Last month, kids came to the library to learn how to write a "Choose Your Own Adventure" type of story using a free web-based software called Twine. I walked them through the steps of it and they were very quickly writing stories with twists that the reader could choose. Here are my presentation slides, which you can feel free to use or adapt:
I was pleasantly surprised that many kids wanted to know how to code their Twine story to prompt the reader to type his/her name, and then remember that name throughout the story! I had never done that before but did the best I could to find a good code that would work. We used this Harlowe code to create a variable the user could enter:
(set: $name to (prompt: "What is your name?", ""))
It ends up looking like this:
The kids were so excited to see that users could personalize their stories! It turned into quite a hybrid STEAM/Creative Writing program after all!
On July 13, 2018, we had a special creative writing and filmmaking workshop for kids between the ages of 5 and 8, to make campaign videos about getting their toys elected president!
The idea came from the book I've published with lesson plans to do writing workshops with primary grade kids: 36 Workshops to Get Kids Writing From Aliens to Zebras. In it, you'll find my lesson plan for this writing party and the handouts to supplement this lesson.
First we read the book "President Squid" by Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Sara Varon. Then we watched a couple of funny campaign videos on YouTube, and brainstormed a campaign video using a favorite toy as the candidate. We used a handout from my book to start writing our script ideas.
Then we filmed our toys talking about why they should be president, using iPads with the iClips app. It was very easy and smooth to film and edit. Parents took short clips of their kids acting these commercials out, and then combined the clips together in the app to make their films.
I made a film of my own to give kids some ideas for how to use the props or sample arguments to make. Is my video amazing?... Of course not. :) That was the point--I wanted to make something very simple that a five or six year old could make.
I made or purchased props from Michaels and the Dollar Store--it helped that July 4th was fairly recent and there was lots of American flag themed items on clearance!
Most kids brought their own toys, but I also had a few on hand to lend for kids who didn't bring one. I loved seeing the kids get into the filming and parents get really engaged with the filming and editing!
In hindsight, I wish I had encouraged the kids to all do their filming outside, because you can hear me yammering in the background while some of them were filming their videos. The kids who filmed outside the room didn't have that problem.
The kids also got to make campaign buttons for themselves:
At the end, I quickly uploaded all of the videos from the iPads onto a laptop and showed them. We held a vote on our favorite video. That's what it's about right?--elections! The winner was this one, by Abby V., about a Cookie running for President:
Here are the rest of their adorable films!
Isn't it just awesome how these kids are making arguments listing pros and cons, using character and voice, having fun with monologue and dialogue, as well as props, scriptwriting, staging, etc.? I can't wait to do this program again!
In a few months I am going to assist my colleagues in teaching an Internet Safety and Digital Literacy program for kids, so it was perfect timing to attend today's Library 2.017: Digital Literacy and Fake News worldwide conference! Here are the top 3 concepts I took away from it:
Show Kids What a Web Page Looks Like From the Inside
When teaching kids about digital literacy and using the Internet for research, it's important that they have some concept of web coding, so that they know how easy it is to put a website together. This was mentioned in the presentation by Sarah FitzHenry and Kim Wilkens, and it resonated strongly with me because when I took my first HTML web design class in library school, it opened my eyes to how websites work, and how easy it is for any crook with an Internet connection and a laptop to create a webpage that looks exactly like a legitimate official site. For this reason, I definitely see myself using the X-Ray Goggles and the 45-min lesson that Kim created to teach web literacy.
Also, I just love their interactive, fun approach to teaching kids how to dissect fake news on the web. You can read more about that in this School Library Journal article.
(I would love to teach a full web design class for kids one of these days. And if I do, I think I'll be using the resources Mozilla created here!)
Don't Anchor -- Dig Deeper
I learned this one from Mark E. Moran. A lot of kids stop at the first Google result that looks like it has the information they are looking for. They often never get to the best stuff, which may be hidden as deep as 53 results in. Good researchers have to be persistent; you always have to be willing to go a little further than the first results page.
And probably my favorite concept for kids, also from Mark E. Moran:
Batman's Tool Belt
Batman wouldn't use just one research tool. He likes having a full toolkit with all kinds of gadgets. Kids need to learn to use more than just Google--use their school library, their public library, online databases, and search engines like the one Mark created for students: http://www.sweetsearch.com/
