Past projects 3
Ken Burns is our Hero: Modern Documentaries
Funded Aug 19, 2019I was able to purchase a television, an external hard drive, a sound bar, and a document camera thanks to this Donors Choose grant project. This technology will help my students learn in a variety of ways, but specifically in terms of documentary creation. Each junior in my school participated in the National History Day project and done of the options they have is to create a documentary. Each student has a laptop the school provides that has iMovie on it. The students learn in 9th grade the basics of iMovie so they are ready to create documentaries. However, I have noticed that we have not had the ability to create high quality documentaries because we did not have the technology to view what was created and adjust the volume and edit other features in the same way the final product would be viewed by the publc. Now with the sound bar and TV, students can watch and hear their documentaries to see what the final draft will look like and can make edits accordingly. In order to move their video files to various devices, we now have the external hard drive that will support very large files (which video files tend to be). Lastly, many students choose to make documentaries on topics that are quite old and finding digital images to include can be difficult. With the document camera, they can scan print sources and artifacts in high definition and capture an image to include in their documentaries.
There are many aspects of these pieces of technology that have excited the students! I think the biggest so far is the ability to hear the stereo sound through the sound bar and TV connection which gives a much different quality of sound than on their laptop headphones. Having said that, they are excited about being able to easily transfer video files with the hard drive and have used the document camera for a variety of things including presenting their own work to the class and zooming in on a primary source (like Paul Revere's woodcut of the Boston Massacre) in order to analyze it fully. I have heard from several students that they feel like they are working more in a production studio than a classroom now that we have this technology to support documentary creation. No surprise, more students have chosen to create documentaries for their National History Day project.
I have a few students participating in my Film Studies class who have a particular interest in film making and they have been really excited about the sound bar and its ability to project the audio they have intended. I actually thought the TV would be a bigger hit (and it is a big hit!), but I'm beginning to think we have underestimated audio and how having high quality technology for audio can make a difference in the documentary viewing experience. I can't thank the donors who gave to this project enough for their donations, so thank you once again!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Gower
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 6 other donors."There But Not There" Memorializing the Fallen from WWI
Funded Sep 7, 2018The organization Remembered Trading in the United Kingdom undertook a project to create a 6 foot tall soldier silhouette made out of aluminum to give people something tangible to help remember the soldiers who died in the First World War. The silhouette project is called "There But Not There" as each statue symbolizes a soldier who is no longer here, but we remember them and so in a sense they are here. My Donors Choose project funded one of these soldier silhouettes for my school. He arrived via the mail on November 1, 2018.
My students used the soldier silhouette to get everyone in our school community to remember all of the soldiers who died on the 100th anniversary of the end of the war in November. All week long, the silhouette was in our student center and students took photos with it and published them on Instagram and Twitter with the hashtag #SocStudME and a message of remembrance. Dozens of students took part in this event. It coincided with the classroom as students in Social Studies classes read primary sources from the Military files of Corporal Millard Corson and Private Percy Rancourt. Both men fought in the war and were from this area of Maine. Corson is buried in the Oise-Aisne Cemetery in France while Rancourt is buried in the Togus National Cemetery here in Maine. One highlight for the students, was reading about Corson's mother and how she made the long trip from rural Maine in the 1930's to her son's grave in France as part of the Gold Star Mothers Pilgrimage. Many students commented how they thought it was meaningful and special to remember Corson, Rancourt, and all of the soldiers and wondered what their Mothers, children, grandchildren, etc. would say if they knew we were remembering the sacrifice made by their loved ones? Students also discussed sacrifice in the war and how it should be remembered today.
Starting in April, students will do their own research on a soldier form Maine who fought in the First World War. Then they will read a brief eulogy about that soldier with our aluminum soldier silhouette. The silhouette will symbolize the soldier they have researched. We will do this either here at school near the flagpole where there is a World War Two Memorial, or if possible, we will do this at Togus National Cemetery where Maine men from World War One are buried. This will coincide with our annual Memorial Day Assembly and commemoration in May. My plan is to do this again next year and as many years as possible, with the soldier silhouette helping to give something tangible to help students remember those who sacrificed in the war. Thank you so much for supporting our students and helping us to remember the fallen of the First World War!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Gower
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 18 other donors.Budding Filmmakers!
Funded Aug 19, 2013Thank you so much for this great donation! As a result of receiving the camera, case, tripod, and 32GB memory card we are able to create high quality videos. Students were assigned to watch a Historical Film and then research the accuracy, quality and purpose of the film. They had to give a presentation about these things and also had to create a Trailer for the film using original images they created. Students used the camera to take still images and videos to recreate important moments from the films they watched. Some students got friends to be actors, some used toys and "stop-motion" animation, some used drawings. Then they imported the files to their iPads and used the iMovie app to create the Trailer.
"It's so small and lightweight!" "I love how easy it is to use!" "I like how I can zoom in on things while it's recording". These are just a few of the quotes I heard from my students while using the Camera we received for this grant. My students were very happy to have a piece of technology that allowed them to create high quality video in a convenient manner. They were very pleased with how quickly they could get set up and get into filming their scenes. They also like how they could take still photos and video without having to change the camera settings. They were so thankful and appreciative to Thank you so much for this great donation! As a result of receiving the camera, case, tripod, and 32GB memory card we are able to create high quality videos. Students were assigned to watch a Historical Film and then research the accuracy, quality and purpose of the film. They had to give a presentation about these things and also had to create a Trailer for the film using original images they created. Students used the camera to take still images and videos to recreate important moments from the films they watched. Some students got friends to be actors, some used toys and "stop-motion" animation, some used drawings. Then they imported the files to their iPads and used the iMovie app to create the Trailer.
"It's so small and lightweight!" "I love how easy it is to use!" "I like how I can zoom in on things while it's recording". These are just a few of the quotes I heard from my students while using the Camera we received for this grant. My students were very happy to have a piece of technology that allowed them to create high quality video in a convenient manner. They were very pleased with how quickly they could get set up and get into filming their scenes. They also like how they could take still photos and video without having to change the camera settings. They were so thankful and appreciative to think that strangers had donated the money to pay for the equipment and they loved the project and realized it would be a lot harder without the equipment.
The biggest way this donation boosted student's learning was through engagement. I saw students who struggle to connect with the classroom get excited over the prospect of using a camera to plan out a true film. The amount of time students put into the filming and they way they worked together to share the camera and support each other was amazing! We spent a lot of time analyzing film and filmmaking techniques and how the way a shot is done can communicate a message just like text communicates a message. I had students who would struggle to write about meaning from a film who shined in this format by communicating the message through the film medium! This was a direct connection to the Common Core Standards! The project was so popular that Executives from Apple in California who were visiting my school to see how we were using iPads wanted to come by my classroom and talk with students about filming and using video. It was great to hear my students explain to the folks from Apple how much they enjoyed the film making process. A couple of students told me their interest in film making only increased as a result of this project and they are planning to study this more in College. So again, many thanks to all of you for your support!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Gower