'Fifth'-sonian INstitute
Students were also able to choose HOW they wished to present their information. Some of the formats used for presentations today were:
- Wax Figures - All students memorized their lines and pretended to be the person they researched coming to life to share about themselves. They did a PHENOMENAL job.
- Interactive Dioramas and Posters - Students used Makey Makey innovation kits and Scratch to code their posters. As attendees touched their posters, they were able to hear students share information. Check out the dioramas by clicking here!
- Videos - Students used Animoto and WeVideo to make videos about their topic. Students who used WeVideo were able to incorporate a green screen and be super-creative with their videos (for instance, several were newscasters, we had a museum tour guide, and even Franklin D. Roosevelt).
- Comic Strip - One student used Storyboard That to share her information.
- Scrapbook - Several students created scrapbooks about a topic of their choice. Topics ranged from Horses During the Dust Bowl, Fashion in the 1930s, and Infants and Pregnant Women during the Dust Bowl.
- Journal - Some students chose to write a series of journal entries as someone living during the dust bowl, life as an immigrant in the early 1900s, and bootleggers during prohibition.
This is seriously the BEST thing I have seen all year. The amount of work that went into this was phenomenal. Something I often hear is "all kids do is look at their phones, tablets, or computers. They never talk and no one is learning soft skills anymore". This event shows what is possible when teachers use technology to allow students opportunities to explore their interests and share the information they've learned in a creative way. Every student made and kept eye contact the entire time with me during their presentations. Two students who have joined us from other districts exclaimed to their teachers, "I have never been able to actually present my project to someone before! I'm so glad people are here to see us."
I am so proud of how hard these students worked.