Advanced Assignments - for super cool students in
7th and 8th Grade
www.weebly.com - Make your own website with a professional URL using your first and last name and WV or some combination that is available. Make sure you use a password that you will not forget. Be sure to not put any personal information on the website such as home address, phone number, your city, school, age or anything else that would enable strangers to find you based solely on your website.
Include the following:
Meme - Demonstrate your understanding of using layers in PowerPoint or Photoshop in creating an original meme or picture collage that shows you know how to cut the background out of a picture and combine it with any other picture or set of images. Final Pictures should be exported or saved as a jpeg image from PowerPoint or Photoshop and should include the following: Large, white text with a black border, ALL CAPS, in IMPACT font, as is the custom for a typical internet meme. ___10Pts
LOGO - Design three different logos in one document using WordArt, ClipArt and Drawing Tools. The first logo should include your full name (first and last) and clipart that says something about you. The second should be a Fake Business and the third should be an original band name. The second and third logos should include clipart and coloring choices that convey something about the kind of business and the kind of music that the logos are for.
www.prezi.com - This assignment requires headphones. While it is encouraged that students bring their own headphones to work on projects so that they do not catch any sort of unsavory infections from other students, loner headphones will be provided.
On the home page students will find an instructional video that introduces the concept of creating a Prezi online presentation. Students are then asked to pick a famous person or product that you like and create a prezi that tells about him, her, or it.
Once completed students will have to submit the URL of their project by e-mail. Here are some examples of submitted assignments. Some are better than others but all showcase an understanding of the program.
Michael Jackson
Super Villians
Spiderman
Forms of Art
Tony Hawk
www.xtranormal.com - 30 seconds or more about one of the character pillars. Convey a message that is cohesive and makes sense.
Business Card - Make a business card in Microsoft Publisher. Include the following on the card:
Include the following:
- At least Three pages (Home, Film, Wish List) ____5 Pts each = 15 pts
- Home Page = Pictures on the home page that either say something about you, show your interests or showcase you in an appropriate way. Any other information that you want to include that you want your friends or family to understand about you. Make it look like your website. Don't leave any remnants of the website template
- Include your Walk-Up Song (a theme song that somehow represents you or just your song that you love)
- Your top five musical artists
- Your top five movies
- Favorite Disney Character
- ____10pts
- Wish List = a wish list page that includes pictures of items that you want and links to websites to purchase them (see Mr. York's wish list page for an example of what your's should look like. Listing prices is encouraged but optional, however links should take visitors off your site to another site that does tell the current price of the item. Links should be shown in a new window. ____5pts
- Photography Page = Photography Triangle and any other photography that you shoot yourself. All photos should be watermarked with your signature (watermark/logo) from PhotoShop. This part of the website will not be graded until the second grading period.
Meme - Demonstrate your understanding of using layers in PowerPoint or Photoshop in creating an original meme or picture collage that shows you know how to cut the background out of a picture and combine it with any other picture or set of images. Final Pictures should be exported or saved as a jpeg image from PowerPoint or Photoshop and should include the following: Large, white text with a black border, ALL CAPS, in IMPACT font, as is the custom for a typical internet meme. ___10Pts
LOGO - Design three different logos in one document using WordArt, ClipArt and Drawing Tools. The first logo should include your full name (first and last) and clipart that says something about you. The second should be a Fake Business and the third should be an original band name. The second and third logos should include clipart and coloring choices that convey something about the kind of business and the kind of music that the logos are for.
www.prezi.com - This assignment requires headphones. While it is encouraged that students bring their own headphones to work on projects so that they do not catch any sort of unsavory infections from other students, loner headphones will be provided.
On the home page students will find an instructional video that introduces the concept of creating a Prezi online presentation. Students are then asked to pick a famous person or product that you like and create a prezi that tells about him, her, or it.
Once completed students will have to submit the URL of their project by e-mail. Here are some examples of submitted assignments. Some are better than others but all showcase an understanding of the program.
Michael Jackson
Super Villians
Spiderman
Forms of Art
Tony Hawk
www.xtranormal.com - 30 seconds or more about one of the character pillars. Convey a message that is cohesive and makes sense.
Business Card - Make a business card in Microsoft Publisher. Include the following on the card:
- Home address
- Phone number
- weebly
- prezi (optional)
- Name
- Logo, Graphic, or your name from the Logo assignment that includes graphics/clipart
Tagxedo - Use the following website to create a cool graphic made up of words from your Prezi, or pick another person or subject based on the shapes available if you feel inspired to create somethig new.
http://www.tagxedo.com/
PPT Jeopardy - Students use PowerPoint to construct a game of Jeopardy that they then challenge the other classmates to complete in teams.
PPT Music - Compare and contrast two different musical artists from different time periods or styles in this nine slide ppt presentation.
Creative Writing Completion - There is a certain amount of writing involved with Advanced Computers. Students are required to be able to keyboard at a proficient rate in order to convey ideas to group members and develop scripts for projects. Creative writing assignments are designed to get students composing at the keyboard in creative ways that will help them increase the verbal and written communications skills.
http://www.tagxedo.com/
PPT Jeopardy - Students use PowerPoint to construct a game of Jeopardy that they then challenge the other classmates to complete in teams.
