19th+January+Science+Rotation

In our 7th grade Science rotation, students are currently in the process of researching, storyboarding, and videotaping a simulated chroma-key newscast of an interruption to regular programming to share with the "viewers" information about a natural disaster (either tsunami, hurricane, earthquake, tornado, flood, blizzard, or volcanic eruption).

The classroom teacher, Mrs. Hartong, has already given them the basic information through many means--some technological, some lecture, some independent, some in small groups. In order to give students more practice in collaborating and in demonstrating creativity and the ability to work with technology, we assigned collaborative teams one of the above natural disasters. Using the handout you've been provided, they have researched, collecting both data (required in the rubric that also has been provided to you) and websites for credits at the end of their videos. They were instructed by me about the importance of storyboarding prior to videotaping. Then, I let them go to work. They were very engaged, and seemed to enjoy every element of this process.

However, after having them show me via a rehearsal what they were going to videotape, I realized that much of the information had either been omitted or only researched superficially. I, therefore, developed the attached page that required them to go back and reassess what they needed to weave into this simulated broadcast. By doing this, students realized that they were more into the "show" of the videotape than into the "learning" it would provide for all the "viewers."

Although the videotapes haven't been created yet, I am certain when they are finished and shown at eTech, they will be very special.