Book Trailers by MPS Grade 6

Mr. Baskerville's Grade 6 class at Major Pratt School has been working on creating book trailers to showcase some of their favourite books!   We started by watching some book trailers and determining what elements should be included in a good book trailer.   This process of co-constructing criteria gave students a list of elements and features to include in their videos.

Next, students were given a graphic organizer to plan the content for their trailer.  Once students had done some planning for their trailers, they were introduced to Powtoon and given an overview of the tool.   Students were also introduced to sites for sourcing public-domain images such as Pixabay and Unsplash.

Students then spent additional work sessions putting together graphics, text, animations and music to bring their plans to life!   Some of the book trailers are now complete and published on YouTube (with permission). 

Watch some book trailers below to see the final products or visit our YouTube playlist.

The Truth About Twinkie Pie by Kat Yeh
Book trailer by Julie


Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Dog Days by Jeff Kinney
Book trailer by Otello


Diary of a Wimpy Kid- Meltdown by Jeff Kinney
Book trailer by Kenneth


Zombies Attack! The Rise of the Warlords Book 1 by Mark Cheverton
Book trailer by Drighton

I Survived the Hindenburg Disaster by Lauren Tarshis
Book trailer by Alex

Can You Say Catastrophe?  by Laurie Friedman
Book trailer by Alexsa

TBH, This is So Awkward by Lisa Greenwald
Book trailer by Charlie



Haunted Canada by Joel A. Sutherland
Book trailer by Caden


I Survived the Attack of the Grizzlies by Lauren Tarshis
Book trailer by Katie
Jedi Academy by Jeffrey Brown
Book trailer by Nathan

Gingerbread Baby: A video by RES Grade 1/2

The Grade 1/2 class at Rossburn Elementary School recently read Jan Brett's story "Gingerbread Baby".   Today, they created their own talking Gingerbread babies using their gingerbread drawings and the ChatterPix  app.   Students had to think about what the Gingerbread Baby might say and then record their ideas.   Their video looks great!

Are you OK? A book by Decker Colony School Grades 7&9

One of the neat things about being a teacher leader and working in many different schools with many different grade levels is that I sometimes get to do a learning activity more than once.   If you read my previous post, you'll see that I used Amy Krouse Rosenthal's The OK Book as inspiration for a writing project with a class in Binscarth a few weeks ago.   Today I visited the Grades 7 & 9 class at Decker Colony School and also shared The OK Book with them.  We used this text as inspiration for illustrating, writing and publishing our own book using Google Slides.  This group had lots of fun with their illustrations and with language, particularly the -er word endings for each sentence.  Check out their finished product below!

It's OK to be OK: A Book by Binscarth Grade 4/5/6

After a semester spent teaching a fabulous grade 6 class at Hamiota Collegiate, I am back in the role of Literacy with ICT Teacher Leader for my school division.  In this role, I get to travel around the division supporting teachers and students with using technology in education.   Today, I was lucky to work with the Grade 4/5/6 class at Binscarth School.   I shared with them one of my (many) favourite picture books, The OK Book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.   We used this text as inspiration for creating our own book, which is now published below! 

How did we create this?

First, I read aloud The OK Book and we had a great discussion about the message of this book.   Next, each student chose something they are "OK" at.   They received a template with the OK "stick figure" on it and sketched their illustration.   I photographed their work and uploaded to a shared file for students to access.   Next, students accessed a shared template.   Each student was assigned a slide/page number to use.   Students then inserted their illustration and typed their sentence to go with it.   We brainstormed possible titles and then cast ballots to vote for the best title.   I think their finished product is pretty awesome!

Human Rights Project

One of the exciting learning activities that my grade 6 class worked on this semester was their human rights project. They studied the human rights in their social studies class and had the idea to create videos to explain each of the 30 rights.  Since their social studies teacher only has 30 minute classes, we decided to make this an interdisciplinary project and use our ELA class to explore video creation.

