Media Arts – Model lesson sequence

Opening the lesson – Consolidation
Review students' understanding of features of an ebook, including images, text and sound.

Explicit teaching
Interactive teaching:
Whole-class discussion

Examine a range of ebook examples in a whole class discussion. These were downloaded from the iBooks app on the iPads.

iPads

Smartboard

Prepared pretext (displayed on Smartboard)

Direct teaching:
Explicit teaching

Body of lesson
Students use a storyboard planner template, and examine the narrative features necessary for storytelling.
Students are grouped according to their topic choice:

• My Fun Day
• My Hero/es
• My Family.

Interactive teaching:
Peer partner learning

Students brainstorm ideas in groups.

iPads
Storyboard template

Indirect teaching:
Independent learning

Students work individually on their own storyboard planner.

Interactive teaching:
Whole-class discussion

Closing the lesson
Examine techniques for matching text and voiceover/sound effects to the pictures drawn.
Explore text features for a narrative including an introduction (setting and character), a complication and an ending (conclusion).

Storyboard template

Pencils and colouring pencils

Direct teaching:
Explicit teaching
Interactive teaching: Whole-class discussion

Opening the lesson – Consolidation
Review students' understanding of the iBook planner and discuss the three-part structure of a story from previous lessons.
Discuss the elements on the storyboard planner (picture, text, voiceover) as a whole class to ensure students understand what needs to go into each section. Select some examples of student work to show the whole class.

Direct teaching:
Explicit teaching

Students listen to and engage in the story ish by Peter Reynolds.

iBook storyboard template

Whiteboard

Ish, by Peter Reynolds

Direct teaching:
Explicit teaching

Children engage in a class discussion focusing on the need to practise their drawing skills, and that famous artists such as Picasso practised their drawings. The teacher can show a set of practice drawings by Picasso and discuss how artists make judgements and select a preferred drawing with which to work.

Examples of Picasso's practice sketches can be found on the internet, via a search engine.

Direct teaching:
Explicit teaching

Body of lesson
Children practise mark-making with chisel-tipped markers on cartridge paper folded in half. They can experiment with different line sizes, shapes and pressures to get a feel for the markers and understand the range of marks they can make.

Interactive teaching:
Peer partner learning

Children then select a picture from their storyboard planner (or a section of a picture if they have drawn, for instance, a landscape). They will then use several A6-size pieces of paper to practise illustrations for their iBook narrative. These drawings will all be of the same original storyboard picture. The idea is for them to practise quickly and make small changes as necessary.

Indirect teaching:
Independent learning

Children can then select the preferred drawing to be developed further to be used in their final iBook. This can be done in consultation with peers. Each student can choose their own favourite picture for use, and then explain it to another student to articulate why that particular picture was chosen over another.
The preferred drawing is enlarged 200% to A4-size using a photocopier.

Class set of chisel-tipped markers

Cartridge paper – A3 and A6

Photocopier

Felt-tipped markers

Direct teaching:
Explicit teaching

Discuss with students and show an example of how felt-tipped markers can be used to decorate and/or colour the enlarged image. This could include the use of a range of patterns within the lines of the picture or simply colouring.

Direct teaching:
Explicit teaching

Closing the lesson
Model with students how to take a photograph of their completed picture using the iPad. Discuss considerations that are needed when taking a photograph of a flat image (shadows cast due to lighting, angle of image). Take a couple of photographs of a drawing in bad light and show these to students. Ask what could be done to improve the quality of photographs.

iPads

Finished drawings

Data projector

iPad adapter for projector

Interactive teaching:
Whole class-discussion

Discuss details such as florescent lights, outdoor natural light and shadows.
Also take a couple of photographs where attention is not being paid to keeping the iPad still. Again, show these to the students and ask for suggestions to improve the photographs. Discuss aspects such as sitting in chairs to keep still, or holding the iPad against a desk or wall to help with steadiness (in lieu of a tripod). Have a few students try these techniques with the class watching and then view these photographs and discuss as a class which techniques have been most effective.

Direct Teaching:
Explicit Teaching

Opening the lesson – Consolidation
Remind students about the process for adding images and text to an ebook project. Model inserting a photograph (already taken) into a new ebook project. Model how to insert a text box to add text in an ebook.
Remind students how to take images of their illustrations using the iPads, taking account of lighting conditions and using different techniques to stablise the iPad.

Smartboard

Data projector

iPad

Interactive teaching:
Peer partner learning
Indirect teaching:
Independent learning

Body of lesson
Students work in pairs to take photographs of their individual artwork.
Students may take more than one photograph and select the best image to use.
Students insert selected image into their individual ebooks.
Using their storyboard planners, students will start typing their text into their ebooks.

Storyboard templates

iPads

Visual Arts images

Interactive teaching:
Whole-class discussion

Closing the lesson
Students share their work with another group and discuss possible ways of improving their work using the Plus, Minus, Interesting (P,M,I) thinking tool.

P,M,I chart

Direct teaching:
Explicit teaching

Opening the lesson – Consolidation
Lead students through the creation of a soundscape using only their bodies and the floor they are sitting on. Have students sit in a circle, and then have students begin the following movements going around the circle. Each student starts after the person beside them. In order, students should:

1. rub the carpet with their hands
2. click their fingers
3. clap their hands
4. slap their thighs.

Interactive teaching:
Whole-class activity and discussion

Whole-class activity
Repeat this process backwards until finally there is no noise. Ask the students if the noises sounded like anything they know. They should indicate rain and then a storm. Students are asked what other objects from around the classroom could be used to create different sounds.

Direct teaching:
Explicit teaching

Body of lesson
Discuss with students the microphone in the iPad, including what kind of sound it captures as well as where it is located.

iPad

Interactive teaching:
Whole-class discussion

Show students a range of different professional microphones including lapel, handheld and boom microphones. Ask students where they might have seen these before and what they think they might be used for. Students may indicate: at school assembly, on television shows, on music videos. Explain the use of each of the microphones.
Note: the use of real-life microphones here is desirable, so the students can physically hold them. However, if real-life examples are not available, photographs or sections of video where the microphones are used will suffice.

A range of different microphones (lapel, handheld, boom). Images of these to be projected at the front of the room if physical microphones are not available

Interactive teaching:
Peer partner learning
Indirect teaching:
Independent learning

Students experiment with recording the sounds for their ebook. These can be real-life sounds, sounds made using other objects around the classroom that students use to re-create other sounds (Foley sound), or they can be the student reading parts of their story. Students need to consider background noise, such as noise coming from the wind or other students, when deciding where in the room or outside to record.

Storybook templates

Classroom objects to make sounds

Direct teaching:
Explicit teaching

Demonstrate how to add these sounds to the ebook project.

Interactive teaching:
Whole-class discussion

Closing the lesson
Have students share some of the difficulties they faced when recording their sound. What worked well for them? What would they like to do next time?