Lesson #5: Inspire Creativity
During my student teaching assignment last Spring, I was introduced to Animoto, a video slideshow maker with music. Technology certainly has inspired more creative ways for teachers to create assessments. Instead of writing out vocabulary with plain old pencil and paper, students can create short movies with Animoto. If you keep your movie under 30 seconds, it’s completely free and the possibilities are unlimited.
The weekly assignment for my 6th grade social studies class was for each student to create their own Animoto using one vocabulary word. The requirements for the short movie are identify the word, display the definition, add 3 images that describe the word in the context of the unit, and music (Animoto provides a wide selection of music for free). The students had so much fun making and sharing their creations. I would choose three unique movies for the week and display them for the whole class to watch. The students loved it!
Another fun free online tool that inspires creativity is ToonDoo. I discovered this fun tool through my subbing experience. At first, I thought the students were playing games on the computer instead of doing their homework! ToonDoo is a website where you can create mini comic strips and/or comic books. It is endless fun, because you can use the characters provided or create your own. I have seen ToonDoo used for any subject: Language Arts (vocabulary), Math (problem-solving), Science (lab safety and Scientific Method), and Social Studies (re-telling history).
Anytime that you can inspire creativity more than likely the students will be enthusiastic over the activity. Animoto and ToonDoo are great alternative assessments or can be excellent instructional aids, but that is just the tip of the iceberg! There are thousands of Web 2.0 Tools available for students and teachers. It should be a modern teacher's goal to explore the fountain of Web 2.0 Tools online in order to come up with new and exciting lesson plans every now and then. Sometimes teachers need a little inspiration for creativity, too.
Reference:
AnimotoGuys. (2008). 60 Second How to Use Animoto. Available from http://youtu.be/6-apaZXsQrQ
Reference:
AnimotoGuys. (2008). 60 Second How to Use Animoto. Available from http://youtu.be/6-apaZXsQrQ
I loved your idea on how you use animoto! I have been looking for a different way to do vocabulary and I really think this would be a great way to do it in my social studies class. ToonDoo was great too. I had never heard of it, and then when we had to use it for an assignment in Dr. L's class, I found myself enjoying the process of making it. I have been trying to think of a way to incorporate it into my class as well. This whole experience of being in the MIST program has already made me a more creative teacher. That is what is missing from alot of classrooms today, creativity. Teachers are so stressed from having to prepare for the STAAR or TAKS or benchmarks that we have forgotten that students learn best when they are being creative.....books and powerpoints not included (even though those are most commonly used!)
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