Back in September we published this post about creating Seesaw storybooks in Grade 2, which had everything we look for when designing great student experiences: play, hands-on learning, scaffolding with templates, and purposeful technology use.
Well last week, Louise ran an inspired remix of the project in her class. In French immersion, assessing students' speaking skills leads to lots of recording. Louise wondered if there was a way to remix this project as an audiobook. What a creative way to engage students while speaking French!
When I walked into the class, the desks were grouped into scenes around the room. Each full of pinecones, rocks, marbles, and the Foxy and Friends characters. Some scenes were beach themed, while others were set on a snowy mountain. All of them, ready for action! 🎬
To set the stage for the students, we started off with a short discussion about audiobooks and children’s interactive sound books, both of which gave the students a real world example of what they were about to make. We had them shout out things they notice about these types of recordings:
- funny voices to engage the listener 😜
- different voices for different characters 🎭
- narrators that speak loud and clear 🗣️
We reminded them to keep these in mind when recording their own voices!
Next, we modeled the Seesaw assignment. The template included a Title Page, followed by nine storyboard pages containing a frame to add a photo and one to record their voice. Then they were off!
We had a few recording booths set up around the room and even in the hallways. These really help break up some of the classroom tasks happening at once. At one point, the room was pretty much dead quiet, with the students politely shushing their peers so their friend could record peacefully. What a sight! 😱 By the end of the hour, most of them had taken pictures of each scene of their story and even finished recording. Check out a few examples, they're super cute, I promise!
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Parlez vous Francais, s'il vous plaît
At this age, Louise shared how challenging it can be to have the students speak French in class, especially with each other. In this project, they really didn't seem to mind! The students were excited to tell their stories in French, and were even asking for the correct pronunciations of words they weren’t familiar with.
Bravo, Louise! 👏
Chris Pine is Clark the Shark 🦈
Have you ever wanted to have a celebrity come into your class to read your students their favourite book? Well now you can! Sort of… with Storyline Online.