Submitted by: Mindy Dobrinski
School: Holman Middle School
Summary
At the conclusion of our short stories unit, students were tasked to create a newscast recording, reporting on each of the nine short stories we had studied. The short stories included works by authors such as O. Henry, Roald Dahl, and Shirley Jackson, and each featured a plot structure that lent itself well to news reporting. For example, one story is an ironic comedy about the kidnapping of a young boy. The students were to choose an “angle” for each story’s report, to compose a script that included interviews of characters, and to create a recording of that script that featured sound effects and music. Students were provided with a URL for blogging their questions about Audacity throughout the course of the assignment, and a Google form was used to provide “real time” feedback during classroom presentations.
TIPC Ratings
Entry: Students are following the prompt of the teacher to analyze several short stories to complete a class assignment. This was not the focus of the lesson and therefore did reach a high rating on TIPC.
Approaching: Students used a Google form to provide feedback during the student presentations and some students did use a blog to communicate outside of the class with the ITRT, to resolve any technical difficulties. Having other classes comment or provide feedback would incorporate another way to include outside communication and collaboration. Students did create an authentic task of developing a news report from the plot elements of the short stories. Allowing student groups to work outside of class on their assignment prompted the integration of student organized communication and collaboration techniques.
Developing: Students elaborated on ideas and topics that were introduced in class by producing their news report. Specific digital tools for problem solving were not addressed, because this was not the focus of the lesson. Students engaged in critical thinking as they analyzed short stories to identify the elements of the plot which would fit within the structure of a news cast.
Ideal/Target: Students used critical thinking, research, and collaboration to create an original product incorporating plot elements of short stories read in class within a news story structure. Students modeled strategic risk and creativity by incorporating sounds and music to enhance the message of the news story and to grab the audience immediately (characteristic of a news story). Students analyzed the characteristics of news stories to guide the production of their original and unique product. This is a great example of allowing students to be creative while still expecting a product which shows the student’s understanding of the content required in your class.
Student Artifact
