Writing Assignment and Rubric

For my final project I'll be making a podcast with my 4th grade Junior Great Books students.  We will be making a newscast type news show from a chapter in the book The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli.  I have outlined the assignment instructions on my wiki http://waysmooth.pbworks.com/w/page/33156108/podcast-newscast-assignment-door-in-the-wall .  I have developed this wiki as a source for all the materials I use with the study of this novel in my Junior Great Books group.  My wiki links to my website http://www.readwriterun.com/.  Although the wiki can be used as a collaborative site, at this point I appreciate the organizational aspects of it.  This is especially helpful as my classses physically move from room to room and it is helpful to be able to locate and access all my material in one place.  I have developed a rubric to go along with this podcast assignment.  I used microsoft word table and found it quite user friendly.    I will post the podcast to both the wiki and website when we have completed it.  The students will not actually be editing the podcast on Garage Band or Audacity so I can't really include that as a multi-modality assessment aspect in the rubric.  Perhaps, however, to introduce reader based descriptive feedback, I will make a podcast assessment of the entire process for each student.  This would bring closure to the exercise and model reader based feedback.  Another aspect I might introduce is to have each student respond to the experience on the website blog.  This would introduce more multi-modality and interactivity, as they could also resond to each other's blog comments. 

Writing Rubric Fourth Grade Junior Great Books Podcast Script

	One		Two	Three
Topic and Details	Minimally addresses		Stays on topic.  Extends topic with support	Topic and details richly developed.  Uses elaboration.
Format		Weak questions	Simple questions.		Logical progression of questions. Brings closure
Word choice and sentence structure		Limited and inappropriate word choice.	Interesting vocabulary.  Simple sentence structure		Vivid language Variety of sentences/questions
Grammar, usage, and spelling		Errors impede communication	Generally follows use of correct mechanics, capitals, spelling		Excellent use of mechanics, capitals, spelling
Organization		Interview questions don’t follow natural progression	Interview questions lead listener and communicate story		Strong interview questions that capture attention of listener and convey message

Upload discovery

Many of my discoveries while learning new systems, have been related to what versions are acceptable or not.  The power point in my previous blog didn't fully upload because it is a pptx version, not ppt which Google Docs requires.  I could search for and download something that would convert it but at this point, it is not worth it.  At this point, it would make more sense to try using Google Docs presentation or Prezi, or something similar discussed in class.

Another First: Power Point

Here is the link to my Power Point.  I enjoyed making it.  This was the first time I have used PowerPoint.  It reminded me a lot of Movie Making.  At first I had a difficult time thinking of a subject.  My kids were so funny...they said just do it on anything, mom.  You know, like a comparison of something.  How about where you bargain shop?  They obviously found this whole thing very easy.  Now that  I have done one and understand how it works, I hope I will be able to make effective presentations.  Without a specific audience in mind, I find it harder to make one that is appropriately interactive. For the one I made, I used our soccer booster club.  I can tweek it next fall , as there are many things to add, like website address, facebook address, etc., when we actually have our meeting - if we meet in a room with projector access.

The second issue I'd like to address is analyzing readability of effective website/blog design.  What specific features contribute to readability?  Here is a website I find attractive.  It is the site for artist Mary Englebreit.  I think some of the features that contribute to readability are the easy menu bar across the top with few and simple choices.  The playing slide show offers information for those wanting more connections.  The information presented on each page is attractive, with nice colors yet not overwhelming.  If more information is wanted, it can be obtained by going to a tab.   The overall impact is that this site highlights this artist's work.  It also offers some links that might appeal to educators and/or crafters.  I think this is important because many of the people going to a site like this might actually be looking for downloads for personal use, not just product information.  So I think the creators were very insightful to realize this.  An example of a poorly constructed website is this one advertising taxi service.   I found this through Worst of the Web Winners.  The taxi site won the award on June 25th 2010.  I can understand why it won the award.  The site is crowded, flashy and attention grabbing in strange spots.  The eye does not know where to rest.  If I were looking for taxi service information, I would want the information as simple and straightforward as possible.