PPT Music - Compare and contrast two different musical artists from different time periods or styles in this nine slide ppt presentation.
Creative Writing Completion - There is a certain amount of writing involved with Advanced Computers. Students are required to be able to keyboard at a proficient rate in order to convey ideas to group members and develop scripts for projects. Creative writing assignments are designed to get students composing at the keyboard in creative ways that will help them increase the verbal and written communications skills.
Due to limitations in our grading program I have provided the following table to help understand which assignments in Computer Literacy correspond to Advanced Assignments in the ABI parent portal grading program. If you are in Advanced Computer class then obviously this is not necessary because that class is homogeneous and everyone has the same assignments. If you are an 8th grader doing advanced assignments in a mixed class then the following chart will be necessary to understand the difference in assignments.
Computer Literacy Assignments
Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5 Lesson 8 Three Paragraphs Lesson 9 |
Advanced Assingments
Notebook Check Mission Door Mr. Potato Head Website Responsibility Picture Post Responsibility Edit Logos Business Card |
Linear Editing
Linear editing is the process of creating a cohesive video presentation that combines still pictures, video clips, and music. We use these videos on our Channel 55 Morning broadcast, during Student Led Conferences, 6th grade tours, and Open House to promote the school and inform parents and community members about our campus activities. Some videos are also available to be sold for parents and students to purchase. Band and choir performances are sometimes available as well as the Fall Sports DVD and Boys and Girls Basketball.
Most projects that advanced students work on involve either sports or ASB lunch events. In the fall our priority is to complete the Fall Sports DVD which includes highlights of Football, Volleyball and X-Country. In the spring our priority is to finish Basketball. The formula for completing these projects is almost always the same and is laid out simply in the steps below.
The first rule of using a program such as Windows Movie Maker is to save often. Video is extremely memory intensive and your program can freeze often and without warning if you move video clips around too quickly. Windows Live Movie Maker is a little more efficient but they removed the sound bar from this newer version so even if you are running Windows 7 you may want to download version 2.6 from Microsoft. This is the version that came with Windows Vista.
1. Video - The easiest way to get started is to cut out the video that is bad or unusable.
2. Music - If you have a song be sure to lay it down so that video and pics can be timed to the music
3. Still Pictures - Pics can be added in between video in order to keep the presentation flowing.
By default pics are added at a 5 second duration with one minute transition. If you need to change this to have a bunch of pictures show up with no transition in time with the music simply change this number to .5 or less under Options --> Tools
4. Transitions - Even fades will take up space so make sure that you use transitions with your pics to ensure proper timing. If your video is too long and you have not yet added transitions don't start cutting. Just add the transitions and see where you end up. You may not have to cut.
5. Effects - Most of our videos do not need crazy effects but often still pics look better if they "ease in" or out and some video that is tedious is just fine if the speed is increased. These types of effects will really start to increase the size of your presentation so be sure to save often.
6. Titles and Credits - Be sure to do this last. If your video is going to freeze at any point it will be when you try to take credit for the work you've done. Don't forget that titles can be added on top of video and moved around as well. Just be sure to make them legible.
Rendering - once your project is complete in MovieMaker all you have done is successfully made titles, transitions and links to videos and pics on your computer. This MovieMaker file with the film reel icon can NOT be moved off of your computer. It can play on your computer fine but might even lag. What you need to do is combine them all together into one file that will play easily in any media player. To do this all you have to do is click on Save to My Computer and save it as a High Quality NTSC file or whatever file type suits what you need to use your file for.
Once you have saved your project you can transfer the video off of your computer using a USB drive.
Most projects that advanced students work on involve either sports or ASB lunch events. In the fall our priority is to complete the Fall Sports DVD which includes highlights of Football, Volleyball and X-Country. In the spring our priority is to finish Basketball. The formula for completing these projects is almost always the same and is laid out simply in the steps below.
The first rule of using a program such as Windows Movie Maker is to save often. Video is extremely memory intensive and your program can freeze often and without warning if you move video clips around too quickly. Windows Live Movie Maker is a little more efficient but they removed the sound bar from this newer version so even if you are running Windows 7 you may want to download version 2.6 from Microsoft. This is the version that came with Windows Vista.
1. Video - The easiest way to get started is to cut out the video that is bad or unusable.
2. Music - If you have a song be sure to lay it down so that video and pics can be timed to the music
3. Still Pictures - Pics can be added in between video in order to keep the presentation flowing.
By default pics are added at a 5 second duration with one minute transition. If you need to change this to have a bunch of pictures show up with no transition in time with the music simply change this number to .5 or less under Options --> Tools
4. Transitions - Even fades will take up space so make sure that you use transitions with your pics to ensure proper timing. If your video is too long and you have not yet added transitions don't start cutting. Just add the transitions and see where you end up. You may not have to cut.
5. Effects - Most of our videos do not need crazy effects but often still pics look better if they "ease in" or out and some video that is tedious is just fine if the speed is increased. These types of effects will really start to increase the size of your presentation so be sure to save often.
