Learning, in so many ways

We've been working on making our first movie of the year. As a Title I school we have a Home-School Compact for Learning that was created by staff and parents. It details parents' responsibilities, staffs' responsibilities, and students' responsibilities. Each student gets a copy that they sign, their parent signs, and their teacher signs.

I don't think my first graders understand most of the ten things on their list of responsibilities so we make this movie each year. It takes us about two weeks but it helps them understand and it gives them experience with making a movie (experience we'll build on all year).

We start by reading each responsibility, a few per day, and talking about what that means and how it looks. Then we take pictures showing how it looks. Eventually we dump the pictures into MovieMaker and narrate them.

Some of their responsibilities are easier to understand than others. "Read at home everyday." is pretty clear. "Come to school everyday, on time, well-rested, and prepared to learn." requires a bit more discussion. "Obey all school and classroom rules." is another one that seems pretty obvious to me. When I asked them about it they seemed to get it. When asked how that looks, my favorite response was:

"you are not supposed to get a napkin and do spitballs."

True. Very true.

In case you are interested in their final product, here it is.