Engaging boys in literacy - Forest Hill - April 25-May 2

Unit Theme:  Famous Canadians throughout the Ages

Guiding Questions:

Who is the most famous Canadian throughout the ages?

What parts of the media text did you find effective?

Ms. D - Grade 7 Gifted (two classes)
Ms. N. - Grade 8 Core (two classes)

Session One – April 25^th – May 2^nd

Session one focused on exploring the concept of “What makes a person famous?” by viewing two teacher created Spotlight presentations about Rick Hansen and Alexander Graham Bell.  Students also evaluated the effectiveness of each media text.  Following the Spotlight discussions, students had the opportunity to create their own media texts (video podcast, Notebook presentation) based on a famous Canadian of their choice.  Assistive technology used this week included the iPod (Storyrobe, Simple MindX, Video Podcast), Notebook software, the Interactive White Board (IWB) and Read and Write Gold for research purposes.

The criteria for fame using Simple MindX. Click the image to see an enlarged version.

	How the app Simple MindX works to help students brainstorm and organize their thinking using this concept software.
	Creating a narrative using the Story Robe app. Students can organize and sequence their projects.

Please click here to visit some student sample podcasts using Story Robe.