Go Animate!

All Michigan third graders need to learn about real-world public issues that involve Michigan communities.  We also compare renewable and non-renewable resources in science.  I decided to combine the two as I was cramming us much as I possibly could into their little brains before our school year was to come to an end.  Surprisingly, it turned out to be one of the best lessons the kids experienced in my classroom.

We focused a lot of our non-fiction reading on wind energy and participated in many conversations about wind turbines.  After the students realized that the windiest part of our state is in Lake Michigan, we talked about the pros and cons of building a "wind farm" in the Great Lakes.  After recording sides and perspectives of many different types of citizens, the students needed to participate in a debate expressing the views of the opposing parties while thinking about the question, "Should we build a windfarm in Lake Michigan?".  I could have assigned the students a side and had the students come up to a podium and argue away, but I wanted to be a bit more creative than that.  I wanted them to be excited about their ideas and present them in a way that was interesting and meaningful to them.  I decided to use the app I had heard such wonderful things about - "Go Animate".

With Go Animate, students can pick their own avatar(s), type in text and create a short video of characters talking to each other.  We used the free version and I hope in the future my school district can think about purchasing the upgraded version. The kids were so excited to try it.  When it was time to create I looked around the room and the engagement I saw was crazy.  They loved the kid friendly avatars to choose from and especially enjoyed picking different voices with different accents.  They were disappointed when it was time to stop and get ready for home at the end of the day!

Here are two examples that I quickly videoed with my iphone: