This lesson is for : Grade 8:
Summary
According to The Washington Post, Richmond is steadily evolving into a vibrant, hip place that welcomes diversity, food, the arts and sports. In 2015, the city welcomed the UCI Road World Championship. In this project, students researched, experienced, and documented the event to create a digital story expressing how the international event affected their city.
TIPC Ratings
Research & Information Fluency
Rating: Approaching – Explanation: Research and Information Fluency was an important factor in this project. Students participated in “real” research by attending the bike race and documenting their experiences through pictures. They used credible websites to get more information about the race such as data on participants and the economy.
Communication & Collaboration
Rating: Ideal – Explanation: Communication and Collaboration is a major focus in this project. Students collaborated in groups across classes and used Google Docs to facilitate discussions amongst one another. In addition, students used Google Docs to collaborate on the script for their digital story.
Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
Rating: Ideal – Explanation: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving is key to planning and creating a digital story/video. Students used digital cameras to shoot the race, Photoshop to edit the photos and Premiere to edit the videos. Each group’s video was filmed with digital video cameras using a green screen in the background. Students asked and answered questions like “What makes an interesting video?”, “How can we inform others about the UCI race in an interesting, intriguing, and authentic way?”
Creativity & Innovation
Rating: Ideal – Explanation: At the beginning of the unit students drew bicycles in their sketchbook from different angles. They went on to create their own bicycle design, which led to each student creating their own unique type of race. Students were encouraged to push the limits of what, where and when a bike race is. The results were extremely creative. After researching the UCI bike race and discussing digital stories students used Google Docs to write a script that strove to captivate the audience with humor, facts and even some songs. Students chose to act out the scripts in front of a green screen, digitally recorded it, edited it and put all nine group videos together into one final video.
Student Artifact
Lesson Materials
