My students need 3 cameras and microphones to create digital storybooks.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Reeves's classroom raised $493
This project is fully funded
My Students
The days of posterboard, pictures cut from magazines and hand-written construction paper booklets are in the past. Today we are surrounded by digital technology the students can use to show what they know.
I am the Science Specialist at a good sized elementary school in a large urban area of Illinois.
The school is located in a poverty level neighborhood where 98% of our students qualify for free breakfast and lunch. We have a high turnover rate: nearly 33% of our school population changes during one school year. Although this makes it difficult to teach, we look on it as a way to spread our good ideas with other schools. We teach our students to love learning and work hard. When they move elsewhere they take that learning with them, along with the feelings of success we have instilled in them, and they infuse their new classmates with these ideas. We have only 2 cameras and 1 microphone so the recording process creates a bottleneck. With more equipment we will reach the children while their enthusiasm is still high.
My Project
Doing research on a science topic is not dull work at our school. In order to impress the science concepts on the students we taught them to make digital story books to explain the habitats of mammals, elements on the periodic table, or science processes. Students use the study techniques of reading, research and writing but they take that information to the next level using Microsoft Photo Story 3. Importing digital pictures, music, and spoken narration students tell the Story of Coal, for example, from the plant based beginnings through the process of transformation into a fossil fuel. We only had 2 cameras so taking pictures to explain their story was eagerly prepared for, and they imported music to enhance the mood. Other books we created are Chemical Reactions in Every Day Life and The Seasons Outside Our Window. The students write their script and practice their delivery, thus improving their Language Arts skills.
With few resources outside the school, having this mesmerizing, exciting project to work on, with all the needed equipment, inspires our students to become even more than they ever thought they could.
They have someone who believes they can do a good job, and offers knowledgeable assistance when asked. Learning to use a camera and how to speak clearly are lessons that aren't in the curriculum but knowing how to showcase your learning is a lesson that brings great rewards.
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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