Adventures in After School Learning Blog

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Now that all the evidence has been analyzed, your junior CSI’s will determine which suspect they believe is guilty of smashing Mrs. Johnson’s cookie jar and stealing her cookies.  In this final module, students analyze all the evidence and prepare their case for a mock trial.

            Mrs. Johnson consulted her lesson plan and counted to herself on her fingers, trying to estimate how long it would take to help her students finally bring the case of the Cookie Jar Mystery to a close. It had been a few weeks since she and her students had discovered her broken cookie jar lying on the floor of her classroom.

            She looked out across her class and smiled silently and proudly. Every student’s head was down and every pencil was moving, dutifully completing her “Quick Forensic Review Quiz.” The students had done some amazing work over the past several class periods, and the quiz was designed to help them remember how they had come to think about evidence, crime, investigations, and their classroom experiments.

            After a few moments, the students began to complete their quizzes, and quietly came up to her desk to leave their sheets to be graded. Each student then returned to his or her desk, and waited for their classmates to finish.

            After 15 minutes had passed, everyone had completed the test.

            “Very good, class,” began Mrs. Johnson. “I’ll grade your quizzes tonight.”

            Mark raised his hand and Mrs. Johnson called on him. “Mrs. J, now that we’ve identified the guilty party, how is the criminal going to be punished?”

            Mrs. Johnson knew that moving her students to the next level of understanding was not going to be easy. “Well, Mark, what do you think we should do with the perpetrator?”

            “How about bake cookies once a week for the rest of the year!” suggested Mark.

            “AND buy you a new cookie jar!” Ashley chimed in.

            “So you think we’ve proven that our suspect is guilty, is that it?” asked Mrs. Johnson.

            “Well, wasn’t that the point?” asked Marta, a thoughtful girl from the Chess Club. “We gathered the evidence that—at least from my point of view—makes it almost completely unlikely that anyone else could have committed the crime.”

            “I’m with Marta,” said George. “We found so much evidence, especially with the hair and fiber experiments.”

            “Yeah,” added Jennifer. “We even found the suspect’s blood type at the scene of the crime.”

            “You’re all correct,” continued Mrs. Johnson. “That is the evidence. But in our roles as crime scene technicians, our jobs are to collect, identify, catalog, and process evidence. That is what we have done. . .”

            Mrs. Johnson paused. “In fact, let’s imagine that that’s exactly what we have done. Imagine that we were working for a police department. After we’ve dealt with all of the evidence, we write up our results (just as we would do with any science experiment). In order to make sure that we’ve followed proper procedure, we need to test our conclusion. It sure looks like we have figured out who broke the cookie jar, but we are just technicians. What would happen in a real crime?”

            Ashley’s hand was in the air. “The police would come and arrest the suspect.”

            “Correct.”

            “And the police would put the suspect in jail!” exclaimed Jack. “For a long, long time!”

“Hold on, Jack. You’re right about the suspect going to jail. But the police cannot keep the person in jail forever.”                  

            “But we proved our suspect is guilty!”

            Mrs. Johnson chose her next words carefully. “I think it’s very tempting to think we have solved the crime and proven the suspect guilty. But to be fair, that’s not really our jobs as forensic scientists. Like I said, we had to collect and process the evidence, and we did. But now it’s up to someone else to punish the criminal. And the only people with the power to do that are a judge and jury.”

            “I know where you’re going with this, Mrs. Johnson. The suspect has rights, too,” said Marta suddenly. “The suspect can’t be sent to jail just because we say so. We’re not a judge and jury. The suspect has a right to a trial.”

            “And a lawyer,” added George.

            “But we’re not lawyers!” whined Ashley.

            “Well, a few weeks ago we weren’t forensic scientists, either,” said Jack. “But look at us now.”

            “I believe you can be anything you want to be,” said Mrs. Johnson.

            “I could be a judge!” volunteered Marta.

            “A lawyer for me!” exclaimed Mark.

            “Me, too!” said Jennifer. “Or maybe I could just be on the witness stand, you know, like an expert!”

            “What do you say, Mrs. Johnson?” asked George. “Do you think we could have a trial?”

            Mrs. Johnson turned on her heel and reached down to floor behind her desk. Suddenly she stood up with a thick pile of envelopes in her hand. She handed one to each student.

            “A trial,” she began mischievously, “...is exactly what I had in mind.”

