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For the third year in a row, Muggs Murphy's fifth grade Gifted &
Talented students have swept the Association of of Indiana Media
Educators (AIME) Commercial Authoring competition. And for three years
in a row, her students have used Inspiration to brainstorm, plan, and
organize their winning project!
Each year, students select a topic. . . this year it's Endangered
Animals. After the topic is selected, the class begins by using
Inspiration as a pre-planning tool. Teacher and students gather into a
large group to brainstorm, coming up with as many animals they can think
of that might be endangered. Using RapidFireTM,
one student quickly captures and records the other students' ideas:
gorilla, chinook salmon, and manatee get them started. When they finish
brainstorming, Mrs. Murphy prints out the Inspiration diagram and
displays it where the class can see it.
Next, students begin doing preliminary research to determine which
animals are endangered. Using Inspiration's color palettes, the class
changes colors to highlight two groups: those animals they find to be
endangered and those they still aren't sure of. They continue their
research until they have narrowed the list down to only those animals
they know are endangered. They again print out their web and display it
on a classroom wall. Over the next day or two, students select the
animal they want to focus on by signing their name on the Inspiration
web. (Story continues below diagram.)
This was the handiest part for me as a teacher, Mrs. Murphy reports. The
kids, on their own, choose an animal by signing their name and crossing
off the animal. It makes them the decision makers, not me. Now that the
first planning stage is done, students next turn to identify the main
areas they will research about each animal. Again using RapidFireTM
in a large group, the students choose Habitat, Animal Facts,
Prey-Predator, and What Can We Do?
These topics are moved into an Inspiration template that students
will use to organize their research. Each student now moves on to do
independent research, filling in the Inspiration template for their
individual animal. When the students finish their research, they convert
their researched information into HyperStudioŽ stacks, creating a large
multimedia presentation of all of the endangered animals.
This endangered animals presentation was entered into the AIME Media
Fair. First they competed at the District Level where they won First
Place in Commercial Authoring, earning them a spot to compete at the
State Level. The State Level competition was even stiffer, with fourteen
winning district groups from around Indiana competing. But Mrs. Murphy's
students, along with their Inspiration-planned multimedia project, took
home First Place!
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