Oct 05 alien stories - intro to mac Mikey McKillip
A fun and easy way to get lower school students started using the Mac at school.
As the year started teachers were looking for fun, interactive activities to learn a little bit about their students and also assess some of the incoming students’ skills with writing and technology. I worked with our third grade team to help students brainstorm ideas in order to retell an account from their recent summer break. After the stories had been written, students were given instruction on elaboration. Students then imagined themselves as an alien from another world. Thinking like an alien, students then synthesized new stories based on their own experience.
Students were given an introductory lesson on the basics of how to use Mac OSX (as this was many students (and staff) first time to use a Mac. Students were introduced to iLife applications and the expectations of using these applications throughout the school year. The teachers and I then introduced students to PhotoBooth. Since the MacBooks all have built-in iSight cameras, it was quick and easy to get students started taking pictures of themselves. Students quickly started using the filters and having fun with PhotoBooth. Students then used PhotoBooth to create a self-portrait as an alien.
Students completed their alien stories using Pages. Students easily inserted their personal alien photo in to their Pages document. The teachers and I assessed student’s writing, communication and technology skills. Students printed and published their work for their parents to see at our open house.
- Students write about their summer break and adapt their story as if they were an alien
- Use PhotoBooth to create an alien looking picture of themselves
- Publish story and picture with iWork - Pages
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