Digital+Camera

** __Using the Digital Camera to Tell a Story__ ** March 23, 2009 - April 2, 2009

Maryland Teacher Technology Standards

I. Information Access, Evaluation, Processing and Application Access, evaluate, process and apply information efficiently and effectively.

II. Communication A. Use technology effectively and appropriately to interact electronically. B. Use technology to communicate information in a variety of ways.

V. Integrating Technology inot the Curriuculum and Instruction Design, implement, and assess learning experiences that incorporate use of technology in a curriculum-related instructional activity to support understanding, inquiry, problem solving, communication and/or collaboration.

Maryland Technology Literacy Standards for Students

__Standard 2.0__- Digital Citizenship: Demonstrate an understanding of the the history of technology and its impact on society, and practice ethical, legal and responsible use of technology to assure safety. B. Legal and Ethical Issues 1. Practice responsible and appropriate use of technology systems, software and information.

__Standard 5__- Technology for Information Use and Management: Use technology to locate, evaluate, gather and organize information and data. B. Organize Information/Data 1. Select, use and evaluate technology tools to organize information.

__Standard 6.0-__ Technology for Problem Solving and Decision Making: Demonstrate ability to use technology and develop strategies to solve problems and make informed decisions. A. Students use technology tools to: 6. Communicate condlusions, inferences and ideas.



media type="file" key="A day in the hallway_4.wmv"

__**Lesson Plan Summary:**__  This lesson took place over a period of two weeks. The students were evaluating non-print text and were to create their own story that included essential literary elements (setting, characterization, mood and tone). These four elements were the focus of evaluating non-print text. First, students had to become familiar with analyzing non-print text and determining the messages that are implied. Students were then provided time to practice analyzing these with photographs selected by the teacher, and they were to record their evidence of the aforementioned literary elements using a graphic organizer. Students were then given directions on using the digital camera and had to take pictures that displayed the literary elements mentioned above. After taking pictures students were given directions on how to create a story using //Photostory for Windows.// Students worked as group and created a digital photostory. The students' story is entitled "A Day in the Hallway."

media type="file" key="LHstory.wmv"

__**Summary:**__ This example is my digital story that was used to give students an example as to how to create their own. I was able to show students examples of setting, mood, tone, and characterization. I also reviewed with students proper sentence structure and grammar that was an essential component of their digital story. The pictures I used where random pictures that I had taken at my school for the purposes of this project. My story tells a very simple story of a day in Mr. Taylor's history class.

__**Reflection:**__ This project was particulary rewarding because students learned more than just about literary elements. Because I have a small, self-contained class, I was able to have students work in a group in order to complete this project. The students first had to learn how to interpret and analyze non-print text, which was a bit difficult at first. They were able to easily understand setting, mood and characterization. However, when asked to determine main idea and tone it was difficult. It took many steps for students to create their own story, because they needed to know how to establish the literary elements within their own writing. This lesson took about two weeks to complete. Yet, students came away with learning how to work cooperatively in a group, how to edit within a technological application, how to revise their writing for the appropriate audience, and how to create a story- pairing appropriate images with text. After reading their story, I felt that they came away with a better knowledge of non-print text and literary elements, but they still need repetition and much practice for these skills to be generalized and maintained over time. The students really enjoyed being assigned leadership roles, they were highly engaged, and produced work with very litte help from me. It was amazing how I was no longer the teacher, but the facilitator.