Reporting and Recreating History through Photostory

How to make a movie on Photostory3 - http://download.cnet.com/Photo-Story-3-for-Windows/3000-12511_4-10339154.html

Photostory3 for Windows is a software that can be downloaded and help you create your own slideshow to make a movie out of your pictures. The website above is available for any one to download. The program makes it easy to import and export pictures and organize your work while you process through it. To start when your window pops up you just begin with start new story and hit next. This program will be a fun way for students to be able to get creative and make history come alive, through pictures and video. It also allows the students to play with one another's presentations after their videos are posted. They will be able to explore everyone else's projects and learn from each other. The program itself lays out every part and step of creating a video which makes it very easy to use for all ages. It allows students to be much more on their own and learning each step on their own. http://www.jakesonline.org/photostory.htm This link is for a video tutorial available to watch to learn how to use the program, it was provided by a fellow teacher. 

Some examples of how this can be used in the classroom include:

1.) Students can recreate an event in history by recreating their own interpretations of one particular event and then post to photostory and share with one another. 

2.) Another idea is that a teacher can create a review for an entire unit, similar to a PowerPoint, but created with the teachers own picture choices. The whole video could be filled with clues as to what event it is and then at the end of the video the students can try and guess what event it is in order to review for a test and to make sure they know and understand that unit. 

3.) One other idea for this to be used in a classroom, would be to go on a field trip and while on that field trip have students take pictures of everything they can. Then once back to school the next day they will have to recreate their trip with the pictures and place them in chronological order. 

Using Photostory

Lots of other examples are available at these websites:

This website includes a blog of teachers that have given examples of how to incorporate this program in the classroom. It has  ideas for lessons, projects, adventures and more. It is mainly specific towards historical lessons but they can be manipulated into other subjects very easily. http://21stcenturyteaching.pbworks.com/w/page/833439/Ideas%20for%20Photostory%203%20Projects

This site is also a blog type page where teachers can interact and discuss different ways to use this particular program. There are blogs throughout the main website for several different programs but this one is specifically for photostory. http://www.classroom20.com/group/usingphotostoryintheclassroom

This is actually a photostory video used to describe a lesson idea for using photostory and audacity. http://www.slideshare.net/lisashusband/audacity-and-photo-story-in-the-classroom

This is a lesson plan based on photostory and the lesson includes creating a family tree using this program. Its a very easy and basic lesson but would be fun for younger grade levels. http://lessonplanspage.com/SSCIFamilyTreePhotoStoryMO.htm/

This site provides the links to multiple lessons with this program. This gives a lot of options for using the program and it provides links to websites that students can use as sources for creating their photostory with each lesson. http://www.staff.olympia.org/external/OHSLibrary/photostorylessonplans.html

Just a little more...

Historical Activity;

1) Students will have a quick lesson of how to use photostory3 and what ways it works best

2) Students will break up into groups then pick an event in American History and do their own broadcast of it using pictures of them reporting it to make their own story.

3) In their groups students must each have a speaking line and work together to get their photostory complete.

4) Once students are finished they will go back and edit their work 

5) Once all students have finished their photostory, they will then share their photostory and event with the entire class.