Tool Factory/Olympus Classroom Grants Details

The Fall 2006 Classroom Grant judging is completed! Congratulations to ten lucky winners who will each receive over $3,700 in prizes. Click here to see the applications from the runner-up finalists!

Here are the grant applications of our five Grand Prize winning teachers.

Score: 4.93 out of 5.00
Karen Grindall, Portage Path Elementary

55 South Portage Path, Akron, OH 44303, 330-761-2795 kgrindal@neo.rr.com

LESSON TITLE: BACK IN TIME-BRINGING IT TO THE FUTURE

Portage Path Elementary School celebrates its 99th birthday this year - a school that replaced a former two room schoolhouse on an historic trail that Native American created to portage their canoes between two major waterways. As we prepare for our 99th birthday we are also working with the architects to design the new school that will be built next year on the same site to replace the one that has had it’s years of wear and tear. Over the past 15 years, every 5 years, we have been working with a small group of our first and fifth grade students to gather oral histories of what life was like at Portage Path through the years. We began then, knowing that we had to gather stories of those who were aging and would not be with us when we reached the 100th year. We invited and interviewed people mainly who attended school there in the 1908 through 1940 range. They brought us pictures and we scanned them as we could. They brought us letter sweaters and autograph books they kept and wanted to pass back to our archive.

Now as we prepare for designing the new school we are also working with the architects to preserve terrazzo tiles, sculptures on the building of the Indians who trailed by, warn marble steps and some of the brass doorknobs. We have a well know American metal sculptor, Don Drumm, who lives a block from school, working with us on fitting the old recovered pieces of the school into the new so many former students talk about special places in the new building.

With the Olympus grant we will again work with our first and fifth grade classes (we are buddy classes) to bring the oral history test and photos to the new building. We will:
1. have students take photos with the DIGITAL CAMERAS of each class as it is today and with using podcasting we will create our historical section of our school on our school web site
2. have students scan additional photos we have received and using TOOL FACTORY WORKSHOP create additional photos for the web page
3. have students these same photos and using TOOL FACTORY WORKSHOP WORD PROCESSING write strong narratives from the notes they take while interviewing past students
4. have students take the past oral histories and “polish” them up with TOOL FACTORY WORKSHOP WORD PROCESSING to prepare the narrative to go on the web page with the picture
5. send news releases again requesting additional past “graduates” to come and be interviewed, photographed with DIGITAL CAMERAS and share their memorabilia with the students
6. have students catch many candid learning shots (during this school year) with the DIGITAL CAMERAS and then using TOOL FACTORY WORKSHOP prepare them to be made into banners to hang in the new school
7. have students select what they consider the best photos taken with the DIGITAL CAMERAS and oral histories and then using TOOL FACTORY WORKSHOP create collages of past and present to be framed and hung in the new school
8. have students prepare their own movie of all of our collections of DIGITAL photos, video interviews and words that will be presented at a 99th birthday party (in the past we had big celebration parties at 85th and 90th)
9. have students in the next class take the pictures of the school as it is being razed and rebuilt with the DIGITAL CAMERAS and document with TOOL FACTORY WORKSHOP write what is going on, again to be at on our web page
10. have students interview, write into a narrative using TOOL FACTORY WORKSHOP and photograph the artists we have engaged to bring the past physical parts and pieces of the building (tile, sculpture, marble) and incorporate them into the new building to give it a warm sense of home
11. have students when the building is complete add on to the movie created by students this years to create a DVD for those that want one (as a fundraiser to continue to add items to make the new building feel like home)
12. have students continuously add their written work and photos taken with the DIGITAL CAMERA to the web page so the story is told in many mediums

BACK IN TIME-BRINGING IT TO THE FUTURE promotes in young children:
1. a strong sense of history and appreciation for the past
2. a real reason to photograph and write in narrative what real people have to say
3. an understanding of how people of all ages play an important role in our community
4. an understanding that sustainability (blending the old into the new through reuse) is a viable way to live – so often our children of today are taught to throw something away if you are getting new
5. how to tell a story – in words, in banners, in framed photos and narratives and on the web in words, pictures and podcasted recordings
6. how to work as a team
7. thinking skills, sense of time, discovery,
8. how to teach from fifth grader to first grader (we use this process between our classes on some project every year)

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Banners made from pictures to be hung in new school
$200
Framing of collage pictures to be hung in new school $200
Memory cards (3) $ 50
Battery Charger and Batteries $ 50

Judges' Comments:

"Digital storytelling, podcasting, art, and interviews are powerful learning opportunities!"

