Photostory for Elementary Students

PhotoStory for Windows By Mike Romard

It’s not about the computer

Go figure – when I asked the keynote speakers on Thursday what they thought the ‘key message’ of the conference would be – they said ‘literacy’ and not the tech tools people are using.

So… from the shadows of Learn2cn – Photostory – one tool you can use to share student work in a compelling way.

Know thy audience

A survey before we start...

Using one hand, please indicate your level of experience with PhotoStory or other video editing software with thumb and four fingers up indicating lots of experience and one digit meaning you have never made a video before.

So why Photostory?

It’s free

Students can use at home or school

Easy to install and loads quickly

VoiceThread is fun, but if you have slow Internet, it’s not your best option

Learning Ladder

Photostory can be used in each elementary grade

The trick is finding the degree of input you know your students can handle and they’ll love the product!

Note as my students age, so naturally does their involvement.

PhotoStory with 4 year olds

An ideal way for children to describe what they are doing at school for their parents, teacher records or even modeling for future classes

Pre-Kindergarten teachers sent me photos which I imported into Photostory.

Tiny Voice Overs

Students viewed the images on my monitor and shared a response which I recorded directly into Photostory.

Then, I searched the Internet for images (such as the first Christmas cartoon) to make it more playful.

A better way with PreK

Using Audacity, make an audio recording which you can edit and then import as ‘background music’

This was superior to my direct method because sometimes you have to ‘coach’ a response out of the young students.

PK4-SB Christmas Show

Grade 1

Each first grader had their own folder of pictures which were selected based on prominent themes from their poems.

I downloaded the images before meeting with each first grader one-on-one.

When I wasn’t with a student, they were interacting with a website which I introduced the week beforehand

First Grade Finesse

I used Audacity to record students reading poems that they had created in class, then I stretched the time span of the photos to compliment the length of reading

They almost expect to have their own movie at this stage where you can sneak by with whole class films in the earlier grades.

“ Stars” by Elizabeth (Gr 1)

“ Ice Cream” by Owen (Gr 1)

Grade 2

Students find pictures, play a larger role in their designs, more variance in what is said, have deeper commitment to find that ‘just right’ photo for their movies

Students were able to explain the process to parents at an Open House afternoon session

‘ A Book Review’ by Elijah (Gr 2)

“ Rice” by Aneka (Gr 2)

Grade 3

Students wrote their own scripts

I brainstormed with the 3 rd graders what makes a good “story” to accompany a slide show – meaningful, share names of people and places, clear expressive voice

I did not teach transitions, although when students experimented with them, I was supportive

“ Memories” by Marc (Gr 3)

Grade 4

Going Global – groups of 3-4 fourth grade students picked different aspects of Shanghai to share to make a master movie to share with other students from all over the globe. I love these “by students for students” projects – as such, I was very conservative in my criticism and support.

Welcome to Shanghai (Gr 4)

Photostory Ideas

Other film ideas with the students – reflections, explaining how to solve a math problem, quarterly review video to parents, guidance skits, reading buddies celebration, tributes, field trip summations, pen (or audio) pal memos…

Using MovieMaker with PhotoStory

MovieMaker is another free product of Microsoft – which would allow you to ‘sew’ several short videos together, it also allows you to have title slides with text, but was too much for many of my primary kids.

How to get