Movie Makers In the Making

 

     During our class's Intervention/Extension block there are several options.  Some students receive help in content areas, some students meet with me to go over math or writing, and some students read independently.  Each month or so, I introduce optional projects in math and writing to extend their classroom learning during this block of time.  Last month, to coincide with our lessons on story structure and writing fiction stories, students had an opportunity to write scripts.

    This was a long process for students.  They first needed to plan the script with a very clear problem, series of events, and a solution.  Next, they wrote a rough draft of their script complete with stage directions and props.  I conferred with authors and gave suggestions where needed  Once approved, students were finally allowed to produce their script using IMovie on their ipads.  Only three groups of students made it through the entire process.  Below are their final products. 

    We have viewed these as a class and continue to learn about how to hold the ipad so that the screen stays steady and oriented, how editing affects the storyline, and how what seems like a lot of written material does not translate into a long movie.  My hope is that this process has made students more appreciative of the movies they see and more motivated to write, direct, and produce.  Enjoy!