"GREAT project...something that the entire community will be able to share."

Score: 4.75 out of 5.00
Tunisha Peterson, Bethune-Bowman Middle/High

4857 Charleston Hwy., Rowesville, SC 29133, 803-516-6011 ext. 7553 tbp17@orangeburg5.k12.sc.us

LESSON TITLE: No Theme Left Behind!
This project will serve approximately 125 students in grades 9-12 who are enrolled in the Multimedia Telecommunications, Art I-II, and Food and Nutrition courses. These students will create a catering business, various printed materials and videos. They will gain hands-on experience for the real world.

They will work in groups of four or five to create various publications using TOOL FACTORY WORD PROCESSOR. Students will select various themes and create magazines, brochures, videos, and slide presentations. Each class will have one hundred or more recipes to categorize according to food type. TOOL FACTORY DATABASE will help students quickly search and sort through the large amount of recipes. As each group prepares for their theme, they will take photographs using DIGITAL CAMERAS. Photographs will be for clear and accurate instructions from shopping to food preparation, and final presentations. All images will then be loaded into the DATABASE for inclusion in the other projects.

As the projects are occurring students will use MULTIMEDEA LAB V/TOOL FACTORY WORD PROCESSOR to create their business packages (logo, slogan, letterhead, etc…), theme menus, invitations, decorations, and a slide presentation of their foods.

The students will select recipes for appetizers, side dishes, main dishes, breads, desserts, and drinks to prepare. Each group will also create a script to videos for commercials advertisements and their cooking shows.

Ongoing projects will include a Theme Party Magazine. Each group will write, edit and publish a magazine based on their theme using MULTIMEDEA LAB V/TOOL FACTORY WORD PROCESSOR. Magazines will include recipes, vocabulary, decoration ideas, images, shopping list and a suggested budget.

The culminating project for No Theme Left Behind will be a Theme Meal/Multicultural Fair. Students will prepare and display their recipes from their magazines. All classes will create a cookbook integrating all themes, recipes, and images. Specific vocabulary terms, shopping lists, and budgets will also be listed in the cookbooks appendix. All students will receive a copy of the books on CD. Cookbooks and magazines will also be on display at the fair for parents, students, and community to purchase in print or on CD/DVD. TOOL FACTORY SPREEDSHEET will be used to manage all budgets and profits made form sales.

Persons who wish to have a theme party catered by the students can make arrangement for booking a party.

This grant grant will follow the South Carolina Curriculum Standards for Visual Art and Food and Nutrition, as well as the National Educational Technology Standards.

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BUDGET:
2 HP Office Paper $ 38.00 $ 76.00
2 HP office Paper 11x17 $ 10.00 $ 20.00
4 Blk Ink Cartridges $ 20.00 $ 80.00
4 Color Ink Cartridges $ 22.00 $ 88.00
1 Binding System $ 90.00 $ 90.00
1 Zipbind Spines $ 46.00 $ 46.00
1 DVD-R $ 40.00 $ 40.00
2 CD-R $ 30.00 $ 60.00
Total $ 500.00

Judges' Comments:

"I like the integration across the curriculum. This sounds like a "fun" education!"

"Unique way of incorporating all the software into a project that has a real world basis."

"This sounds like a great project, very different from the others."

Score: 4.58 out of 5.00
Anna Andrews, American School for the Deaf

139 North Main St., West Hartford, CT 06107 (860)570-2340 anna.andrews@asd-1817.org

LESSON TITLE: Bonjour Paris!
Bonjour! High School students at the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford, CT have a wonderful opportunity to learn about French language and culture through an exchange program with the Institut National de Jeunes Sourds, a school for deaf students in Paris. Students at each school take classes in the language and culture of their “sister” school and each year, one school group travels to visit the other on an alternating basis. Penpals are set up early in the year so that students have a real connection to each other before they meet. During their visit, they have the opportunity to spend one weekend at the home of their penpals to see family life in an authentic setting. What makes the program unique is that students learn not only the written language of the other country, but also its sign language. They learn about each country’s mainstream culture as well as the sub-culture of the deaf community.

The Project

Using TOOL FACTORY WORD PROCESSOR and THE INCREDIBLE E-MAILER, students will write letters to their penpals. Students will also use the word processing software to create a guidebook for their trip to Paris before they leave.

DIGITAL CAMERAS will be used to document the trip. Each student will create a personal photo album and contribute to a collective album for the classroom.

TOOL FACTORY SPREADSHEET will be used to keep a record of fundraising efforts before the trip as well as expenses incurred in traveling.