-By Mike DeBritz on Thursday, December 29, 2011

Along the same lines as the new versions of the  “Cookie Jar Mystery” and “Missing Money Mystery” we’re developing a smaller version of “Playing with Percussion” to be released in March.

We’ve heard from a number of sites interested in introducing students to world music but in a shorter format.  Our new version will focus on eight core lessons that can be delivered sequentially or standalone. They include step-by-step instructions on instrument construction and playing techniques. But now sites will be able to purchase just the Instructor’s Guide and DVD with student activity sheets provided on CD (similar to photo).

This new kit will allow sites to involve more students by building the activities and supplies (we’ll provide the shopping list) around the targeted population of kids. Also, site leaders can utilize the kit to productively fill any gaps in their instructors' schedules.

In addition, bonus material will be included on the Resource CD with plans on how to make other interesting “found object” instruments from recycled materials. Once students understand the core rhythms they can apply these techniques to any of the newly built instruments. 

With all the emphasis on STEM this year these hands-on projects will help sites knock off another requirement that can categorized nicely under the “Science of Sound” heading. 

Have a Happy New Year!

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, December 21, 2011

We’ve been hard at work developing new versions of the “Cookie Jar Mystery” and the “Missing Money Mystery” targeted for in-school use.

With most of our customers utilizing our kits for out-of-school learning, we wanted to include classroom teachers in on the fun! 

The main difference is that both mysteries will be modular, so if class time isn’t available to complete the entire mystery, teachers can do any module as a standalone.  Each module is packed with fun, hands-on activities and delivers valuable lessons that individually reinforce science concepts taught in class. 

On the practical side, the kits will be more lightweight and easier to use.  

Another exciting feature of these version of the “Cookie Jar Mystery” and the “Missing Money Mystery” is the mock trial is built in! 

Student crime scene investigators take steps all along the way to prepare for an eventual trial.  This really drives the learning home and provides teachers with an abundance of cross-curricular learning opportunities!

Look for more details to come in February.

Enjoy your break!

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, November 23, 2011

I'm certain many people have heard of Sir Ken Robinson and his famous TED talks.

I'm less certain about how many people have seen his ideas detailed on a whiteboard.  His talks are interesting and thought provoking to begin with but after watching this video a couple times I started to "see" his ideas differently and understand his thesis on an entirely different level. 

I think many after school providers know exactly what he means when he talks about where kids are today. 

Take a look and tell me what you think.

Happy Thanksgiving!

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Lesson Structure

To make this course easy to teach in an after school setting, we designed a format that promotes active learning, discussions and clear goals for high school students.

Every lesson in Screenwriting for Short Video begins with an overview of the goals for the day and the timeline in which students should accomplish these tasks:

Activity 1 – Notes to the Student
This section included in both Facilitator's guide and Student Production Book is a hybrid of activities, including a brief review of material covered in the previous lesson, a “lecturette” or shared reading that covers new material in the lesson, and time for questions and answers. Occasionally, a brief activity supports the reading.

Activity 2 - Film Forum
Brings students together to watch a brief student-made short film, and to explore how new material covered in their notes may or may not be a factor in the screenwriter’s or filmmaker’s process. A discussion question set follows. Students will practice their higher order cognitive skills in evaluation by completing the Film Critic’s Scorecard for each film.

Activity 3 – Hands-On Activity
Innovative activities in every lesson engage students in fun, challenging tasks, such as deconstructing movie posters, experimenting with dialogue, inventing taglines, creating publicity strategies, writing film “treatments,” and many others.

Activity 4 – Unleash the WriteGeist
These 10-15 minute blocks in every lesson are set aside for students to write/work on their individual screenplays. These writing blocks immediately follow activities to help students quickly capitalize on what they’ve learned and encourage them to apply new information and techniques to their final products.

Activity 5 – Journal Jumpstart
Designed primarily to extend writing time, the “jumpstart” specifically directs students to attend to a fine point of screenwriting covered in the day’s lesson.

 

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, October 12, 2011

(Preface from our new course Screenwriting for Short Video: An Introduction for Teens)

Hardly a day goes by when we don’t read another article about the digitization of our media culture, about how videos and I-Pads are corrupting the brains of adolescents, and how cell phones have driven all of us to distraction. Simultaneously, smart phones and video cameras, MP3 players and social networking applications are an undeniable fixture of 21st century life. The question that confronts all of us—teachers, parents, community leaders and youth workers, and more—is how to harness teens’ enthusiasm for new media in ways that support their educations, their literacy and their futures?

