Tibbott Filmmakers Show Off Their Work at Special Ceremonies

Photo: With Paparazzi eagerly snapping photos, Tibbott Elementary School fourth-grader Kalik Thompson and his classmates make their way down the Red Carpet en route to the premier of short “films” they each produced as a class project. Credit: VVSD.

Submitted by Valley View School District:

Decked out in their best outfits, more than two dozen novice fourth-grade filmmakers walked the Red Carpet Tuesday on the way to the Tibbott Elementary School debut of “movies” they each produced on their own.

“It started out as a research project on states,” said Tibbott 4th grade teacher Kelly Wolf. “But we wanted to find a way to make it more interactive.”

Wolf and Tibbott Library Media Center Director Erin Preder, who is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to technology, put their heads together and came up with a project through a free web-based service called PowToon.

Each student chose a state in the United States, researched five facts about the state and then used PowToon to design and produce a 7 slide “movie.” They chose their own fonts, graphics, animations and background music.

On Tuesday, with 5th grade “Cool Cats” serving as Paparazzi, Ms. Wolf’s dressed-up 4th graders walked into the library on a red carpet, grabbed some popcorn, sat down and watched as each student’s “movie” was shown, received a “Tiger Award” for their efforts, and submitted two facts they learned about other states that will be used in a future trivia quiz for other Tibbott students.

“What’s so great about technology is it gives the quietest kids a voice,” said Preder, who asked each student filmmaker to sit on a chair beside the Smart Board without having to say anything as his or her film was being shown. “Every kid got a chance to shine because their words were up there for everyone to see.”

“They had fun with it and they learned a lot of new things,” Ms. Wolf said.