Title: Teaching
Students to use HyperStudio For Presenting Their Projects
Subject: Science
Reports, Book Report, Personal Yearbooks...etc.
Intended Grade Level: 5 (suitable
for grades 3 and up)
Description:
The purpose of this unit is to
give student the opportunity to present science information
to their classmates with the aid of technology. Students will
have already worked in teams to select and research their
topic. After being shown how to use the program HyperStudio,
they will decide which points they would like to include in
their classroom presentation. They will be encouraged to use
technology to enhance their presentation. Their final product
will be presented to the rest of the class using the LCD
panel or projector. It will also be saved on the computer for
use by future students. Some stacks will be available on the
school web site.
Materials/Hardware/Software:
- Four or more Macintosh
computers, at least one with a video input card if
you plan to bring in images from a VCR
- HyperStudio 3.01 for Mac,
Roger Wagner, Pub.
- LCD Panel & Overhead
Projector, or digital projector*
- VCR connected to Mac to
pull in camcorder images *
- Digital Cameras *
- Scanner *
- Various CD's, trade and
text books dealing with Science topics *
- Teacher familiar with the
above materials
- Sample HyperStudio Stacks:
Student examples can be downloaded from this
excellent science source: http://MBGnet.mobot.org/MBGnet/hstudio/index.htm
- Examples of some HyperStudio stacks made
by Onekama students
* These pieces of equipment
were used for this project, however, it is possible to make
presentations with only the HyperStudio program.
Activities/Procedures:
Teacher
Pre-Activities:
1. Become familiar with what
can be done with HyperStudio. Have a manual available as a
reference.
2. Make several sample stacks
for the first time you teach this (or download some from the
sources above). Later you will be able to use stacks created
by former students. Examine the sample stacks ("Wetlands" and "Raising a
Calf") which were
made by fifth grade students. The simple "Make
Presentations" stack may be useful for use with
students.
3. Before beginning the unit
the teacher should model the use of HyperStudio to present
her own everyday classroom lessons. She should give
information during her own presentations such as, "This
is a text box. Here's how to get a text box. I can change the
size of the letters...", "This hyperlink leads back
to my main page. This is how I added a button/hyperlink to
the page...", "I can draw directly on the page
using a drawing tool. Here's how I bring in
photographs...." . In this way the students will see
what is possible.
4. The teacher should make a
list of possible topics to aid those students who have
difficulty choosing. Students could skim through their past
science lessons for ideas, but don't limit students to the
book. Stress that Science is all around us. Possibilities
could include such topics as: Causes of Erosion, Lake Effect
Snow, The Rock Cycle, How Our Digestive System Functions. If
you are working with mainstreamed students, lead them to an
easier topic such as "Using Electricity Safely".
Provide them with a list of safety suggestions. Suggest they
illustrate each page to fit a safety suggestion. Show them
how to make buttons to lead directly from one page to
another.
5. Divide the students into
groups of two or more by their interest in a topic. Two may
choose to make a "Wetlands" presentation because of
where they live: see "Wetlands". A student may
choose to work alone because their topic is personal: see
"Raising a Calf". When several students work
together, they may choose to divide the task into two or
three parts with each student making a stack for that part.
Later the stacks can be linked for one smooth final
presentation.
Student
Pre-Activities:
1. Work with your group to
decide what you wish to include in your report. Use your
science text book or science trade books for ideas. Think
about the land around your home for possible ideas.
2. In addition to the
traditional notes, gather photographs, diagrams, maps,
digital images, and video that will improve your report.
Activities: Days 1
& 2
1. Planning must first be done
on paper. Ask students to think about what it is they wish to
present to the audience. Remind them that presenters do not
need to put every word of their presentation on the screen,
only the important words. Remind them that they will probably
be speaking as they present, and some information could be
presented orally.
2. Planning on paper: Plan for
a minimum number of pages to start: a title page, a menu
page, an author page, a page that lists your sources, and
several pages for information. Students can make their plan
on paper or post sample pages on a bulletin board. Students
should divide up the work among group members.
Activities: Days 3
& 4
3. Teacher models setting up a
stack. Make a stack with at least 7 pages (called cards). In
"about this stack", set stack to "current
screen size" and if you plan to have photographs set the
color to thousands before you begin. (If you plan to present
your stack on the Internet you will have to stay with
"standard card size".) Use of photographs uses up
more memory. re-set the amount of memory available to the
program. This will depend on what your machines can handle.
