts Miss Eschauzier taught my Literacy group this week. She showed students how to create descriptive phrases for settings in pictures and then they worked on individual descriptions of a setting of their choice. They then did a Kagan strategy: "Stand up, Hand up, Pair up" to share their work with numerous partners. On Thursday students thought about characterisation in a couple of texts and then created their own characters using a Character Profile sheet. They will be doing more work with these characters next week.
Science for Smarties Miss Eschauzier also taught a science lesson on Friday afternoon. Students explored what happens to the colours when smarties dissolve in a bowl of water. They used this experiment from the Surfing Scientist. It was amazing to see the way that the colours remained separated when more than one smarty was involved. Why not try it for yourself?
Next week I will be out of the school at the Microsoft Innovative Schools Conference on the Sunshine Coast, so there may not be a post next Friday.
Activities after reading the book Adventure Story Students consider the things they learnt about crafting a narrative and apply these to writing their own adventure narrative where the characters face their fears. The photo below came from my Smart Board lesson for this activity. Tying up the loose ends We reviewed the last chapter to consider how Emily Rodda tied together all the loose ends. We considered which information was necessary early in the story to make the ending believable. We discussed the imagery used to provide a sense of desperation during the climax. We also discussed Emily Rodda's use of stars to break up the chapter and provide details about other characters elsewhere in the story. This lesson was a really important session that helped students to focus more on the importance of story endings.
One Pager This was an idea that I found in another book. Students created a 'one-pager' about Rowan of Rin. There were a number of ideas provided about what the 'one-pager' could be, but it needed to be a page about the book, with some added colour. Many students created a new cover for the book. Some chose to write about their feelings about Rowan's character development, and still others illustrated a scene from the book.
Book Chat This was the first chance I had to play with our new Snowball Microphone. I set the microphone up on a stool so that six students could gather around it. Together we created a basic outline for a book chat with sentence starters and key topics to discuss. While other students were working silently on their 'one-pager's, I selected a group at a time to conduct their book chat. It worked really well and we even had time to listen to a couple at the end.
My Final Thoughts I really enjoyed doing this unit of work with my students and would feel confident doing it again with a new group. Students learnt a lot from their involvement with this novel and the language stretched some of them more than the books that they prefer to read in their free time. It was an engaging text that proved useful for teaching a number of reading and writing skills. I hope you find it useful too.
Challenges with Narrative Writing Toward the end of term we gave students 2 hours to plan, write and edit an adventure story. We tried to give an appropriate amount of guidance without overwhelming students with too many details. It was eye-opening to see the resulting stories. We used a rubric to help us evaluate the skills that students were using and the literary devices of which they were aware. While I was very proud of my students for their efforts, I could see a lot of aspects that I'd like to work on further.
Story writing is not just a case of orientation, complication and resolution. There are so many additional features to take into consideration. Students need to create stories that contain depth of content and describe a believable universe. Timing needs to be considered so that stories have a captivating beginning, appropriate plot development and a satisfying ending that leaves the reader both content but wanting more. On top of all of this, characterisation, dialogue, vocabulary and description need to be considered. Prior to this year, I wasn't aware of how much there is to teach about narrative writing!
I am trying to prepare my students with the skills they will need when participating in our national testing next year. Apparently, they will be expected to write their whole story (with appropriate features) in 30 minutes with an additional 5 minutes planning and 5 minutes editing! How many adults can write a logical, well structured imaginative piece of writing in just 3o minutes?
My intern and I are trying to think up a useful acronym to help students to remember the significant features when planning and writing a narrative. Students need something easy and memorable to take with them as a guide. I want to give them the best tools for success that I can discover.
Do you have any other tips or tools useful for teaching writing? Do you know of any great short stories or resources for helping students to create short stories in a short period of time?
We are working through the book Rowan of Rin by Emily Rodda. Last week we read chapters 5 and 6 and focused on dialogue and feelings. For an overview of activities in earlier chapters please use these links: Chapters 1 and 2 Chapters 3 and 4
Chapters 5 and 6 - Summary The party of Rin's strongest heroes (and Rowan) begin their journey. The journey is filled with challenges to test the depth of each traveller's courage. The steep climb exhausts Rowan who consequently faints - leading the others to grumble at his weakness. Rowan recovers quickly and, upon checking the map, discovers that a verse has appeared which seems to give warning about the forest they are about to encounter. With this new information, the party continues on. Deep in the forest they encounter a mass of spiders which they must pass through in order to continue their journey. Ellis, who has a paralysing fear of spiders, cannot bear the task and flees back the way they had come. With a sense of urgency, the others work out a solution to passing through the spiders and continue their journey.