The VIDEO function on the cameras will be used to capture French sign language which will be discussed later in the classroom in a comparative language study. TOOL FACTORY DATABASE will be used to collect clips of French signs, and students will create a French/English sign language dictionary.

Using MULTIMEDIA LAB V, students will prepare a presentation about their experiences abroad foryuio the rest of the student body when they return.

Students will also create a website about their experiences using TOOL FACTORY HOME PAGE. The website will provide links to the school in Paris as well as allow French students to post information about their trip to the U.S. – a truly multi-lingual site with written French, written English, French sign language (LSF) and American Sign Language (ASL).

For almost 20 years, the exchange program between ASD and INJS has provided an opportunity for students and staff on both sides of the Atlantic to share each other’s language and culture. With the technology available through this grant, they can now better preserve what they’ve learned and share it with the world. Bon Voyage!

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BUDGET:
3 Olympus Digital Camera Starter Kits (case, batteries with charger, table top tripod) @ $39.99 = $119.97
3 memory cards @ $30.00 = $120.00
1 HP Photosmart C4180 All-in-One Color Printer = $149.00
3 Color Ink Cartridges @ $19.99 = $59.97
3 Boxes Photo Paper @ $16.99 = $50.97
TOTAL = $499.91

Judges' Comments:

"Great use of database and video capability of digital cameras."

"What a fun project!! and also great integration of technology and sign language."

Score: 4.43 out of 5.00

Kathy Uy, St. John Vianney Parish School

17500 West Gebhardt Road, Brookfield, WI 53045 262-796-3942 kathyuy@wi.rr.com

LESSON TITLE: Vamos A Viajar
The world around us is full of diversity, culture and history. As our young adults begin to discover the world around them, Vamos A Viajar will encourage interest and excitement in various cities while recognizing subtle differences in cultural norms. While Spanish is taught as part of the curriculum at St. John Vianney School, our students may not recognize the subtle cultural differences when speaking the language in Central and South American cities/countries. Vamos A Viajar will increase awareness of cultural and oral diversity, uniqueness of each community, and allow students to share their newfound knowledge with other students, parents and the community at large. We are very excited to embark on this new venture together.

The 7th & 8th grade students at St. John Vianney School will benefit from using an Olympus digital camera and Tool Factory software as they create “Vamos a Viajar” a one-minute commercial video and travel brochure encouraging travel to a Spanish speaking city/country. The curriculum for this project will include course work from language arts (English), Spanish, social studies, technology, music and art. The final project will be available for students, parents, and community to view on a website to be created by students.

Each advertisement will have digitally filmed live action, a slide show of the destination, graphics, charts, props, and an accompanying travel brochure to represent the chosen city/country.

Student teams will begin Vamos A Viajar by contacting the embassy of the city/country they are researching. Students will request tourist information, safety concerns and cultural events to include in the commercial.

Student teams will create a travel brochure using TOOL FACTORY WORKSHOP WORD PROCESSING and WHOLE CLASS FRESCO. The travel brochure will offer recommended places to stay, attractions, cultural highlights, and helpful hints travelers need to know to increase the safety and quality of the vacation. Travel tips may include basic Spanish vocabulary, proper verbal and body language to use when greeting natives, and dining etiquette. WHOLE CLASS FRESCO will be used to incorporate bright and colorful pictures of people or recommended places mentioned in the brochure.

Each team will use TOOL FACTORY WORKSHOP WORD PROCESSING to make a timeline for the commercial. They will be asked to include popular locations, history, music, food, geography, the flag and culture. They will plan graphs, charts, and handouts they will need during this phase.

Next, using TOOL FACTORY WORKSHOP PAINT PROGRAM the team will create simple story boards to plan the sequencing of their advertisement. Students will visually organize the sequence of the commercial. This phase will identify the digital photos and physical items teams need to collect. Organizing the commercial will assist students with focus and position of the video camera for each shot.

When the story board is completed, students will create components in TOOL FACTORY WORKSHOP to use in their ads. Classroom time in social studies, science, and math will allow students to create graphs and charts regarding population, foods, geography, economy, industry, etc.

In Art class, students will paint a mural backdrop of the location of the chosen city/country. Students will create props (paper mache food, clay souvenirs, etc) to be used in their commercial. Using an OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA, students will take pictures of the backdrop, props and of themselves “touring”. Using MULTIMEDIA LAB V, students will collage images into the location to be used for the slide show portion of the advertisement. Students will use an OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA to photograph items in their surroundings that might represent the city/country, for example plantains at the grocery store, tropical flowers at a shop, decorations at a Mexican/Spanish restaurant, musical instruments, etc to enhance the slide-show.

