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5th grade students at Birdville Elementary created their own TAKS study DVD. Each student created a video clip defining/explaining a single concept in the Earth Science curriculum. Similar concepts were grouped together and then the small groups wrote a script and filmed an introductory video for their segments. Finally, all segments were burned to a DVD for each student to take home before Spring Break to aid them in preparing for the upcoming Science TAKS test that will be administered later this spring.
Katie Moran, Birdville ISD teacher is putting into practice the nine essential strategies that are most likely to improve student achievement as defined in Robert Marzano’s book “Classroom Instruction that Works.” Homework and Practice, Non-linguistic Representations, Summarizing and Note Taking, Cooperative Learning, and Setting Objects and Providing Feedback are among the essential strategies included in this project. Furthermore, the assignment required students to use higher order thinking skills such as synthesis, analysis, and evaluation as they gathered information and worked in cooperative groups to develop the video project.
The students were given the opportunity to reflect on their learning, and their comments confirm that they were enthused and engaged for the duration of this project:
I like to use the technologies like the camera, and the microphone, and PhotoStory to put everything together.
I think it was fun because we got to act it out. Most videos are boring but not this one because we were in it.
What I liked about my video project was that I am a visual learner and it helped me because we used models and acted it out.
It was fun working in small groups because if you didn’t know a person and you got to be in a group with them it was fun because you could be their friend and you could get to know them.
I liked this project because it gave everyone time to have fun and learn at the same time. When I get the DVD I want to show my family and friends.
I thought that the media project was a lot of fun. I like using the technology because it’s like way in the future. I like working in groups because you get to hang out with your friends. The hottest part about this project is how you can make your voice sound perfect. I would love to do this assignment again. As soon as I get home from school with that DVD we’re going to watch it ASAP.
I liked working with my classmates because you can learn from your own classmates what they think about it and they can learn what you think about it. Plus, I like working with technology because it’s very cool.
I like working with technology because when you record it you can better understand it and can watch it over and over again.
I liked this project because I can learn about science better. It was really cool. I learned about the water cycle.
