timothybutt:

Simple storyboards and “blocking” scenes proves an effective strategy for supporting students during film making

Roger Wise and Iris McGill from the Caspa team have an effective system of walking students through their scenes during pre-production. Here Roger records the photos or short movie of the planned scene. Once filming day arrives, there is an instant effective recall by students. Limiting storyboards to 6 scenes also aids concise storytelling Here he works with my year 2 class during the battle of the artz preparation recently.

Year 2 students design scenes and control production on the set

As part of the caspa battle of the artz, students use iPads and borrowed lighting on set in the Principals office. I have been encouraging them to look at each scene as a work of art, in dialogue, framing of shots and colour. They are using the language of film and media comfortably after a few weeks. Here students reconstruct an historical scene for their documentary on Anzac Day.

Simple storyboards and “blocking” scenes proves an effective strategy for supporting students during film making

Roger Wise and Iris McGill from the Caspa team have an effective system of walking students through their scenes during pre-production. Here Roger records the photos or short movie of the planned scene. Once filming day arrives, there is an instant effective recall by students. Limiting storyboards to 6 scenes also aids concise storytelling Here he works with my year 2 class during the battle of the artz preparation recently.

Teaching phonics in context as part of the Battle of the Artz competition

Year 2 students record their voice over for their puppet show narrative as part of the Caspa - ‘Battle of the Artz”. It is a great awareness exercise recording audio. It is easy to drop letter sounds when we speak. Voice overs are a great way for coaching. Use iPads for literacy block for peer to peer recording and coaching.

CaSpa Bootcamp unleashes the power of Ipads for film making in the Early Years Classroom

8 iPads ready to go with garage band and iMovie. 34 students in year 2 are learning film making literacy as they study cultural celebrations.
8 movies being made for entry into caspa film competition “Battle of the Artz”. Great caspa bootcamp on film making in the classroom recently.

http://www.caspaonline.com.au/annual-program/wider-program-initiatives/battle-of-the-artz-2/

Connecting science across schools with google hangouts

NASA Astronomer, Dr Stephen Kane’s, “link up” shows the power of partnering with scientists and parent communities.

When two parents approached me at my Yr 2 class’ (St Mary’s Nth Sydney) orientation night, little did I know that what they were about to propose, could lead me to one of the most significant teaching moments I have had so far. Class parents Mary Jane and Leon studied with a NASA Astronomer Dr Stephen Kane in Sydney.  

We were studying living things and merging into water environments in Term 2. Why not throw Space into the mix? Stephen is part of the team who discovered Kepler-186f, an earth sized planet in what they call the habitable zone around its sun. Apart from looking for planets, he looks for signs of water in our solar system and he framed his lecture - “Planets, here there and everywhere”.

At the teaching end, I used the “understanding by design” inquiry framework, which allowed me to let the students take their learning into space as well.

Catching up with a teaching colleague in hangouts,  Michael Cowley (Principal of OLN Lawson) and I decided to link the two Year 2 classes.
Dr Kane was only too happy to get his message across to as many students as he could after he finished work at his office in San Francisco that afternoon.

What resulted was a power packed 40 minute video showing vibrant student enquiry, an outstanding visual presentation and lecture from Dr Kane and a resource for future use. Most pcs and macs have a video screen record software available in them, I had some technical hitches (bought the software but still it defaulted to demo version!) but we got there and the interview was recorded. The latest MAC OS on a macbook has built in screen record. Just type screen record up on the magnifier and check you have it. I didn’t so I bought an online app for the Mac. I suggest using a laptop for any link ups.

Thanks to Stephen, Mary Jane, Leon, Michael, Bev and my colleagues at St Mary’s North Sydney and OLN Lawson who supported this opportunity for our students.

Click the link below to see the full movie!

Mixing science and the arts - a big day out learning

When local events come up on the calendar, why not go on an inexpensive excursion and tie it in to your units of work? My year 2 class was really excited to visit “Sculptures at Sawmiller’s Reserve, McMahon’s Point” - a beautiful display of sculptures overlooking Sydney Harbour.

We were also learning about living things and being an inner city school, we had to look outside our school to dig some dirt and find some creatures.

Armed with containers, gloves, journals, cameras and willing parent helpers we mixed a nice walk through the city, an experiment and a cultural experience in just a few hours. All excursions are great, but this one had an element of adventure and surprise I had not anticipated. 

As with everything, I acknowledge my colleagues who helped organise and attend, and of course the army of parent helpers who came along and supported.

One of the Sculptors talks to the class.