ANIMOTO

I am Àngels Tugores, and my entry is about how to create a video with pictures, with other videos or with songs. Would you like to know the name of this app?

This app and webpage creates original videos wherever you are, with photos and video clips eithe from your camera, ipad or phone. You can choose from one of their sleek video styles, add a song and you’re done! It is very easy to work, you only need to attach the pictures and write something if you want. Another feature is that you can share the videos via messages, email, Twitter, Facebook and knock the socks off your classroom. I want to point out that this app is free, but only for 30 days.

I really hope you use this app if you want to create a final video for your class. Also,  you can encourage your the students to use it  to create a video or do a different type of presentation.

The name of this app is Animoto.

Tutorial:

How to use Animoto?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6A1PVeVf_U

How to make an easy intro using Animoto?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv8BQMDg2to

Target audience

In my opinion this app, Animoto, is for four graders students. Nevertheless, it can also be used with 5th and 6th graders or adults.

Aims: 

- To introduce a new topic.

- To create an oral presentation and video

- To promote interest to know different apps.

- To finish a topic.

Vocabulary related to the app:

• Change style, change logo, add, pictures, videos, rotate, delete, duplicate, shuffle, preview video, upgrade now, setting

Competences:

• Linguistic and audiovisual ( Pupils have to read how to us the app).

• Management of information and digital (The students have to use the computer to finish the activity with animoto).

• Social and civic  (The teacher divides the class in groups of four, the students need to work cooperatively with their partners).

• Learning to learn (The students will have to think about their presentation, choose a topic and make it.).

Class management

The teacher divides the class in groups of 4. How to divide the class? Well, the teacher uses a a game to divide the class and make the groups. For instance, the teacher has different sticks so the students have to take one stick. each stick has vocabulary, therefore the students need to move an find their group. For example, a group of animals, fruits or directions, this topic can be relative to review vocabulary

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

Higher order thinking skills (HOTS).

• Level VI: Creating (create new products). The activity gives the students the opportunity to create their own presentation and explain them to the class.

Four skills

The activities that I have created are designed to work on the four skills.

Receptive	Productive
Listening: The students will listen to their classmates and their group. Reading: All the instructions on how to use Animoto.	Speaking: students wiil have to talk with their partners. In the end, they will have to present their presentation. Writing: pupils will have to write their presentation and add some text in it.

Activity

This activity is to present, prepare and create a presentation with Animoto. This app is similar to movie maker. It’s very easy to use: students have to find some pictures, videos and songs to add in their presentation to make it more visual and entertaining..
The students in group of 4, the english day they need to move together and take some pictures and videos. to show what they did in the english day, because there are a lot of activities and games they can go. So each children can have their place, for example one children can take photos, another the speaker, the writer and finally who make the movie.
Hence, all students can see what their classmate where in the English Day and what activities they went.

I did this example on the topic “The English Day”. But I can put the original video because for the privacy of the children.

Assessment

Regarding assessment, this would be through regular observation. However, both the teacher and the students assess the oral presentations, with some simple guides to follow: each group has an assessment grift  and together they have to evaluate their classmates.
We will assess:
- Creativity (video, photos, video)
- Use of English in the activity.
- Cooperative work with their partners.

Resources:

I found this web for Apps for Diverse English Language Learners. I checked the website and I think it is very interesting because there are a lot of apps. Have a look at http://www.crosscultured.com/documents/Website/Apps.pdf

If I can't attract the original video, I did a different video with some pictures about ChocoArt: Cakepops

Discovering IWB

Increasingly, Interactive whiteboards (IWB) are gaining ground in the classrooms. They are a powerful tool in the teaching learning process adding interactivity and collaboration. When used innovatively IWB create a wide range of learning opportunities raising the level of student engagement, motivating students and promoting enthusiasm for learning. Moreover, I believe that our nowadays students, as digital natives, feel confident using this tool, which is always a positive aspect.

As far as my experience using IWB, I've just used them in one school where I did some substitutions. And I couldn't really use them as I wanted because I had to follow some instructions as a substitute. But my mother is an Infant education teacher, and she has an IWB on her classroom. And I’ve seen her using it a lot! She works with the Panasonic elite Panaboard Software and it is really useful for her. She creates lots of activities to do which are so interesting for her 5 year-old-students. 

After our last session on ICT, I’ve been investigating and discovering how to use SMART Notebook, and eventually I’ve created two activities related with the topic of fairytales. They are thought to use in Year 4 Primary. 

The first one, according to Bloom’s digital Taxonomy it’s a “Remember-Understand” activity, so it is a LOT (Low Ordered Thinking). I’ve created it with the Lesson Activity Toolkit 2.0 and it focuses on the fairytales characters. As you can see, the activity consist on clicking the right picture according to the word that appears in the red rectangle. The fact of scoring, having limited time and adding sound effects will engage children. 

The second activity, according to Bloom’s digital Taxonomy it’s a “Creating” activity, so it is a HOT (High Ordered Thinking). Using the vocabulary that students would have learnt doing the first activity, this time they would have to create a scene of a story. First, they would have to roll different dice, one for choosing the setting and two more for choosing the characters. Then, they would have to complete the sentences besides the dice.

Finally, students would have to create a scene in comic style using the vocabulary they have been working. This last part can be adapted to the level of every specific group and also to the level of each child, as everyone can complicate the dialogue as much as he wants to. 

You can download and try these activities by clicking here. 

To conclude, I want to say that using SMART Notebook software I’ve discovered lots of advantages and countless ideas have come to my mind. However, I’ve also fins some things that I don’t like so much. First, when you insert some images in your Notebook document, it slows down and it crashes sometimes (so be careful not to insert large images!). Second, I’ve found several limitations on the use of animations of objects. It happened to me that I had ideas in my mind that I would be able to do with Power Point and then I couldn’t do it with SMART Notebook.  

Despite this, using SMART Notebook Software on IWB has been an enriching experience and it has caused me want to continue learning and creating things.