Guest Blog: The Statue of Liberty with Tim and Moby
Posted by Andrew Gardner on
Guest Blogger Mary Alice Panek of the Pembroke School District helped her students make their own BrainPOP movie about the Statue of Liberty. She shares her story in this guest blog post.
My grade 4 students beg for Tim and Moby. When I asked them about making our own BrainPOP movie, they exploded with chatter and ideas! I put up several pieces of poster paper and we started to brain storm all things BrainPOP. Every student approved our final topic: The Statue of Liberty. I wrote their ideas down quickly, organizing and adding and building the vision!
The future movie makers watched several BrainPOP videos to get a sense of sequence. They formed committees and began researching our topic. We learned about proper use of the computer programs and how to give credits for the photography we used. Our library’s media specialist played an important part of this learning!
Once we had a plan and the research was complete, students began scripting. There was plenty of discussion as to what had to be in our video and what could be left out. It was a delicate discussion as those whose perspectives were not chosen had to understand why. It was a lesson on compromise and team building.
Moby’s costume was made by a parent. One student made the green crown. Another made Moby’s torch with a working flashlight. The collaboration was terrific!
Filming started with many retakes and a few funny bloopers. This took more time and effort than my actors imagined. We continued on with editing and adding appropriate sounds. At every point, we held a director’s meeting to discuss ideas, make improvements, and relocate Moby’s beeps.
The making of The Statue of Liberty took around ten weeks working both during and after the school day. Students became actors, editors, writers, designers, and teachers. They especially enjoyed making the word search, crossword puzzle and final quiz. One topic we debated about and felt was important became the Related Reading. This was the ideal way to include an important topic that wasn’t in the video.
We are so excited and honored to have Brain Pop accept our video. You can click here to see the fruits of our labor!
Mary Alice Panek
Pembroke Central School
Corfu, NY 14036