Successful youtube edit

Hey, I'm so excited.  My first ever Youtube edit worked.  Here is the soccer game I edited.  Wow, this whole experience has taken some effort.  A parent on my son's soccer team kindly made DVD's of the games but You tube would not accept the format.  I tried Microsoft editing software, that would not accept the format.  I tried Mediamill, it would not accept it.  So, I was left with using the video my husband had taken with his parents' video camera.  When it came to editing it on Youtube, the quality was poor so it was hard to recognize things.  The process was slow and didn't always accept the video.  So, at least I have this - whew!

Here is a poem I wrote as I sat, mesmerized by the beauty of the snowfall on Saturday.  The poem is entitled First November Snow.  Then I added the poem to poetry cube.

The Get Away Comic

Okay, I've done a little more experimenting with Comic Life and the more I use it, the more I like it.  I think this would be a fun way to give a book report.  Another use that comes to mind is a family Christmas card.  I like the abiity with the comic format of taking a larger chunk of material and reducing it to the main elements.  This could be used to explore story structures like plot, characterization, etc.  Or how about some writing pieces, like, how I spent my summer. It almost seems that you could take any traditional writing exercise and turn it into a comic.   My comic is made from photos that we took at the Disney Studios Park.  We watched a movie set production of the robbery, the get away car and the car blowing up.  Pretty cool stuff.  Here it is:

Comic Relief

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Here is a comic I made.  It's pretty fun.  I will have to get used to this.  The idea isn't necessarily to be funny or comical - it's a story telling mechanism - but I have to get used to this.  I think the more I use it, the more I will like it.  I do love being able to manipulate images and text.

Podcast Reflections

I read too fast and stumbled over my words when I made my own podcast.  But what a relief to know that a podcast doesn't have to be perfect. 

I've got several ideas brewing regarding the use of podcasts.  In my 4th grade Junior Great Books group we are studying the book A Door in the Wall.  In the book there is a fight/escape scene.  In the past, I have had the students set up a mock TV station; one person takes on the role of the interviewer and goes out and interviews the various characters and their reactions to the fight scene.  I plan to use the podcasting format to turn it into a podcast presentation.  I think I'll have the students write out their interview questions/answers but also allow for spontaneity in their responses.  I actually like this possibility of the podcast.  It is similar to Voicethread in the way that it allows for extemporaneous thinking and verbalizing.  This is important for what we do in Junior Great Books because our efforts are not about developing writing skills as much as they are about interacting with the literature.

One issue I continue to have with using technology in my school situation is publication.  I have set up a website for our class and have published some of their work on it but I am limited in file size.  As it is set up right now, I'm not sure if it would take a large podcast file.  So, other than directing parents/students to my blog, I'm not always sure where to publish our work.  And that is really part of the point, isn't it, publishing so that others can view and interact with?

I suppose that's another reason I like the idea of podcasts - they're more easily anonymous.  They don't have the same privacy issues associated with them as photos and video.

Other uses I've thought about for podcasts include poetry readings and sharing stories.  I think if a student  has written a piece, it becomes so much more meaningful when it is heard in the writer's voice.   I think my favorite use of the podcast for students, however, is intereviews.  Another book we read in Junior Great books is Call it Courage, by Armstrong Sperry.  Students could set up mock interviews with Mafatu, the main character.  This would help them personalize his experience.

Switching gears from literature, I wish I was more of a rapper.  I'm coaching our Math Masters group this year and am trying to come up with raps that help make sense of mathematical equations.  It would be pretty cool if the students could then make a podcast of our rap.

Why I Love my Cabin

Here is my podcast entitled Why I Love my Cabin. I keep a file of notes on things I'd like to write about...someday...  Someday never seems to arrive.  When I thought about making a podcast, I pulled out the "write someday" file and there were notes from long ago about Midwest Reflections.  So I chose to make my podcast on a midwestern reflection of our cabin.  It doesn't tell the whole story.  Maybe that would be the subject for additional podcasts.