Digital Storytelling- The 100th Day

Digital Story 100 Days from Stephanie Toney on Vimeo.
Password educ584

I created this iMovie using a collection of pictures and cliparts about the 100th day. The 100th day is a major milestone for primary grades as it marks the "about halfway" point and culminates all of the counting of the days leading up to it. We make headbands, read poems and books, and work at home to create special projects to show 100. The kids put a lot of time into their projects and get their families involved. I even had a student tell me that his teenage brother helped him find his project idea on youtube (gotta love my little techies in training)!

After collecting pictures of the kids with their projects (following their presentations to the class) using the iPad, I uploaded them to a new iMovie file. I then had children research and rehearse facts about the number 100 using the website http://www.share2learn.com/ideasmath6.html. I literally typed them onto my storyboard and then printed the storyboard out. Then I cut it into strips and passed them out to the children. It was funny to listen to them rehearse words like "centenarian"! They enjoyed making AND watching the movie, and even selected the music and theme themselves. This was a really interactive process and one I have already duplicated for other topics, such as blogging and "all about" writing projects on penguins. The program iMovie was fairly easy to use once I figured it out and I will absolutely be using from now on!
Thank you for the feedback on adding narration that didn't just tell about the projects. In hindsight it would have been redundant, given the pictures and text were already on the screen. I also appreciated the help in learning how to adjust the volume of the recordings.
In the future I will listen to the movie on my computer to make sure that the volume is consistent (the last few slides were quieter than the rest). I will also incorporate more video shots simply because it was fun to change it up, both as the creator and viewer. With just pictures, the digital story can feel a bit like a narrated powerpoint. I think short videos add just the right amount of action to this great story. Even in stories that the class will co-write and illustrate, it would be neat to add some videos of the creation process like credits at the end... or maybe have them make puppets and add action that way (just some ideas I'm mulling over).
This was an awesome learning experience and I finally used a tool I have had for years but have never even touched.