Lesson Plans

Chalkboards — photos of classroom chalkboard lessons. Click and see!

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FINAL PROJECTS

BOYS SCHOOL:

About KINGS: Video about the A.P. Residential Boys School students (self-titled “Kings”) and their opinions/suggestions regarding Nalgonda and their school. A reflective video on their friendship, professional desires, and philanthropic entrepreneurial ambitions.

BACKGROUND:

TOPICS YOU ARE INTERESTED IN MAKING A VIDEO ABOUT:
-Friendship
-Your School
-Nalgonda
-Your Ambitions
-Creating Change
-THE KINGS!

We’ve put together all of your wishes and structured this video around you, The Kings.

We’re going to have to work hard and fast as we only have 8 classes left.

STRUCTURE OF VIDEO:
Introduction:
1. (Voiceover) We are the Kings from AP Residential in Nalgonda
(Visual) still picture of Kings symbol and group shot of Kings
2. Who are the Kings? (Video) Each king introduces himself in front of the camera by stating his name and his ambition
3. Where have the Kings come from?
(Voiceover) “We’ve come from all different pars of the A.P.”
(Visual) Map of A.P.
4.(Video) each King goes up to the map, points to his hometown and tells the camera where he is from

Body:
NALGONDA
1. What do the kings like about Nalgonda?
*Make a list on the board of five things and what shots (photo/video)
Kings decided on
a.) The hills
b.) The canal
c.) The fields
d.) The mosque
e.) The clock tower

2. What are some problems in Nalgonda that the Kings have noticed?
*Make a list on the board of five things and what shots (photo/video)
The Kings decided on
a.) Electricity
b.) Fluorine water
c.) People without shelter
d.) Trash, Pollution
e.) Difficulty finding jobs

3. Who are two people the Kings can interview about problems in Nalgonda?
The Kings decided on
a.) The School attendant who has a degree but could not find a proper job
b.) A person without shelter in Nalgonda town

CHANGE
How are The Kings going to solve these problems?
1. (Voiceover) Group statement about how the kings want to solve these problems
2. Choose two Kings to interview about solving these problems.

FRIENDSHIP
Why is friendship important to the Kings? How will their friendships last once the Kings leave AP Residential School? What lessons were learned from friendship at the school?
(Voiceover) About Friendship
(Visual) Video and Still shots of Kings as friends, playing cricket, in their dormitory, studying together, chatting etc.

SCHEDULE:

Monday, Feb. 25
-Finish “A Day in the Life of…”
-Introduce Project: structure and schedule. Fill out missing parts through discussion.

Tuesday, Feb. 27
-Introduction: Photo of the Kings symbol. Group photo of Kings.
Video each King saying their name and what they want to be professionally.
-Map: Video of world, country, and state map (2nd floor) with different locations circled. Record Voiceover about Statement about how the Kings came from all over A.P. to Nalgonda for school.
-Record some Nalgonda shots
-Hills
-Canal
HOMEWORK: DIVIDE AMONGST YOURSELVES
*Write script for: What you love about Nalgonda? What are the problems in Nalgonda that you see need to change?
*Questions for interview of people in town
*Statement of how the Kings will and want to solve these problems.
* Two Kings who will be interviewed about CHANGE decide what you will say
* Statement about Kings and Friendship

Decide who will be in

• Editing Group

• Voiceover Group

• Nalgonda Group

• Change Group

3 Kings in each group. Tell Remy and Piya on Saturday, March 8

Thursday, March 6

Special Guests: Piya’s Parents. Show projects, read scripts out loud, continue taking footage for project

Saturday, March 8
Teams:

1.) Editing Team: Log and capture, edit introduction
2.) Nalgonda: take all shots, conduct interviews
3.) Change: Two chosen kings speak in front of camera about
change, group statement about Kings and Change
4.) Voiceovers: what you love about Nalgonda? What problems you see in Nalgonda? Friendship – Ending.

Thursday, March 13
-Nalgonda Team finishes up – if needed
-Shoot friendship scenes
-Continue editing

Saturday, March 15
EDITING

Thursday, March 20
FINISH EDITING!

Friday, March 21

REMY AND PIYA BURN COPIES FOR EVERYONE

Saturday, March 22

Last Day: Screen videos to school & teachers

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GIRLS SCHOOL:

Women and Education: The Power of Education in your life and other women’s lives. Why is education for women important in changing their status in society?

Interviews with:

• One college student

• Sitarambai (school secretary)

• One teacher

• The ayahs

INTRODUCTION:
Life is very different for a girl who goes to school and a girl who doesn’t. For a girl who goes to school, education provides:

-Opportunities
-Self Esteem
-Friendship
-Independence
-Purpose
-Hope for the future
(Discuss other examples)
(Visual: A girl studying in the classroom/on the computer/laughing with friends)

For a girl who doesn’t go to school life is….
Discuss examples
(Visual: Girl in regular clothes washing the dishes, or doing some kind of work)

We are the girls of C. Ramchand High School and we are very happy that we go to school. (Picture of the group)

We decided to interview some of the women on Andhra Mahila Sabia’s Campus (show shot of campus) to find out their views on women and education.