Video—as delivered through YouTube, in particular—has captured the imaginations of a generation of teenagers, and spawned a widespread and enthusiastic interest in the film-making enterprise. For many teens, these interests are satisfied by a simple-minded point-and shoot video of their friends performing stupid human tricks. Serendipity, more than storytelling, characterizes these accidental video products.

The vast majority of videos, however, which succeed on a number of levels, do so because they are under pinned by clever conceptualization, compelling stories and plots, beautiful sets and camera work, and well planned screenplays.

Screenwriting for Short Video is a course that underlines for young people the critical, step-by-step planning and creative work essential to producing a five-to-ten minute film. With an emphasis on storytelling technique, the course re-invigorates teens’ enthusiasm for elegant writing, sharp dialogue, plot lines, quirky characters and thoughtful planning and control. Too, the course points to regular performance targets in each lesson, which cumulatively lead students to complete their brief screenplays.

Screenwriting is first and foremost a skill of writing. Consequently, students who take this course will sharpen their composition skills, as well as gain an appreciation for fiction, dialogue, spelling, grammar, colloquialisms, character development through stories, narrative technique, planning, journaling, pre-writing, and many other activities related to improving their communication skills.

The course also calls upon the evaluation skills of adolescents. In every lesson, teens screen a new film (also made by adolescents) and are given the opportunity to discuss and critique the film. On the Film Critic’s Scorecard, teens not only rate the film they watch, but they must also provide a rationale for their rating. On a cognitive level, evaluation is one of the higher–order thinking skills, and cultivating this skill encourages teens to develop insights, reasoning and powers of observation that will continue to serve them throughout their academic careers.

Most important, Screenwriting for Short Video is designed to exploit the creativity and innovativeness of its participants. The course offers many artistic and exploratory activities: from structuring movie posters to interpreting dialogue, from planning with storyboards to providing live “staged readings” of student screenplays. This empowering course recognizes the gifts and boundless energy of adolescents, and celebrates their inventiveness, imaginations, and independence.

We believe in teens!

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, July 06, 2011

The big event for 21st Century Community Learning Centers is just 3 weeks away!  The forecast for weather is hot and humid. 

This is the second year that the conference has been held in the nation's capital.  It should be interesting, the feds have new tools for training they're featuring and it looks like STEM will be a continued focus in breakout sessions.

Here's a quick look at the agenda and what's on the schedule as of now, click to jump over to the latest updates:

Travel budgets have been hit hard this year which forces many organizations to only send one or two key representatives.  The good news is that more and more of the presentations are being posted online. 

 I hope to see many of you there, travel safe!

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Dale Carnegie the master of human relations once said, "There is only one way... to get anybody to do anything. And that is by making the other person want to do it."
 
Keeping kids in the upper grades engaged in after school poses a major challenge for site coordinators and program leaders.  But how do you combat the sheer volume of competitive activities kids encounter these days?  
 
The answer also comes from Dale, "Talk in the terms of the other person's interest."
 
Great, you’re thinking, but how does this idea apply to after school?
 
To keep kids coming back week after week, you need to focus on an area that truly interests kids...themselves!
 
Try This

So how about a project  centered around students' creating a story based on their personal experiences, with the ultimate goal of developing their idea into a movie script?
 
We've found this to work with our "Being a Screenwriter" courses.   These course stress writing from the heart and breaking the writing down into manageable bites.  Through fun group activities and brainstorming, the entire process of crafting a story is surprisingly enjoyable!

Can you see kids saying to their friends, "I'm busy after school, working on my script." That sounds intriguing, complex and possibly cool (who knows these days?) and at--a minimum--will pique some interest.

As you know from experience with successful programming, if you can get kids fully invested in the project...attendance, interest and participation will not be a problem.

The Hollywood Hook

In our "Generating Ideas for a Screenplay" Course Kit students learn the language of movies focusing on genre, theme, characters and conflict. They'll spend time brainstorming and cultivating a story idea based on their own life experiences.
 
In "Writing Your Screenplay" students hone their ideas and pick one to develop.  They'll learn the steps and format necessary for developing a full blown, authentic Hollywood script.

Now here's the real clincher: although these lessons all revolve around movies, they're really all about writing.  Your kids will be pulled in by the Hollywood hook, but in the end they'll have successfully completed a challenging writing assignment and learn first hand how satisfying and fun writing can be!  
 
