February 8 2010

Monday, February 8, 2010

February 8 2010

Teaching Link of the Day:

OpenOffice Impress

Building a simple newspaper with this slideshow program is a good way to introduce brief article writing, working with computer programs, and sharing final products (audience). There is graphic design, ordering logic, and thematic coherency in building something that has a finite start and end and has a unifying color scheme.

Building a newspaper with a slideshow program requires some creativity on the teacher's part. The theme has to be kept narrow. Photographs and other graphics have to be collected either by taking pictures or finding them across the internet or from clip art catalogs like Print Shop. Actual newspapers have to be consulted for features, and the student's age has to be taken into account for the number and range of these features--a younger child may not notice the editorial column but may select a "Letters to the Editor."

Then the program has to be taught: how to save, how to add and manipulate slides, how to add content. The rest just happens. Save it as a slideshow (not as a full .ppt, which is much larger) and have the student discover ways to share their work. Occasional updates are encouraged, but not mandated, as students are just beginning to write multiple variations on a theme. Demanding periodic updates may lead a reluctant writer to believe they don't have any more ideas.

For more serious endeavors, word processor templates can be examined and altered to fit needs, and work better for print distribution.

Reading of the Day:
When I was in second grade, I was one of two members of an exclusive She-Ra and He-Man club where we rehearsed the same story line over and over, recess after recess. She found a new best friend in fourth grade, and we haven't spoken kindly to each other since. I swear, however, I spent years riding Battle cat, forth to fight the Horde--and whatever else we conjured up.

Now my kids get to watch the show and read the books. (Yes, I own one of each of these. That activity book is going for $10.00 on the collectible market.)

Show of the Day:
If you took Moore's films with the appropriate salty snacks in family-sized bags, and noticed all the dirty editing tricks everybody does to get their story to say what they want it to say, then this movie will make you happy you're smarter than most of the population who DIDN'T notice these things. If you watch this movie and are awestruck at how duped you'd been, I'm sorry for saying I'm smarter than you, but I do have a literature degree and I'm trained to examine all the tricks of the trade.

As for this movie, even its working title was "Michael Moore Hates America." The difference between "uncovering the truth" and "telling the story you want to tell" has to do with how open your mind is about the topic you're covering. Michael Wilson and Michael Moore are both guilty of telling their story instead of searching for the truth.



But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.