BODY/ INTERVIEWS:
Tell each person you are doing a project on the importance of education for women.
Questions for Round I Interviews (Teachers, Sitarambai, College Student): (Teachers will translate into Telugu and girls will conduct interviews in their mother tongue)
1. What is your educational experience?
2. Why is education important to you?
3. What changes have you seen for women through education?
4. How does education improve the status of women in society?
5. How can the system of education improve to continue helping women?
6. How can educated women help uneducated women?
7. What are some problems within the governmental system of education? How can we work towards solving them?

Questions for Round II Interviews (The ayahs) (Again, interviews conducted in Telugu):
1. What is your educational experience?
2. If you never went to school, do you wish that you could have? Why or why not?
3. How can education help women?
4. What are your hopes for the students at this school?

CONCLUSION:

With our education we hope to do great things:
Each girl say, “I am…and my ambition is…”

Ending: Girls formulate a closing statement:

SCHEDULE:
Thursday February 28: Finish School Day Video

Friday February 29: Share homework writing
Introduce New Project Structure and Schedule

Wednesday March 5:
Special Guest Visit.
Shoot Film introduction

Friday, March 7:
Interview: One college student; one teacher
*3 students for each interview

Interview: Sitarambai and the ayas.
*3 students for each interview

Monday, March 10:
Film Ending

Tuesday, March 11:

EDITING

Wednesday, March 12:

EDITING

Monday, March 17:
EDITING!

Tuesday, March 18:

FINISH EDITING!

Wednesday, March 19:
Last Day: Screen video for school and teachers.

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First Part:  Introductions & Skill Development Activities

This is a rough outline of our lesson plans for the first phase of the digital storytelling curriculum.  As Joan Mansfield so nicely put it “have to 1). Be prepared, and 2.) Be prepared to abandon the plan completely!”  We were able to follow our original lesson plan to about the third day with the girls when we veered off on a different path, incorporating the personal desires of both the students and the schools.  Our goal is to weave our digital storytelling project into the fabric of the school’s curriculum and the students’ lives.  Because we started teaching the boys a bit later than the girls, we had some experience to guide our curriculum with them.  Please feel free to offer your feedback and suggestions as the plan has already gone through several editions.

Day One:

Ice-breakers & Group Building Exercises

Name & Movement: Students stand in a circle. First time around the circle, everyone says his or her name. Second time around, each person says their name and adds a silly movement. Third time around, each person says their name, does their movement, and also says the name and does the movement of the person to the right of them.

Birthday Line-Up: Students arrange themselves in the order of their birthday and year. Students are not allowed to talk during the exercise. If the students pick up the game quickly, take away other things – sight and hands.

Writing/Drawing Exercise:
Give each student his or her project notebooks and pens, which they will use for the remainder of the digital storytelling project.
1. Write for ten minutes to the prompt: “my home makes me think of…”

2. Using colored pencils and crayons, draw a picture to go with what you wrote

Sharing:
Each student will read his or her exercise out loud.

Remy and Piya will screen video/digital story examples about their lives on the iMac computer so that the students have an idea of what digital storytelling is all about.

Discussion:
Using the chalkboard briefly discuss the elements of a digital story/film
1. still images
2. story
3. voice (narration)
4. sound (ambient)
5. moving image
What are examples of each that you can use from your home? For example, a picture of your mother, a recording of the tap dripping besides your bed…
For homework each student is to come up with five examples of still images, sounds, moving images (from their home) and two story ideas (about their home).

Day Two:
Learning about the still camera. Divide the groups evenly into four groups (3 in each group). Within the groups students learn how to use the camera and photograph each other (portrait) and their drawing.

At the end of the lesson, demonstrate in a group how to import the photo into the computer, then into Final Cut Express, the video-editing program. They are now responsible for teaching each other and ensuring that all their photos are imported.

Writing exercise of the day:
Try the same exercise “my home makes me think of” with these additional prompts:
a. What is your earliest memory of home?
b. What are your feelings when you are there?
c. What difference does home make in your life?
d. What do you see in your home that no one else can see?
e. Is there anything you would change about your home?

Homework: Edit your writing exercise after what you added today… Practice reading it out loud.

Day Three:
Learning about the video camera. Divide the students into three groups (of 4) – tell them they will be working together in these groups for the next project.
Goal: In your groups, each student takes turns recording his or her written exercise into the video camera

Writing Exercise:
Write to the prompt: “If I had the power to change something I would change…”

Share responses.

