October 6, 2009

Collaboration is Key

This week I have been working with Brenda Smith's class to finish up the collaborative lesson that we developed. The students read "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in this U.S. History class to deepen their understanding of the growing tensions between the regions and to see how literature can have a profound effect on history. The students read the book individually and wrote a report to present their understandings. In addition, they were directed to find primary source images to create a multi-media presentation of the book using Animoto.com. This web-based program was taught to the class as a whole and I have been working with individual students this past week as they complete the project. I have been monitoring their progress through the common educator account in Animoto and am pleased with their results. Today the class came to the Media Center to watch the film version of the book and will write a brief comparison of the film versus print version. This collaboration has been a great experience for the students as well as the instructors.

Total hours: 8 hours