In language arts/English, the team will compose a script for the commercial advertising their assigned city/country. Students will research the internet to access the city/country website. Using TOOL FACTORY WORKSHOP students will create the script and highlight speaking lines for individual actors, actresses, and narrator. The one minute spot will include climate, tourist attractions, and cultural points of interest, currency and modes of transportation. The conclusion of the script will encourage prospective travelers to visit the school website (vamosaviajar.sjv) to request a free brochure about the city/country. After the scripts are written, students will edit materials to ensure they are within the time limit.

In music class, students will add the element of native music to the introduction and closing of the script.

In technology, students will film the commercial with an OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA. Final editing of the commercial will occur in TOOL FACTORY WORKSHOP to put the final touches on the commercial and each Vamos A Viajar destination will be saved on CD.

Students will then use TOOL FACTORY HOME PAGE to upload their commercial onto the vamosaviajar.sjv website for the community to view.

St. John Vianney is very excited to introduce Vamos A Viajar to the junior high students and work with them as they learn about respective countries/cities. The teachers are eager to learn new software and share it with all 514 students at St. John Vianney School. We hope you are as excited about this project as we are!

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3 Memory cards (100G) $100 each = $300
1 terra cotta clay 25 lbs
Plus shipping/handling $100
1 printer ink cartridge $50
1 photolight stand w/light $55
Additional supplies for Vamos a Viajar will be provided by St. John Vianney School.

Judges' Comments:

"I work in an Elementary Arts & Technology Academy and I think this project is a wonderful way to integrate across the curriculum."

"Building global awareness and cultural connections for middle school students through digital projects and arts/humanities/drama opportunities is awesome!"

Score: 4.39 out of 5.00

Alvalene Rogers, C E Murray High School

222 C E Murray Blvd., P O Box 188, Greeleyville, SC 29056 843-426-2121 arogers@wcsd.k12.sc.us

LESSON TITLE: The Many Faces of Greeleyville

Family is very important to me. My happiest memories of growing up are of me spending time with my parents and my grandparents and listening to their stories (which were all rich with history and traditions and always taught a lesson). As a teacher, I always use stories in my lessons. I want my students to develop a passion for family and knowing their heritage and its importance on their own development. I would like to use this project to help my students develop a deeper appreciation for their culture and heritage.

The students will work in teams of three or four people based on hometown locality. The project will begin with each student taking a Family History quiz. Each team member will gather favorite family recipes, record local traditions and/or legends, holiday celebrations, local fables and stories, and historical community facts.

Students will use tape and digital recorders to record their conversations as they speak with family and community members to gather information.

Using TOOL FACTORY WORD PROCESSOR, the students will type all recipes and type reports regarding traditions, celebrations, history and local fables and stories. Using TOOL FACTORY DATABASE, the class will create a database recording the people and events that the students regard as significant in their community. Students will use the TOOL FACTORY PAINT and FRESCO to illustrate all the reports and stories. Students will use the digital cameras to take photographs of all persons supplying information and recipes. Students will also photograph sites in the community, actual celebrations and photograph actual dishes prepared by family and community members.

The project will come together in the form of a book, The Many Faces of Greeleyville. The book will be created and illustrated by using Tool Factory Workshop and Whole Class Fresco. Phase two will involve students creating a presentation using MultiMedia Lab V. Also using MultiMedia Lab V, they will create a trivia game about their community. The presentation will be created to include links for every recipe, tradition and historical fact including pictures of the community members and sites.

Using the video function of the digital camera, students will film a documentary that can be shown at PTA meetings and community functions. The documentary will consist of clips from every aspect of the project including interviews of community members and family describing the community history, actual preparation of recipes and actual family celebration. Students will include footage of the class actually working on the project.

Each student and the oldest member of each community will receive a complimentary bound copy of the book and the presentation on DVD. The book and DVD will also be available for sale and the proceeds of the sale will allow the project to be continued adding more recipes and more interviews each year.

Students will use TOOL FACTORY HOME PAGE to build a website about their home town and the project.

The project will promote cultural awareness and pride. It will allow students to be creative, use their organizational skills and work on cooperative learning and teamwork skills. It will give them the opportunity to work on both their hard and soft skills.

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3 Camera Bags $60

3 Memory Cards $90

Spindle of CDs $25

Spindle of DVDs $30

Color Ink $80

Black Ink $50

Sheet Protectors $20

Photo Paper $50

Audio Cassettes $20

Tripod $20

Paper $100

Total $545
*Teacher will cover the cost of anything not covered by the grant