My High Point University technology class has been paired with Montlieu Academy of Technology to work together on an iPad project. Each High Point student is paired with one Montlieu student, and then small groups were created to make a larger project.
We are working with the iPad application MyCreate which allows students to bring their stories and ideas to animation through stop motion video. A series of still photos are taken, moving the object of the story slightly each time, and combined to create a motion video.
The group I am working with has designed the mini unit iCreate The Three Little Pigs. Our group has three students and each student is going to be their own pig, in a cohesive MyCreate story. Our lessons include reading various versions of the Three Little Pigs, exploring with the Lego Story Starter kits, writing individual and group stories, and building and video taping their finished product with Legos and MyCreate.
Week one:
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I met the student I will be working with for this project, he is a second grade male, eager and excited to learn, listen very well, follows directions, and works well with others. As a group we read the original version of The Three Little Pigs by Nancy Parent and my student was listening and engaged witht story, and answered questions about the plot when I asked. We explained the overall goal and timeline of the project. The students built with the Lego Story Starter Kits to get to know the pieces in the kits. My student was creative with his design, he built a property that was like a castle.
Week Two:
We read the story The Three Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen Schwartz and the students really enjoyed it. This story included houses built out of bricks,
concrete, metal and barb wire and the boys enjoyed seeing those. After reading we worked with the iPads and practiced using the MyCreate app. My student worked very well with the iPad, being careful and considerate. I showed him an example and then he practiced taking videos of students and people walking down the hallways. He enjoyed replaying the videos and watching people walk. He did very well for a second grader, some fine tuning of holding the iPad still and only moving slightly is what I think would need to be worked on before the final project.
Week Three:
This week we read The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pigs by Eugene Trivizas and talked about how stories can be told in different ways, three pigs or three wolves, and that point of view can change how characters are thought of. The students were really shy with answering the questions me and my fellow classmates were asking them. We talked about the two previous stories we read, and what all the houses were made out of in every book. Then the students drew what they would want their pig house to look like when we make it out of Legos and add it to our story. My student created a couple of different houses, including metal, brick, and a "regular" one. He decided he liked the one made of brick the best. As my student was drawing his houses, I asked about the elements of his drawing and he had a reason for each of them.
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Week Four:
This week the students took the drawings that they created last week and built them out of Legos. My student built a brick house and added details that he thought of on his own. He added guards, tree, traveling guards around the whole property, barb wire and more. By adding these protective elements it showed me that my student understood the assignment of creating a house that would protect his pig inside from the wolf.
Week Five:
The students drew the houses they were going to create, paying attention to the details and that it could be realistically created with Legos. As a group we talked about the story that we were going to create. One of my partners Caroline Stalvey typed up the story that we talked about as a group. We asked the students what they wanted to happen to their wolves, if the pig would blow down their house or not.
Week Six:
My student was absent this week. I wasn't aware that he was going to be absent. I was nervous that because he was absent he wouldn't be aware of the field trip on Friday. The other two students built their houses out of Legos.
Final day at HPU:
The students came to High Point and we created the final project with the MyCreate app. The students built their houses and we set up the scene. The college students did most of the work with the iPad and app because the students didn't have enough practice to get it to be "perfect", but the students helped moved the pieces and say the parts of their wolves. I think this day went really well and the students enjoyed coming to High Point for a special treat and watching the video of their story.
The group I am working with has designed the mini unit iCreate The Three Little Pigs. Our group has three students and each student is going to be their own pig, in a cohesive MyCreate story. Our lessons include reading various versions of the Three Little Pigs, exploring with the Lego Story Starter kits, writing individual and group stories, and building and video taping their finished product with Legos and MyCreate.
Week one:
.jpg)
I met the student I will be working with for this project, he is a second grade male, eager and excited to learn, listen very well, follows directions, and works well with others. As a group we read the original version of The Three Little Pigs by Nancy Parent and my student was listening and engaged witht story, and answered questions about the plot when I asked. We explained the overall goal and timeline of the project. The students built with the Lego Story Starter Kits to get to know the pieces in the kits. My student was creative with his design, he built a property that was like a castle.Week Two:
We read the story The Three Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen Schwartz and the students really enjoyed it. This story included houses built out of bricks,
concrete, metal and barb wire and the boys enjoyed seeing those. After reading we worked with the iPads and practiced using the MyCreate app. My student worked very well with the iPad, being careful and considerate. I showed him an example and then he practiced taking videos of students and people walking down the hallways. He enjoyed replaying the videos and watching people walk. He did very well for a second grader, some fine tuning of holding the iPad still and only moving slightly is what I think would need to be worked on before the final project.
Week Three:This week we read The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pigs by Eugene Trivizas and talked about how stories can be told in different ways, three pigs or three wolves, and that point of view can change how characters are thought of. The students were really shy with answering the questions me and my fellow classmates were asking them. We talked about the two previous stories we read, and what all the houses were made out of in every book. Then the students drew what they would want their pig house to look like when we make it out of Legos and add it to our story. My student created a couple of different houses, including metal, brick, and a "regular" one. He decided he liked the one made of brick the best. As my student was drawing his houses, I asked about the elements of his drawing and he had a reason for each of them.
.jpg)
Week Four:
This week the students took the drawings that they created last week and built them out of Legos. My student built a brick house and added details that he thought of on his own. He added guards, tree, traveling guards around the whole property, barb wire and more. By adding these protective elements it showed me that my student understood the assignment of creating a house that would protect his pig inside from the wolf.
Week Five:
The students drew the houses they were going to create, paying attention to the details and that it could be realistically created with Legos. As a group we talked about the story that we were going to create. One of my partners Caroline Stalvey typed up the story that we talked about as a group. We asked the students what they wanted to happen to their wolves, if the pig would blow down their house or not.
Week Six:
My student was absent this week. I wasn't aware that he was going to be absent. I was nervous that because he was absent he wouldn't be aware of the field trip on Friday. The other two students built their houses out of Legos.
Final day at HPU:
The students came to High Point and we created the final project with the MyCreate app. The students built their houses and we set up the scene. The college students did most of the work with the iPad and app because the students didn't have enough practice to get it to be "perfect", but the students helped moved the pieces and say the parts of their wolves. I think this day went really well and the students enjoyed coming to High Point for a special treat and watching the video of their story.
If I did this project again I would have had the students practice the MyCreate app more so on the final day they could participate more with creating the story. I also would try to see them twice a week to get more lesson plans in and to get them more comfortable with us and the MyCreate app. My group worked really well together and I wouldn't want to change much, only working with them more!
If I was the administration from High Point or Montlieu doing their project again I would have groups be the same grade level. Although our three students worked very well together the ability levels vary greatly. Having grades 3-5 for this project might work better when using the actual myCreate app because older students could make the video more easily than the younger students.
