The Communicator - 2012-2013 Fall (pdf) - Pennsville School District

Communicator Page #7
Summer 2012
Cami Chambers—Grade 4--I am struggling with this; I can’t really pick one project. I would say that just having
the iPads in the classroom at our fingertips has been the most powerful “project” in my classroom. Students
are more willing to “search” for something they don’t know using the iPad than ever before. As a teacher it
allows me to seize those teachable moments that arise so often. For example our Social Studies book
mentions Princeton University, our Science books reviews the planets, when these 2 topics were mentioned in
class the students showed such an interest that we turned it into a project on the
spot. Students were able to research the topic, find pictures and create a Postcard
telling me what they learned from their research. It brings the aspect of accessing
information to the moment.
Julie Whyte—Grade 6—Social Studies- Our favorite project this year was creating an
iMovie about the geography of Pennsville. The students used their iPads to take pictures and videos from
around town to illustrate the major themes of geography in Pennsville and express how these impact their
daily lives.
The students worked in groups of two/three to collect their images and videos and then used class time to
turn these into iMovies. They were able to easily edit audio, add special effects, text, themes, and
soundtracks. We uploaded our videos to our private YouTube site , so that they could share, discuss and
critique each other’s projects. We were all amazed at all the cool geographical things our town has. Total
class time: 2 hours 45 minutes -- Outside of class time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Rich Reilley—Grade 6 Math- “ My favorite iPad project that we completed thus far has to be the “Angles and
Measurement Presentations.” It was a student centered project
where the class actually came up with the idea, made sure the project
criteria aligned with the state standards (with the help from the
teacher), agreed upon a fair rubric/scoring system, and each
participant personalized each assignment with creativity
and enthusiasm. It is definitely a project worth doing again and I have
the iPad Pilot Class to thank for it. Check out some examples on our
wiki. The students have also taken the time to put the Keynotes in
different formats such as a PowerPoint and a Google Presentation to
make it easier for viewers to see on practically any device.
Mary Denaxas—Grade 6—English— “One of our best projects so far was the book trailer using the iMovie
app.” Students chose the book, read the book, created a storyboard for the trailer,
enlisted the help of actors if they were making it live action, shot footage and edited it.
Students then presented their trailers to the rest of the class who then critiqued them.
The students said this was one of their favorite projects.