Teacher(s) Name: Ms. Zuckerman
School: Fairfield MS
Grade Level(s): Grade 6
Content Area(s): English
Lesson Summary
Defining Moment: A point in one’s life that reveals, identifies, or causes change. This year the 6th Graders at Fairfield Middle School embarked on a journey to explore the “Defining Moments” in African American history, as well as the “Defining Moments” in the lives of individuals who make up our local community. Students learned interviewing techniques, developed interview questions, and set out to capture defining moments of their families and members of their community. Students used mobile devices to record the interviews and video editing software to develop short videos to capture Henrico’s Defining Moments.
TIPC Ratings
Research & Information Fluency
Rating:Ideal – Explanation: Students had to collect information by conducting an interview then had to synthesize that information to tell a story that only included the most essential ideas. Students then used video editing software to illustrate that story into a video for public display on a website.
Communication & Collaboration
Rating: Ideal – Explanation: Students had to select appropriate options for correspondence when inviting a community member to an interview. Students had to coach interviewees how to answer questions and work with them to effectively communicate their story.They also had to respect the wishes of the interviewee when selecting digital tools (Audio or Video) for publishing.
Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
Rating: Approaching – Explanation: Student had to make difficult decisions regarding editing their video to create a specific narrative (what to leave in, what to leave out). They had to use critical thinking and editing skills to cut down raw footage, which sometimes contained up to 30 minutes of speaking, into a product that was 2-5 minutes long that focused specifically on the defining moment of the interviewee.
Creativity & Innovation
Rating: Approaching – Explanation: Students created meaningful original interview products that told the story of a person’s defining moment, while meeting the uniform criteria of the assignment.
Student Artifact
Lesson Materials