Activities
Code Breaker
Look at punctuation and format for dialogue
Consider the alternatives used for 'said'
Students work in pairs to practise reading the sections of dialogue using appropriate expression
Text Participant
In their groups from last week, students consider how the characters were feeling during the events of chapters 5 and 6 and produce a news interview on video. (It is worth mentioning here that after watching the first set of videos, students had many ideas for how to improve them. We made these adjustments to the second set of recordings: costumes, fake microphone, interviewer and interviewee both in shot, filmed outside, use of tripod, introductions to characters.)
Text User
Discuss how an author provides insight into a character's thoughts and feelings by showing, not telling.
Students find examples of how different characters are feeling and the words that show these feelings. For example, when Ellis is terrified, Emily Rodda describes the sweat on Ellis' face rather than writing "Ellis was terrified".
Text Analyst
Explore how authors shape a story to win sympathy for the protagonist. Discuss why this is important and how it has been used in other stories ie. Cinderella, Snow White.
Bring it all together
Students write a short story using the things they've learnt during the week. They choose a conflict eg. A girl wants to go to the movies with her friends, but she needs to convince her parents to let her go. As they write they need to gain the reader's sympathy, show feelings without telling and use correct punctuation for dialogue including words other than said. (This was a much bigger task than I could have imagined, so I was lucky to have such a capable group. I was particularly impressed with one student who did a really brilliant job of bringing all these aspects together in his story.)
This week we began a novel study on the book Rowan of Rin by Emily Rodda. This is an adventure story that usually appeals to boys aged 9-12 and can be that motivator that hooks them into reading. Emily Rodda is brilliant at crafting stories that appeal to reluctant readers. Another of hers that I love is Finders Keepers.
I'm going to keep a record here of the activities we do with each chapter. I have been using the Four Roles of the Reader to develop these activities. Feel free to use and/or modify these ideas with your students.
For the complete Rowan of Rin unit (in reverse order!) click here.
Chapters 1 and 2 - Summary
In these chapters we meet the characters and find out that the village Rin is in trouble. The stream from the mountain has stopped running and the bukshah have no water. The bukshah provide dairy, wool and transport to the people of Rin. Without the bukshah, Rin will die. The town meets to develop a plan. It is decided that someone needs to go up the mountain to find out what is blocking the stream. Strong Jonn, Marlie and Rowan consult Sheba (the village's Wise Woman) to get advice about the best way to approach the mountain. Sheba tells them a riddle that they don't understand and throws a stick at Rowan. Activities Code Breaker
Work on developing reading fluency with the first three paragraphs.
Highlight nouns in this passage. Convert singular nouns to plural eg. morning - mornings
Text Participant
Create a diary entry from the viewpoint of Rowan
Create a newspaper article about the first chapter. Edit and publish. Insert text into this newspaper generator to create a newspaper clipping.
Create a cause and effect diagram for the first chapter. (We used Kidspiration.)
Text User
Discuss features of a first chapter in a Narrative. It needs to create interest and capture the reader. It introduces the problem that the characters need to solve. (To aid discussion we watched snippets from The Simpsons episode 8 of 18, where Homer gets hooked into a "Harry Potter" parody).
Text Analyst
Take a closer look at ideas about witches and debate whether Sheba is a witch or just a crabby old woman. We used the following PowerPoint slideshow to guide the discussion. Students had 2 minutes to individually brainstorm a list of adjectives to describe witches. We then made a class list on the PowerPoint presentation. After discussion about where these ideas came from, we read the scene with Sheba and considered her witchiness. Students discussed their opinion and then we did "Lay it on the Line". Students who thought Sheba was a witch stood at one end of the line. Students who thought she was just a crabby old woman stood at the opposite end. Students who thought something in the middle lined up accordingly. We then got a couple of spokespeople to share the logic behind their thinking. There were some really well formed arguments based on examples from the text.
2014 Update: Having just taught this section of the book again, I added a Padlet page for students to share their thoughts about whether or not Sheba is a witch. Feel free to have students contribute responsibly.
I am currently teaching gifted and talented students at a boys' school. I love what I do and the kids I teach. I am easily inspired and love to find ways to improve learning for my students using a variety of strategies and ideas. I am happiest in my life when I am actively learning and can connect with others to foster growth and understanding.
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