2nd grade iMovie Slideshow Plan: Peter Stuyvesant

Ms. Galligan’s class is going to create iMovie slide show video adaptations of the book Peter Stuyvesant sailed into Town.

Goals

• create a simple slide show presentation using digital images and student narration
• develop Ms. Galligan’s understanding of how iMovie can work in the classroom
• give students opportunities to interact with the laptop computers and work on fluency and diction

Process

1. Rhys will take digital photos of the images in the book before we start
2. Rhys will model the entire video production process using the projector and a laptop, calling on students to record narration, and drag images onto the timeline in iMovie
3. Ms. Galligan will gradually take over the group editing tasks in iMovie on the projector with Rhys backing her up
4. Students will work collaboratively with Ms. Galligan to complete the video
5. (Time permitting) Rhys will move the video elements (recorded voices and images) onto 6 laptops for students to experiment with building their own versions of the movie

iMovie editing steps

1. Open iMovie and “Create a new project” (save it with your class name or project title)
2. Import necessary photos into iPhoto (by connecting a digital camera, or downloading from the Internet and dragging them into the iPhoto library)
3. Call students over to the computer, connected to a projector, one or two at a time
4. Click the “Audio” button on the “shelf” and record a line of narration
5. Click “Photos” on the “shelf” and drag a photo to the timeline (have students drag the photos into place)
6. Click on the right edge of the photo on the timeline and click and drag the right edge of the image to make it long or short enough to match the line of narration it goes with
7. To lock the audio in place, put the playhead at the beginning of your audio track, then click “Advanced” and select “Lock Audio at Playhead” (or hold down the apple key and click “L”)
8. Optionally add transitions between each photo by clicking “Trans” from the “shelf” and dragging the transition you like between any two photos. NOTE: transitions will change the length of your photos on the timeline, so you might need to re-adjust them to stay in sync with your narration
9. Repeat the narration/photo building process for all kids

Assessment

• Students will demonstrate iMovie narration recording skills during class and small-group production practice
• Teacher will demonstrate iMovie project management skills through management of the class collaborative production
• Students will demonstrate visual literacy skills by discussing image selection for each line of narration
• Students will demonstrate media literacy skills through the decision making process in iMovie, and discussion of their media selections
• Students will demonstrate critical thinking skills, and reading comprehension by connecting specific media to the original text to support main ideas and sequence

Ideas for the future…

• Use plays at the end of guided reading stories with students posing for still photos and working on reading dialog with expression
• check the “comments” beneath this blog post for more ideas…

Examples

• Brooklyn Readers (PS 124 K Video Production)
• Eric Carle Author Study (PS 124 1st Grade Video Production)

iLife Tutorials for Teachers

• iLife (iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes) How-to Guides for Teachers