Silly Animal Stories

I. Briefly review the project proposal form. Discuss the project theme, outline and time line; review the project and curriculum objectives.

This project was developed by our Kindergarten/Grade 1 teacher - Mrs. Donna Brake with the help of Art Technology 1201 students Edith Butler and Tamara Snook.

The project involved developing "silly" animals from two known animals. The students (in partners) were asked to choose two animals and then do some simple research using the CD ROM encyclopedia (Encarta 99). After reading about their animals they decided how to put the animals together and then give them a name (example: dog and cat became dat). The students were then asked to draw or find pictures of the animals and color them. Next they had to write a story about their silly animal. These stories were read and edited by older students along with the K-1 children. Then these completed stories were typed using Netscape Composer. After this the technology students took over and showed the K/1 students how to scan their pictures, color them using MSPaint and how to create simple animation using WebPainter.

Timeline: This project took about 4 weeks to complete.

Language Arts Objectives:

• Editing
• Writing (Story)
• Sentence Structure
• Punctuation
• Spelling
• Educational Use of Computers
• Art

II. Show the audience the outcome of the project proposal.

Results and a tour of the project can be seen at: http://www.k12.nf.ca/jakeman/crazyanimal/kgwp.htm

III. Briefly comment on any successes or problems that were encountered throughout the life of the project.

The children totally enjoyed this project. It enabled them to see computers as an educational tool. Parents were invited to come along to see the web site. A digital camera was used to take pictures of the children working on the site and placed on the local cable channel.