Day Four:
Interviews: Each student is assigned a partner within their group of four. The students have to interview each other using the video camera about what they would change about the world. Students are to ask each other these questions:

a. If you had the power to change something what would it be?
b. What do you need to make this change? Who might help you?
c. Why is this change important to you?
d. Is this change important or helpful to others? How so?
e. What are the challenges that stand in your way?

At the end of the lesson we will demonstrate to the group how to log and capture video from the camcorder onto the computer. Students will be required to take notes.

*NOTE: At the end of this phase we will discuss how to incorporate all the materials, drawings, writing, voice recordings and interviews into short videos about “home,” and “the power to change something.” Diagrams will be drawn in order to show how material (photo, video, audio, and other art) is imported into the computer and used with video editing. This explanation will focus on the basics and provide a foundation/wrap-up of the skills learned in previous classes, and how those skills are linked together.  Here, the curriculum will bend to each group of students (C.Ramchand Girls School and A.P. Boys Residential School).

Girls School:

Day Four: Final round of voice recordings. The classroom is a recording studio. The students sit in a circle and take turns recording, handling the camera entirely on their own, and asking their peers and not the teachers for help.

Homework: Each student writes part of a voiceover for the short movie that Remy and I put together on India’s Republic Day. The topics are Rangoli, Dance, Songs, History of Republic Day and the Puppet Show.

Day Five: Practicing the Digital Camera: The students engage in the Photo Scavenger Hunt Activity in three groups of four

Day Six: Practicing the Video Camera: The students engage in the Video Scavenger Hunt Activity in two groups of six

Homework: Students have to write one paragraph describing their annual school day celebration and come up with five still shots and five video clips they would take during the celebration.

Day Seven: The students learn about the three phases of making a video and go through the Pre-Production phase of planning for a video about their School Day Celebration.

Day Eight: (We were not there, the students were on their own!) The students broke into three teams, story, photo and video and documented their school day function. The teachers practiced on a video camera as well.

Day Nine: Learning the basics of the iMac system and importing photos from the digital camera to the computer.

Day Ten: Reviewing how to import photos and learning how to transfer video from camera to computer. Begin to Learn the Final Cut Express program. Begin to log and capture footage from the School Day celebration and organize into folders.

Day Eleven: Review Final Cut Express program. Finish logging and capturing footage. Learn the basics of video editing: how to line up and cut clips

Boys School:

Day Three: Photo Scavenger Hunt Activity in three groups of four.

Homework: Write to the prompts:
“If I had the power to change one thing I would change…”
“What are some problems in Nalgonda?”

Day Four: Finish Photo Scavenger Hunt and put together Photo Stories about their school on Power Point.

Day Five: Learn Video Camera: Start “A Day in the Life of” Activity in two groups of six.

Homework: Answer these questions:
“If I had the power to change one thing about my life, I would change…”
“What do you like about Nalgonda?”
“What are you proud of and why?”

Day Six: Finish “A Day in the Life of,” learn Video camera playback, write subtitles for video, and learn about the weblog.

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LESSON PLAN NOTES

To get the students to further develop their critical and independent thinking skills; to encourage them to formulate opinions about the society in which they live; and to invite them to share more about themselves we will insert short activities on a day-to-day basis. Some activities that we have brainstormed using are:

Show and Tell: Each student brings an object to class that is important to them and that helps to share something about themselves. We will then share in a group circle.

Opinions: The room is divided into three sections: 1. Agree 2. Disagree 3. In the Middle/Not sure. We will read statements out loud like, “Women and men are treated equally in India” and ask the students to choose which section of the room in which to stand. We are still formulating through provoking/yet subtle enough statements so please contribute if you have any ideas.

After introducing this first phase of the project, which is really focused on introductions to each other and to the concepts and equipment we will be using, we have decided to conduct our second phase of the project (actually putting together videos) as a simulation:

“This is no longer a classroom, this is a newsroom and we are all working for a documentary film channel: Ramchand Girl’s News.

There are three news teams in this room, each made up of four journalists. We, your teachers, are the editors.

We will be giving you each an assignment, a news story that you have to report on. This will require you to be active journalists who go out into the community and gather the information that you need to inform the general population of your story. “

Since we just came up with this idea, we are not yet sure which stories to assign. We will have to spend a few days getting to know the communities surrounding the schools and the girls’ lives ourselves as well as talking to the teachers and the girls about possible ideas. An example might be, “find out how your school is cleaned and who is responsible for what job. Who are these people, what are their life stories, are they members of the community here at school?
We obviously want to choose stories that have some weight in society, and that mean something to the girls.

As of now, it seems as if the girls will respond best to story assignments. However, we have only taught one class, and it could be that the girls open up in the next few days and have some ideas of their own…

It is clear, however, that some kind of direction is necessary so please tell us, what do think? What stories would you choose?

© The Modern Story