A Great Offer

This topic will also be appreciated by your school partners and help to meet your goals for academic enrichment, not to mention ELA standards. To help jump start your program, we've just announced a promotion that will enable you to reach all your middle school students! 

I encourage you to take a look at the course outline and lesson samples.  You’ll be glad you did!

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Being A Screenwriter 1 and 2 comprises a series of fun, interdisciplinary classroom activities that engage learners effectively, cognitively and behaviorally. As they participate in the development of ready-to-shoot screenplays, students exercise skill sets in language arts (new vocabulary, research skills) and into discussions that help them understand concepts in other disciplines.

Primarily, however, Being A Screenwriter is focused on driving achievement toward meeting the National English Language Arts Standards, building confidence in students' writing skills and having a little fun along the way! 

In the table below, we illustrate how many of the activities and discussions in our Screenwriter courses support learner progress, understanding, and ongoing development of ELA literacy skills and creativity. 

Selected National ELA Standards	Activities in Being A Screenwriter 1 and 2
Standard 1 Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment.	In both Screenwriter 1 and 2, learners review scripts and screenplays, storyboards and film clips, in order to recognize and define the roles of screenwriters working in contemporary America.
Standard 3 Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features.	Critical thinking—asking questions, exploring theories, hypothesizing, and testing ideas, all cornerstones of building ELA competency—are part of every Screenwriter lesson.
Standard 4 Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes	At the heart of every Screenwriter lesson is the task of writing with clarity, appropriateness, and creativity in order to communicate with specific audiences.
Standard 5 Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.	A unique feature of both Screenwriter courses is the emphasis on drafting, brainstorming, free writing, review, feedback and sharing a final product with peers. The Course Kits provide writing tools to encourage students to write often, personally, and without the demands of formal classroom instruction.
Standard 6 Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts.	Screenwriting places particular demands on creative writers to master dialogue, create consistent characters, frame shots and give directions. Formatting conventions—as well as preparing the final manuscript editorially—are covered in these lessons. Students often critique and discuss print and nonprint texts.
Standard 7 Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.	Learners in the screenwriting courses are encouraged to consult a wide range of sources, stories, memories, interviews, other films, and other sources to plan their screenplays. Through exercises, they become acquainted with plotting, conflict, and other genre elements. Their own works are subjected to a gentle peer review that helps them identify problems, generate new ideas, and explore questions of logic and filmmaking basics. Audience is an ever-present element of screenwriting production.
Standard 9 Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.	Through role playing in one another's screenplays, learners “act” in the guise of fictional characters, enabling them to try on new ways of speaking. The development of colorful characters—critical in every screenplay product—encourages learners to explore new selves, new languages and dialects, and new roles, including ethnic, gender and age roles, among others.
Standard 11 Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.	Through the table reading and film review activities, as well as the many informal discussion activities in both Screenwriter 1 and 2, learners share their expertise with their peers as it develops. They offer one another advice, constructive criticism, and promote the dialogues necessary for community-building.
Standard 12 Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).	Throughout the Screenwriter series, learners use their language skills, creativity, imagination, and ambition to explore how dialogue, narration, direction and visual imagery can combine to communicate and entertain. The purposes of different genres of video are discussed.

-By Mike DeBritz on Wednesday, May 04, 2011

The idea of mixing play with learning has been around for a long time.  With the huge growth in video games many parents and schools are concerned about the sheer amount of time kids spend online.  The Wii platform has been very successful mixing action and movement with video games and now with the XBOX Kinect system your body acts as a controller!

Well Bill Gates is interested in seeing if mixing play and real learning can somehow help engage kids through a video platform that’s directly connected to educational standards.  The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced last week a significant investment of $2.6 million dollars to the “Quest Atlantis” project. 

“Quest Atlantis” works to combine strategies seen in the commercial gaming environment with research on learning and motivation.  The program allows users to travel to virtual places to perform educational activities known as Quests.

The first outcome highlighted in the grant is to align the learning activities to the new common core standards (link to blog).  The other objectives include supporting teachers in the field and exploring options for creating a commercial product.  So one day you may see this in a school near you!

Interestingly enough, the founders from Indiana University have sought out less-structured learning environments to run their program…with after school programs being high on the list! 

It looks like the program is supported by various grants with some special arrangements made in New Jersey and North Carolina.  One of the main criteria in becoming a lead teacher is the willingness to collect research data and spread the word.

You can request a guest account here to explore and see if this is right for your site!