We have set ours to three times the default setting.
4. Use a student stacks to
model how the authors of the stacks might have though during
the planning. Speak as though you were the author of the
stack, "Well, I will need three pages, one for each kind
of wetland. And I want a page for pictures that show
wetlands. It isn't important which page they see first --so I
will use buttons and let the viewer decide which one to
view." and on the "Raising a Calf" stack, say,
"I want to tell about how my calf grew up so I want a
page for each stage. I will put the pages in chronological
order, with buttons that lead from one page to the
next."
5. Caution students not to get
involved with buttons and hyperlinks until later. Show them
how they can use "apple >" from page to page.
There is also a "story board" available. For those
students who use buttons before they know where they want to
go, show them how to delete buttons.
Caution: save often. Suggest
using "save as" and save with a new name each day.
Example: Save as "Wetlands.1" on the first day then
"Wetlands.2" on the second day. In this way if
there is a problem with a stack crashing the students can go
back to one saved on a previous day and not have lost
everything.
Activities: Days 5
& 6
6. After deciding what they
want on their title page, the student team assigns one team
member to design it. They may create graphics in Kid Pix, or
other drawing program if they prefer. They may choose to use
photographic images (see "adding images" below).
7. After deciding what they
want on the content pages, the student team assigns one of
the team members to begin designing the page and entering
text. It is very important that students have a well
drawn out plan before sitting down at the computer.
8. The teacher visits each
group and gives "mini-lessons" as needed. After the
teacher gives an "invisible button" lesson once or
twice, she will refer further questions on that topic to the
group that now understands the idea. (Do not be surprised if
certain students become "experts" and wander about
looking for "students".) Images
of students working with HyperStudio
9. Caution: These stacks will
be transferred to the teacher station computer for
presentation. If you do not have a zip drive, external drive,
or network, you will want to be sure that the stack is small
enough to fit on a floppy disk. This can be done by having
more than one stack per presentation and linking the stacks
after you bring them to the presentation computer. If the
students are using photographs, they will want to have many
stacks or you will have memory problems.
Adding Images to
your HyperStudio Stack
Certain images from
encyclopedia CD's may enhance the presentation. Help students
decide what is really needed, and what is clutter.
HyperStudio will import images. Show how to do this as a
mini-lesson. Images can be imported from the Internet.
Teachers may choose to allow
clip-art and stampers. (I don't) You can discourage clip-art
by not giving information about it. Should they
"discover" it, (and they will) explain that you
think their own student-made graphics look much
better. They can make their own graphics right in
HyperStudio or make them in a program such as KidPix and
import to HyperStudio.
When needed, give a
mini-lesson on importing images from a VCR. Some
students may gather information with a camcorder and bring in
the video tape. (This was done by the boys who made the
Wetlands presentation) They may, for example, look for signs
of erosion. Show them how to hook the VCR to the back of the
computer. Use "Options > get a graphic object >
from video" to pull in the frames you want. Images
students brought in from a VCR.
To scan images, use the
directions that came with your individual scanner.
(The "Raising a Calf" presentation uses scanned
images)
This is the first year we will
have Digital cameras in our classroom, therefore using it
with children is new to me. The student will all be shown how
to use the camera as part of this project. At a
minimum, they will use the digital camera to add their own
digital photo to the authors' page. (I am
considering lending it to students for the week-end. I would
expect the student to have a plan telling what they wish to
photograph before borrowing the camera.)
Activities: Days 7
- 10
9. The teacher may choose to
spend the first few minutes of each class period giving a
"mini-lesson" on a needed topic. In this way she
demonstrates the use of the LCD equipment. The students spend
the remaining time working on their project. When a stack is
done, the student presentations need to be transferred to the
teacher station.
10. As students finish their
stack they will need to work together to plan how to present
to the whole group. Who will run the computer? Who will say
what? Students need to be reminded to speak loudly and face
the audience. They should run through their presentation
several times before actually presenting to the class.
Activities: Making the
Presentation to the class
11. Allow one or more days for
students to present. Give a question and comment time after
each presentation. (If this is the first time you have had
students presenting in your classroom, discuss the idea of
"helpful, supportive comments" as opposed to
"put-downs". This behavior will have been modeled
by the teacher. ) Images of students making
presentations.
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