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A
Memorable Gift
Last summer, as a parting
gift to the children in my class, I gave each of them a CD-Rom containing a
simple electronic book, which we had made. It made a memorable gift and
provided plenty of learning for both the children and myself!
Every child had a page in the
book on which was their photograph, a self-portrait, a short piece of word
processing about themselves and a recording of themselves reading it. I
chose to use PowerPoint for the book as I was already familiar with it and I
wanted to give copies to parents.
Smile Please!
Why is it that it is always
the last 2 or 3 children who you have not yet photographed who will be away
the next day?
Using a digital camera does
let you see rapidly if you have got the shot you need but traditional
photographs could be scanned in and used. I tried to use a variety of
settings and backgrounds.
The Words
Each child worked with an
adult and wrote "I am …", adding a second, brief sentence saying
anything they chose about themselves. One afternoon, with most of the
children busy outside, I was able to have just a few at a time to make their
recordings in a quiet classroom. I used a simple, cheap headset with
microphone and the programme Sound Recorder which is on all PCs. (Start Ü
Programs Ü Accessories Ü Multimedia Ü Sound Recorder.) Make sure Sound
Recorder is set up to record at CD Quality by going into File, Properties
and then clicking on Convert Now in the Format Conversion section, and
selecting CD Quality.
Self-portraits
A graphics tablet (electronic
sketchpad) is such a worthwhile investment. Children who are wary of
computers can often thoroughly enjoy painting on one. It is possible to use
a mouse for drawing and the program Paint (Start Ü Programs Ü Accessories
Ü Paint.) but we all draw better with a pencil-like stylus and there are
some lovely, simplified painting programmes for youngsters such as Splosh or
Dabbler. Allow time for a scribbling period during which children experiment
with the different tools and just have fun.
Piecing it all together
Putting all these separate
elements together onto a child’s slide/page is time consuming! I showed
the children the progress of their book as it went along and gave them a
role as artistic directors.
These quotes illustrate the
positive response from parents on receipt of their copies and I certainly
intend to make more electronic books in the future:
"Molly
was really proud to show us the e-pandas presentation! A great idea, and
something to keep as a reminder of her first school year! Thank you."
"The electronic book was
a brilliant idea - Andrew has shown everyone!" |