The students learned to plan videos, write scripts, film scenes and edit videos.  In creating their first "batch" of videos, most groups chose to act out scenes.   When students reflected on the process, they felt strongly that making their videos was harder than they anticipated.   They weren't sure they wanted to continue creating videos.   We gave it some time and then I proposed that we try a different method for creating videos.   Instead of filming their own clips, the students used video clips, photos and characters available in Powtoon to create their videos.  This was a different creative process for the students and, based on their feedback, they felt more successful in creating videos this way. 

The students built a website with Google Sites to showcase their work and I'm pleased to say that all videos are now uploaded!   Please check out their work here. 

Sarah's Passion Project: The History of Dance

This is a guest blog post written by grade 6 student, Sarah.

Our grade 6/7 Character Ed class is working on projects, but these projects aren’t just normal projects, they’re Passion Projects! All of us are putting together a project that shows what we’ve accomplished over the days. We got to choose what our projects would be about! My passion project is about the history of dance and how it has become what it is today. Our passion projects are about what we love! This is my Passion Project:

History of Dance

By: Sarah Chappell

King Louis the 14th first invented ballet for a wedding in 1459. Dancers would dance about the dishes being served. Pierre Beauchamp, King Louis’ teacher, became the first dance director in Paris for the first ballet training school in 1671. In the 1700s, ballet became more popular and King Louis performed as a dancer. Pierre also invented the technical term “turnout” in ballet.
People from different cultures even incorporate dance into their cultures. Dancing is important for different cultures because it helps them embrace who they are and their cultures. Some cultures dance during celebrations.

Some of the most popular dances are…. Hip-Hop, which is street dancing performed with usually Hip-Hop music. Tap Dance, which is basically just tapping on a hard surface with technical form, of course! Belly Dance, which is when people move their bellies in different ways. Break Dancing or B- Boying, which is when people pop and lock and resist your motions, or just doing awesome tricks! Lastly, ballet, which is a VERY VERY technical art that is performed with such grace, passion and emotion!

In the 1830s a lady named, Marie Taglioni, made dancing on Pointe very popular. She danced a ballet for her father and after her last beautiful, moving performance, the people were so sad to see her go that one chef took her ballet shoe and cooked it! They say that all of her fans ate it too!


Also in the 1840s, a man performer named, Marius Petipa, made more than 60 ballets. His assistant, Lev Ivanov, choreographed some of the most popular ballets today! His work included, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty!!

There are many places around the world that dance in different ways to express their culture and religion. China has the dragon dance, Cuba has the Salsa, Russia has ballet, Switzerland has the traditional folk dance, Argentina has the tango, and Brazil has the Samba, just to name a few! Not all countries or cultures just have to stick to one type of dance, everyone can just dance to their own rhythm!

Dance today is all about freedom and imperfection, (unless you’re in a competition, but if you’re not then you can just dance freely!) You should just be able to do what you really love! Dance today has many more styles that suit everyone, and it has lots of movement and freedom!   

Dances in different cultures are more traditional and dances in my culture/country can be more technical and professional, but it can also be non-competitive and flowy!

Clearly, dance was very different a long time ago compared to dance now! But they do have some similarities, freedom, commitment, and passion!  What I’ve learned is that dance is a passion and it’s….. I can’t explain it but, it just makes you feel free and safe and it takes your mind off of everything else in the world! Dance is my passion!   

Sources:

https://www.travelchannel.com/interests/arts-and-culture/photos/dance-around-the-world-photos

http://www.allrefer.com/10-most-famous-dance-styles-in-the-world

http://www.camarilloacademy.com/2011/09/why-dance/

https://www.sasschoolofdance.com/history-ballet

Passion Projects: Haily's Hockey Project

This is a guest blog post written by Grade 6 student, Haily.

In our grade 6/7 class we are doing passion projects! That means you can pick anything that you are passionate about as long as you can show that you are learning something. Some of the passion projects are putting on bake sales, talent shows learning more about sports and history and making paper mache  and much more! Our class has really enjoyed learning about the things we love to do!

For my passion project I did a research project about hockey facts and players. I included things like the top point leaders of 2019, trivia, best hockey team and best hockey player ever and more. The file is set up so you can play the trivia if you download it.

- Haily Johns