Saturday morning means blog time!<\/p>\n
I have been reading “Learning to Love Math” by Judy Willis<\/a>. \u00a0I adore Judy Willis. \u00a0I had the opportunity to attend one of her workshops several years ago, and was completely inspired by her expertise in the brain and student learning. \u00a0(After all, she was a neurologist before<\/em> deciding to become a math teacher!) \u00a0Her quirky presentation style and overall excitement about how the brain learns mathematics has forever influenced my lesson planning.<\/p>\n One strategy she mentions is the idea of “advertising” for an upcoming math topic. \u00a0A great website to use to create movie-like trailers is ANIMOTO. \u00a0I adore ANIMOTO. \u00a0While not practical for note-taking or needs otherwise met by typical slideshow applications, ANIMOTO combines images, videos, music, and spiffy transitions to give a brief “wow factor” to motivate and spark curiosity in students.<\/p>\n Simply choose a math topic, use images and videos from ANIMOTO’S stock photos or use your own. \u00a0Upload the images, add text as you see fit, pick a soundtrack or use your own, and VOILA… the magic begins! \u00a0Within minutes, ANIMOTO works its magic to create an impressive presentation for you, taking care of all of the details! \u00a0Transitions are generated automatically to synchronize your images to the beat of the song. \u00a0Oh, and if you’re an educator, you can request an ANIMOTO PLUS<\/a> account for free!<\/p>\n Here’s a “trailer”<\/a> I created for 6th graders using images and a soundtrack from the ANIMOTO library. \u00a0There was plenty of toe tapping! \u00a0After showing the presentation, I asked students to write down three things they remembered from the “trailer.” \u00a0After a brief discussion to assess their prior knowledge of formulas, we watched the video again and began a lesson on applying formulas.<\/p>\n Another website that makes for great “advertising” is Xtranormal. \u00a0I adore Xtranormal. \u00a0“If you can type, you can make movies!” \u00a0Customize a cartoon for your needs by typing the script, and watch an impressive show unfold! \u00a0 I e-mailed support and asked if there were any freebies for educators, and received thousands of points in Xtranormal’s currency to create cartoons. \u00a0Here’s a sample from my collection<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n