The Adventures of Tom Sawyer-Photostory

gwensilva's picture
Published by gwensilva on April 29, 2010.
Content Area(s):  
Grade Level(s):  
Oregon Content Standards: 
EL.06.LI.02
EL.06.LI.03
Lesson Plan Details
Duration: 
1 week
Objective: 

Students will be able to use Photostory to summarize and interpret main plot elements of a chapter of The Adventure of Tom Sawyer. 

Resources: 

Photostory 3

Digital Cameras

Story board plan sheets

Novels

Microphones

Preparation: 

Students will need to have read a certain chapter of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Teacher will need to have copies of the story board planning sheets.

Teacher will need to collect digital cameras, microphones, and lap tops for each group of four students.

Instruction: 

The students will need to be in small groups of four to five students for this assignment.  Before beginning the story, tell the students which groups they will be in, and that each group will present a retelling of a chapter of the novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by using digital cameras, voice overs, and background music to create mood (by way of PhotoStory).  Read the first six chapters, so that each group will have a chapter on which to work. 

Days 1 and 2:   Hand out story board sheets with 9 squares.  Each person will need to fill out their own sheet, even though the group will work on the squares together.  The group members will have to decide what the most important events of the chapter are, and summarize them in text and pictures in the squares.  They will need to use appropriate language and characters from the story.  Students will also discuss what props will be needed for each event, as well as settings that will work for each event. 

Day 3:  Inservice the students on how to use Photostory to upload pictures and put them in sequential order.  Have students stage scenes and take photos.

Day 4:  Have the students complete their photos and then upload them to Photostory.

Day 5:  Inservice students on how to record using Photostory and microphones.  Give students time to record their scenes.

Day 6:  Inservice students on how to add music to their Photostory scenes.  Allow time for students to do so.

Day 7:  Have the students present their Photostory adapatations of Tom Sawyer chapters.

Modifications: 
 Make heterogeneous groups to benefit students on IEPs or are ELD learners.

Use instructional assistants to supervise groups.

Assign chapters to gropus according to length, difficulty, or importance.

As a challenge, have a group make a tenth or eleventh slide for their presentation.

Assessment: 

Students will submit and present to the class a Photostory presentation that accurately summarizes a chapter from the novel.

ATTACHMENTS
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document iconTom Sawyer storyboard.docx
Oregon Educational Technology Standards
Creativity and Innovation: 
1B. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression.
Communication and Collaboration: 
2A. Interact and collaborate with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.
2D. Contribute to project teams. Produce original works or solve problems in a team setting.
Digital Citizenship: 
5A. Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and digital technology.
5B. Model and practice a positive attitude toward using digital technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity.
Career Related Learning Standards
Communication: 
CR3A. Locate, process, and convey information using traditional and technological tools.
Teamwork: 
CR4B. Demonstrate skills that improve team effectiveness (e.g., negotiation, compromise, consensus building, conflict management, shared decision making and goal-setting).
Heather Casey's picture
On October 25, 2010, Heather Casey writes:

Great detail on your lesson.  I can see kids being really engaged and enjoying these activities.

Sherri Gheen's picture
On October 25, 2010, Sherri Gheen writes:

The group collaboration of choosing (evaluating) the important ideas and creating a storyboard will help students comprehend the story and analyze the events.  The creative process of turning it into a movie with sound allows the students to to see how important events move a story along and tie pieces together. I could use this technique to allow small groups to write their own story and create their own movie as they also use story elements of plot, dialogue, rising action, etc.