Haugen’s Tech Tips Blog

We’ve just had our first of two weekend workshops for students interested in stop motion animation with Legos and other stuff. I worked with 2 students (4th & 5th grade) who helped lead the workshop, and another 5th grader who signed on for tech support. With 14 other 4th and 5th graders as our students, we piled into school on a Saturday to build sets, set up cameras, and snap away as each group of kids patiently moved their Legos and clay one step at a time until their stories were complete. Next weekend, we’ll pop the photos into iPhoto albums and then into iMovie, adjust playback timing, add sound tracks and sound effects, titles and more.

Our goal is to create a DVD with all the movies that we can then copy and give as gifts to friends and family during the holiday season.

When I work with kids in this way, I am always so impressed by their enthusiasm, hard work and creativity, as well as their willingness to work with and help one another.

We have created a wiki for our program, which you can explore at:

edisonanimators.wikispaces.com/

Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic

• Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic – For 60 years, RFB&D, a national nonprofit, volunteer organization, has produced accessible educational materials for students with disabilities that make reading standard print difficult or impossible. Titles available in every subject area and grade level from kindergarten through graduate studies.
• Digital Talking Book Player Software Victor Reader Soft – While many people access RFB&D materials on special portable players, HumanWare provides software for Mac and PC which allow students to use their books on a computer as well.

As I approach a new session of my after school publishing program, I decided to use a wiki to see if I could help make the process clearer to students and give them more opportunities to work independently. My Edison Student Publishers Wiki includes information about the program, and tips to help my 3rd-5th grade students:

• Choose a Project – news, reviews, interviews, puzzles, comics, jokes, etc.
• Find News or Information – web sites, people, papers, etc.
• Find Help with Writing – news, poetry, fiction, more
• Find or Make Images – photos, drawings, online tools, more
• Make a Puzzle – links to puzzlemaker, our puzzle starters and more
• Work on Layout – under construction

I’m excited about how this program is evolving and the wonderful, creative work kids can do. I’m new to wikis and I think this may be the first one I’ve done that approaches being useful! I’d love any feedback or suggestions on improving this kind of resource.

In response to a query from a teacher on behalf of her first grader who wants to ‘get into publishing,’ here are some links to online sites that encourage or allow students to publish their work online:

• Tips for children publishing on the Internet. | NetAlert – From the Australian government, a helpful set of safety and design tips for any students who would like to publish their creations on the web.
• Young Writer’s Clubhouse – The young writer’s clubhouse gives you tips on how to be a writer, from author Deborah Morris. Join the Critique Group to share poems and stories you’ve written and share feedback with other kid writers.
• KidPub – Read stories other kids have written, or join KidPub (for a fee) to publish your stories online.
• Stone Soup – Read what kids write or submit your own stories to this classy magazine.
• Young Writers Association – this is a local stop for those of us in Eugene, OR.

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