6. Titles and Credits - Be sure to do this last. If your video is going to freeze at any point it will be when you try to take credit for the work you've done. Don't forget that titles can be added on top of video and moved around as well. Just be sure to make them legible.
Rendering - once your project is complete in MovieMaker all you have done is successfully made titles, transitions and links to videos and pics on your computer. This MovieMaker file with the film reel icon can NOT be moved off of your computer. It can play on your computer fine but might even lag. What you need to do is combine them all together into one file that will play easily in any media player. To do this all you have to do is click on Save to My Computer and save it as a High Quality NTSC file or whatever file type suits what you need to use your file for.
Once you have saved your project you can transfer the video off of your computer using a USB drive.
Advanced Computer Class
Word
Proj 35, 36, 42, 52, 54, 56, 57
Excel
21, 22
PowerPoint
20,
For students that earn a B or higher and do exceptionally well in the Elective Mix semester long Computer Literacy class, a year long Advanced Computer Class may be available depending on interest. This class focuses on the above assignments but in a much more cohesive, group, setting due to the entire class being comprised of 8th graders that performed exceptionally well their 7th grade year in Computer Literacy. Students in this class will work on the above Advanced Assignments but will also have priority to join the TV-Media Morning Broadcast Crew and will have the opportunity to work on the following projects in groups over the course of the year. Students in this program are required to keep a journal of movies watched, music listened to, and filming techniques learned in order to become more proficient at video production.
Project 1 - Silence Is Golden - 30 Points
Convey a story or message through film without using sound. The microphone on the camera will be on when recording, of course, but when presenting, the volume will be down. Do not talk or use sound of any kind during your filming to convey your message. Do not move your lips or use signs. Movies can be any length but should not exceed two minutes. Work as a group to come up with ideas for what you are going to film. We will start filming next week and you will have very little time to film so detailed planning is a must. Be sure to storyboard your scenes to that you can plan out your shoot and efficiently use your time. All of your group members must be on camera at some point during your video. Whatever you have completed by the due date will be presented to class.
Can you understand what the story/message/concept/idea/point is? _________ (10) Points
Was everyone on camera at some point in the video? __________ (5) Points
Did they use In-Camera editing as the assignment indicated? _________ (10) Points
Cinematography (blocking, lighting, camera work) __________ (5) Points
Understand ________/10
All ________/5
Edit ________/10
Cinematogrphy ________/5
Convey a story or message through film without using sound. The microphone on the camera will be on when recording, of course, but when presenting, the volume will be down. Do not talk or use sound of any kind during your filming to convey your message. Do not move your lips or use signs. Movies can be any length but should not exceed two minutes. Work as a group to come up with ideas for what you are going to film. We will start filming next week and you will have very little time to film so detailed planning is a must. Be sure to storyboard your scenes to that you can plan out your shoot and efficiently use your time. All of your group members must be on camera at some point during your video. Whatever you have completed by the due date will be presented to class.
Can you understand what the story/message/concept/idea/point is? _________ (10) Points
Was everyone on camera at some point in the video? __________ (5) Points
Did they use In-Camera editing as the assignment indicated? _________ (10) Points
Cinematography (blocking, lighting, camera work) __________ (5) Points
Understand ________/10
All ________/5
Edit ________/10
Cinematogrphy ________/5
Silence is Golden Edit
Given absolutely no instruction whatsoever since students have been working in Final Cut Pro for the last two years, students will use Final Cut Pro to edit their footage from the Silence is Golden Project. Music will be provided so that students will not have to figure out a safe website to download music from. Students will create Transitions, Effects, and music to create a cohesive final video that is easy to understand and fun to watch. This project is an individual project and does not involve any collaboration. Each group member is to make their own video using the same footage as all of their group members.
Editing ___________ 10 Points
Easy to Undersand __10 Points
20 Points total.
Editing ___________ 10 Points
Easy to Undersand __10 Points
20 Points total.
Project 2 - Poor Choices - Students are provided a script and a storyboard and are graded on how well they follow it.
Project 3 - Amazing Pencil - Students are given a product and required to write a script and storyboard for a 30 second commercial advertising products that we normally do not see commercials for.
Project 4 - Choose Your Own Service - Students are required to produce a 30 second to one minute commercial for a service of their choice.
Project 5 - Obstacle - Students are required to produce a two to four minute video that shows it's characters overcoming some obstacle.
Project 6 - Soap Opera - Students are required to produce a 3 to four minute dramatic video that showcases their understanding of character development, character arc, theme, conflict, and resolution.
If students sign up for Elective Mix a second time, or if they don't bother to fill out their elective request form, they may be placed in Computer Literacy again. Students need to be keyboarding at least 30 WAM on a three minute timed test to be considered for the following assignments. This program is designed to have students complete assignments autonomously and encourages them to plan, use initiative, and problem solve on their own in order to complete advanced projects that will help them with future, middle school, high school, and even History Day projects. Students returning for a second time to the Elective Mix that did not earn a grade of a B or higher the first time around will have a second chance to complete the Computer Literacy assignments and earn a grade that will get them out of the Charter Oak High School Technology Graduation Requirement.