While assessing final projects for my Teaching the Composing Processes course, a graduate student put together a yearlong project that he hopes to set the pace for middle school, social studies work. First, the year will begin with Powerpoint movies showcasing 7th grade geographical terms about location and, second, the end-of-the-year will require a more advanced digital essay that answers the question on "Why History?"
His first model, a Powerpoint story, is showcased above and the the other, larger, was too big to upload to the site tonight. Although we touched upon digital storytelling in class, it was not on my radar as a possible outcome of the graduate student work...for that reason I am thinking 'bonus'.
What I appreciated about this piece was that technological ways of knowing can be elicited in a history classroom, too. Simply by using Powerpoint to frame images and a voiceover tool, students can compose a digital text to extend traditional modes of communication. The graduate student addressed how technology motivates students and how the 'frames' of digital stories are a great way to get middle school students to organize essays while exploring vocabulary important to teaching geography throughout the year.
The author, Chris, modeled what he wants from his future student early in the year and developed a plan for larger projects after a year of instruction (I wish I could upload the final model he created, too, as it demonstrates historical possibilities for middle school composers in a content area).
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