All of the oral history movies are uploaded to the computer and the kids have watched the videos with Melissa and taken notes on the stories, just like real researchers. The next step is for each child to create an illustration for their stories. We delved into 2 of my favorite illustrators, Eric Carle and Steve Jenkins. I love their work because they use a variety of textured papers to create beautiful collages. We spent some time just looking through their books and talking about what we noticed. Of course, the kids noticed so many things. Ideas were “ping ponging” (I made that up) back and forth among each other. It took on a life of its own…I almost didn’t even need to be there. After I charted their thinking, I said, “I wonder how Eric Carle and Steve Jenkins made these textured papers?” The excitement mounted as they shouted out their ideas. They thought of things that I didn’t even consider. You should have heard them when I told them that they were going to try some of these techniques on their own.
Well, I got out the paper, paints, forks, cotton balls, and foil balls, and we were ready to go. You can see below all the fun they had and there was only one major water spill. Now that the papers have dried, I will cut them up into smaller pieces and the kids will use them to create their own collages to go along with their oral history story.
I stayed late tonight to help some of my after school writing clubbers finish their projects for our writing celebration Monday night. The glogs look great and I have to give a shout out to our technology teacher, because I couldn’t do it without her. I owe her a lot of biscotti!! It’s the first time that the only publication will be a digital one – the glogs. This is a huge paradigm shift for me. I keep thinking that I should have a book to give the kids. I wonder if the parents or kids will miss having a physical publication to hold.
The students have loved the digital project. As always, I wish we had more time to work on them. It’s been a little hairy having only 2 adults to work with 16 kids who all need attention at once (and one of the adults…me…was learning along with the kids). I would still do it again though. The kids were so enthusiastic and they each were able to express their individuality through their glogs. It’s been very fun to watch the whole process.
Things the kids learned to do:
Create a plan to use visual and audio components to complement their writing
Use Wordle
Take a screen shot
Upload photos and audio
Use Garage Band to record their voices
Embed sound into their glogs
Embed movies (only a few got to do this)
Think about the best way to represent each piece of writing
Design a layout that was appealing and made a statement about who they are
So, the glogs will be unveiled Monday after school. Each student will have the opportunity to stand up in front of the audience and share his or her glog as well as the thinking that went behind its creation. The process is the most important part!
Here is one example. Enjoy!
I just finished watching all of the videos the kids have done for our oral history project. I am so proud of them! They all took on the persona of an interviewer. You can hear the authority in their voices as they ask questions and then ask more questions to get more details. They are also first graders…the camera gets clicked off amidst giggles, video that is so shaky it makes your stomach roll, and probably the best…L. asking his grandma what her favorite movie is after she shares a beautiful story about her great-grandmother from Puerto Rico who was a popular midwife.
One thing that came out of all of the videos is the love felt in these families. As I watched the grandparents’ and parents’ faces as they told their stories, I could see such a sense of pride. This project has become an opportunity for families to share across the generations and for my students to learn that even though we come from different backgrounds, we all have many things in common.
The stories are spectacular! Some made me laugh, some gave me goosebumps, and some brought tears to my eyes. Nobody has denied telling a story and some families even traveled to get stories from all the grandparents. J’s grandparents live far away, so her parents skyped the grandparents and they videotaped the interview.
Next, Melissa and I will sit with the kids individually to watch their movies with them. I’ve created a graphic organizer to help the kids organize their thinking so that they can write about the interview. After they write, I’ll record their voices, photograph their writing, and incorporate all of it into an iMovie. Our final celebration will be during the last week of school when all the families will be invited to see the movie and celebrate the important work the kids have done in this project!
Happy Mother’s Day!
Isn’t teaching all about reflecting on and tweaking our original plans? After the first oral history movies came back, we realized that some of the students didn’t quite understand that the interview questions should evoke a story, not a one word answer. So, Melissa and I modeled 2 different kinds of questions…one that requires a one word answer and one that invites the person being interviewed to tell a story.
My first question: “Mrs. Wilson, do you have any other brothers or sisters?”
Melissa: “Yes, I have 2 brothers.” (There’s no story here.)
Me: “Will you tell me a story about a time you had fun with your brothers or a time that they were annoying to you?” (This question allows the person being interviewed to elaborate.)
Melissa: “Let me tell you a story about a time that we lived in North Africa…”
I wanted the students to hear the words, “Will you tell me a story about…” I also tried to tie my question into the list of questions we originally created (think “My Rotten Red Headed Older Brother).
I’m interested to see what the latest videos bring back to us. One of the girls did get a wonderful story from her grandma about living on a farm when she was a small girl in Italy.
