Final Blog

My final post is in response to Tom Banaszewski's article called Digital Storytelling Finds Its Place in the Classroom. I have already written a blog that discusses my thoughts on using digital storytelling. I really enjoyed this article because it gives an example of one teacher who used digital storytelling to help his students learn to love writing. Banaszewski asked his students to write a story about a place that was special to them. He modeled the project by first showing his students a digital storybook that he had created about his classroom. 

Although it took 6 months for all of the students to complete their story, all of the students enjoyed the experience. Banaszewski is quick to point out that the the focus was not on creating the movie, but actually the writing and emotion that the writing evoked. Students were asked to include effects and music that showed the listener how they felt about their special place. I think that this is a really cool idea to get kids involved on all levels of the authoring process. 

Blog #8

This blog is in response to Phyllis Whitin's article,  "Tech-to-Stretch": Expanding Possibilities for Literature Response, and this article gives the readers several different ways in which students can respond to reading. One of the suggestions given has students create a script in which they may continue a scene from the story or recreate a scene. The students then reenacted the scene for a camera. Whitin found that the students really enjoyed writing the scene and looked very closely at the characters in order to add to the original text. 

I think this type of work really allows all of the students to use their strengths to contribute to the group. Those who are good with technology can work on the filming and editing, while the dramatic students can focus on the writing of the script. All of the students become very important contributors to their group with helps everyone feel like they belong. 

Week 11

How can digital storytelling be utilized to help/facilitate reading teaching and learning?

I think that digital storytelling is a great way to make students apart of the authoring cycle. It gives students the opportunity to tell stories about themselves or things that interest them, in a modern and entertaining media. While working on the stories, teachers could be reviewing the characters, genres, plots, story lines, etc. with the students. I also feel that these stories are easy for teachers to story and share with future classes. By doing this, you are giving students a purpose for creating these stories.

Digital stories do not have to limited to the reading classroom. I think that they are a great way to get students writing about any topic. As a social studies teacher, I could use this activity to get my students thinking about specific time periods. They could write narratives that are set in a historical time period. The students would be using facts to set up thier stories, but could be creative by using fictional characters. I really think that kids would enjoy, and learn a lot, from creating digital stories.

Week 8

This blog is in response to Strassman and O'Connell's article titled, Authoring With Video. The authors define authoring with video (AWV) as an activity in which students are given a topic and short video clips about that topic. The video clips contain no sound. Students are required to create the narrative for the video. Using special software programs, the words spoken by the students are automaticaly turned into print which is found at the bottom of the video clip. The students can then edit this text.

I was unaware that there were programs that allowed students to do this. I think that many students would be very motivated by this activity. I find that when discussing a topic, students have a lot to say, but seem to lose that voice when they are asked to write about that same topic. This is a great way to combine technology and writing!

Week 7

The article that I chose to read this week is called The Trouble With Books, and it was written by Jenny Lee. Lee studies the debate between traditional books and electronic devices in which readers download texts and read from the device itself. One point that Lee makes, that I found to be very interesting, is that books are no longer seen as sentimental pieces that are purchased and kept for lifetimes. They have been marketed as cheep and dispensible. This is just another way of making texts accessible for everyone. I find it hard to believe that the book is going to disappear and devices like the Kindle will completly take it's place, but I feel that we as teachers need to embrace this technology, whether we choose to use it or not, and expose our students to it. Some people prefer to read this way, and it is up to us to put this technology into the hands of students who want it.

Week 5

In response to Grace Rubenstien's article titled Listening to Literacture: Struggling Readers Respond to Recorded Books. I was very shocked to hear how many students in the classroom discussed in the article were able to pull move up to reading at grade level, just from audio books. I guess I am a little suprised that the students did not grow tired of just listening to the stories over and over again. But, on the other hand, this might have encouraged the kids to pick up their own books to read because they were tired of listening to them. Although, this might not be a stratagy that I would have used with such consistency because of the monotony it creates, students may enjoy it more than I thought.

Post for Week 6

Response to Stephen Abram's article Promoting Reading Using This 2.0 Stuff

In this article, Abram's lists suggestions for utilizing technology in your reading classroom. I would like to comment on some of these suggestions. Abram's suggests using e-books in your classroom to help supplement the classroom library when conducting book clubs. Using e-books allows the teacher to easily get multiple copies of a book for students to use. He does not mention that, as far as I know, you can't print e-books so all of the students will need a computer access. If your school provides students with laptops or classrooms are equipped with several computers, this would not be a problem, but we are not all given these luxuries. 

One great suggestion that Abram's gives is to designate a reading guru in your building or district. This could be someone who works in the district or is from the community. This person gives and writes book recommendations and reviews that the students can access online either through a school website or networking site like facebook. The students can visit the site and read reviews and even post their own. The guru can even do guest reads in classrooms to help get the students excited in new books. I think that this is a really great idea for middle and high school students. I think that a lot of students would be motivated to read if they new that their favorite coach or local celebrity is reading these same books. I think it is a really great way to make reading a community in your school.