This semester, 4th graders are building keynote presentations addressing regions of the USA and the indigenous populations that inhabited them before European colonialism. The kids have researched, written scripts and collected images (from CC sources of course) in order to put together truthful and compelling documentaries. This week we began constructing the slides in preparation for narration next week. Though I wanted to present the 10-20-30 rule (10 slides, 20 minutes, 30 point font) that I learned from Guy Kawasaki at NAIS 2 years ago, it seemed a little advanced. Therefore we focused on displaying images that match the script exactly. I prepared a minilesson that illustrated how the meaning of a documentary will come from the relationship between the images and the script. An image on it's own leaves lots to the imagination, a script on it's own can create an image in the mind, but is less universally accessible. The combination of a well written script complemented by carefully chosen images is simply a more powerful way of communicating. When students do this well, it's an expression of understanding. Isn't that why we teach?
