For the month of April, National Poetry Month, my students were totally absorbed in poetry, reading and writing poems, even singing poems. As a second grader, Andrew needed more support for his poetry project. He had never made a video before. I sat with him as he produced an Animoto video of his original two voice poem after the book Seeds, Bees, Butterflies, and More. But hands off. I never touched the keyboard. He expertly traveled from one tab to another, choosing images, downloading to the computer, and uploading into Animoto. Sometimes I marvel at how adept students can be at the computer.
https://animoto.com/play/ZrabDZGPMWBmJ4DCAsNTAg
Sometimes when creating the video, my students will let the image and sound lead to revision. I know this is true for me, too. I’ll write a rough draft and when I get to the movie making stage, I revise and adjust to create a visual as well as a written poem. Emily did this with her poem “Cammy, the Elderly Camera” which she wrote after a poem in Cat Talk by Patricia MacLachlan and Emily Maclachlan Charist.
https://animoto.com/play/G1TT5mJqQtl0AutGxfQLUg
Jacob wanted to write a poem after God got a Dog by Cynthia Rylant. He wrote that God got a genie. He chose the video of a surfer crashing into the waves from the Animoto video files to show that the genie lost his powers. To me, that is creative thinking.
https://animoto.com/play/wFGWauN1C78WB3ZujFQa4A
Animoto is really easy to use. The videos look professional when they are complete. I encourage you to give Animoto a try.
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