Oh What Fun!

The day before Winter Break we played school wide Bingo and decorated gingerbread houses! Okay, they were actually graham cracker houses but it was still lots of fun! Thanks again to everyone who sent in supplies and joined our festive party. Thanks also for my wonderful and generous gifts! I loved all of them!

Sonoran Sky Family Bingo Night

The Problem: How can Sonoran Sky get students and their families to show up for the first Family Bingo Night this Friday?

A brainstorming session determined advertising was the answer! But what kind of advertising? My ambitious class had lofty goals - statewide billboards, television commercials and sign spinners scattered throughout the Valley directing potential customers to the school were the top choices. Based on our tight deadline, lack of funds and the fact that all 21 of us really need to be in the classroom all day, limited our options a bit. But we decided that writing and producing a commercial would be an effective strategy that we could handle.

Students worked in small groups writing commercial scripts based on copy points we received from our fabulous PTO President.

We spent some time learning how to write a script, what we needed to include and the best way to present our message. After rough drafts of scripts were written, we also spent some time editing and proofreading. However, due to our tight deadline, I aided this process more than I will in the future.

Once we had a finished script, the next step was to begin shooting footage! Many students mentioned they preferred a "behind the scenes role" rather than being on camera, and our film crew did an excellent job. All students participated in at least two facets of this project.

Everyone quickly learned that it is not as easy reading a short script on camera as it might seem! Our persistent actors did several takes due to a few common bloopers - mispronouncing words, forgetting a line, talking too quietly and excessive giggling! 

They also re-recorded a few shots so we could edit in a couple different angles and close-ups. After plenty of footage had been recorded came probably the most difficult step of all - video editing!

We used iMovie on four different Macbooks for the majority of our video production...

...but one small group also edited using the iMac, which has a much newer (better!) version of iMovie.

Students also used Keynote to create our "closing credits" at the end. The Keynote presentation was then exported as a QuickTime movie, which was added to our iMovie.

 Video production is not easy and it is extremely detail oriented! Since we were under such a tight deadline, we moved through this project very quickly. We will be doing many more iMovie projects this year where instruction will be slowed down and students will have an opportunity to play with special effects, insert text, add transitions and other fun iMovie features. Given the time we had, the class did an excellent job even though it will "only" be airing throughout Sonoran Sky Elementary School and not on national television, like many of them were hoping. :)

To see the version that airs at school, following the pledge of allegiance, please click here: 

Pledge with Bingo Promo

Week of August 22

 We have a really busy week ahead!

*Tomorrow is an early release day. Students will be dismissed at 12:30pm. No lunch will be served but we will still have our morning snack, so pack a hearty one.

*Tomorrow evening is the Make Your Day Parent Evening. This event begins at 6:00pm in the media center and is highly recommended for any  parents new to the Make Your Day program.

*Thursday, August 25 is student picture day. These will be individual fall photos only. The class photo is taken in the spring.

*Friday, August 26 is Family Bingo Night at 6:30pm in Thunderbird Hall. One free game card will be offered to each person and if you bring a package of new socks to donate, you will receive a second free game card.  Students are welcome to wear pajamas and snacks will be available for purchase. If you attend this event please bring pennies or dimes to use as markers. It's sure to be a fun event!