Assignment+4

Video Podcast Presentation
 * Famous Americans Influence Society **
 * Duration: ** 7 class periods (60-90 minutes)

** Grade Level: ** 3rd-5th Grade
 * Unit Plan Objective: ** Students should understand how contributions by historical people such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Helen Keller, Jackie Robinson, and Martin Luther King Jr. impacted society and future Americans.
 * Materials Needed:**
 * Apple computers with Internet access for all students
 * Books on selected famous Americans
 * 5 or more iPods with voice recorders and/or Garage Band or Audacity
 * Paper
 * Colored Pencils
 * Scanner
 * KidPix
 * iPhoto
 * iMovie
 * iTunes

Language ** A.4.4 Read to acquire information. B.4.2 Plan, revise, edit, and publish clear and effective writing. C.4.1 Orally communicate information, opinions, and ideas effectively to different audiences for a variety of purposes. E.4.1 Use computers to acquire, organize, analyze, and communicate information. E.4.5 Analyze and edit media work as appropriate to audience and purpose. F.4.1 Conduct research and inquiry on self-selected or assigned topics, issues, or problems and use an appropriate form to communicate their findings.
 * State Standards:

Social Studies B.4.3 Examine biographies, stories, narratives, and folk tales to understand the lives of ordinary and extraordinary people, place them in time and context, and explain their relationship to important historical events. B.4.4 Compare and contrast changes in contemporary life with life in the past by looking at social, economic, political, and cultural roles played by individuals and groups. B.4.7 Identify and describe important events and famous people in Wisconsin and United States history. E.4.12 Give examples of important contributions made by Wisconsin citizens, United States citizens, and world citizens.

Day 1: Teacher will randomly assign students into groups to research six famous Americans (George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Helen Keller, Jackie Robinson, and Martin Luther King Jr.). Each group will be made up of approximately three students. Students will begin to research their famous Americans using the Internet and books. Each group will be responsible for finding information about their famous Americans life and achievements (how they have impacted society). Reinforce the importance of media literacy standards such as sighting sources and copyright.
 * Procedures: **

Day 2: Students should complete their research and begin work on making a storyboard. Students will create a rough draft using paper, and outline the events that they want to highlight along with the text they would like included on each slide. Be sure to reinforce the concept that this storyboard should be presented in a timeline format and the text should be supported with pictures that include relevant details.

Day 3 and 4: Demonstrate to students how to use Kidpix. Students should have a clear understanding of how to create slides with pictures and text. Once students have an understanding, let them use their planned storyboard to create authentic illustrations and text using Kidpix. Students should divide the slides equally among group members. If students do not feel comfortable using Kidpix, or you do not have the program available, students can illustrate pictures on paper using colored pencil, and these pictures can be scanned into iPhoto. You can add text in iPhoto or later using iMovie. Make sure that you let each group know they will need a title slide giving the name of the person they researched along with all of the names of the people in their group. Each group should have a copy of their slides to read from for the next day.

Day 5: Show students how to use either an iPod with a voice recorder, Garage Band, or Audacity to add narration for their slides. Once students have an understanding of how to use the recorder of your choice, let students narrate their presentations into a podcast. They should practice taking turns reading their slides in order. Once they feel confident, groups can begin recording. It is up to you how in depth you want to get with each group for editing their project. These podcasts should be exported into iTunes when finished.

Day 6: Using the computers again, show the students how to import their slides and narration into iMovie. Once all their slides are in an accurate order, demonstrate how to add their podcast narration from iTunes. These steps are as easy as locating the files and dragging them to the appropriate location. Then show students how to add one transition throughout the whole presentation. Model to students how to listen to their presentations and change the length of slides to match with the narration length. When the students think their presentation is complete, reveal how to export the finished product to either iTunes or your classroom set of iPods.

Day 7 (Assessment Day): Have each group of students present their Video Podcast to the classroom. Students will be assessed by the teacher based on the following criteria: historical facts and accuracy (40%), storyboard organization (20%), and presentation such as visual impact, correct use of sound, text, and visuals (20%). Students will also fill out an assessment sheet and score their group members and themselves out of 10 points based on their effort and how well they worked together. The teacher will collect the students’ assessments and average them into the final score (20%).