End of Year Project (125 Points Total)
Your end of year project is going to focus on you as a person today and on your experience here at St. Martin's. You will reflect on who you are and how your experience at St. Martin's has helped to shape you into that person as well how St. Martin's has helped prepare you for high school. You will be creating a chapter in an 8th Grade video. A "teaser" of this video will be shown as part of the Graduation Breakfast activities and each 8th Grader and your teachers will get a copy of the complete video. You will be using Google Docs for writing your script(s) and then you will be filmed delivering what you have to say.
Sign in to Google Classroom and open the End of Year Script assignment. Create a Google Doc on the assignment and open it. Here are some things to keep in mind:
- Your final video should be from 2-5 minutes long in total. People speak about 150 wpm so you can do the math. Your script is not done when you have the minimum word count. It is done when it says what it needs to say and ends strongly and meets at least the minimum word count.
- Start out strong and make sure you introduce yourself. Years from now when you or your classmates are watching this, you'll be glad everyone did.
- This isn't about just listing specific memories but about how your time at St. Martin's has helped to influence you as a student and as a person who will be successful in high school and beyond.
- You can and SHOULD include specific stories but this should not just be a list of favorite memories by grade or just things you will miss. Include these things but weave them into the story of how they have influenced you and will help you in high school and beyond.
- Be sure to include a powerful ending.
Part I - Who are you?
The first part of your script will be an introduction of YOU and who you are today. Defining who you are can be difficult so here are some ideas to get you started.This isn't an all inclusive list and you can add things to this to help define who you are today. You must include who you are today and more than just your name and age.
- Write a Portrait Poem (any format other than #4) either to use as your introduction or just to get you thinking. You don't have to use this in your final script but it can be a good way to get your thinking going.
- Then, start with the obvious:
- Are you a boy or a girl? You don't want to necessarily say this in your script but think about it as part of the "obvious".
- How old are you?
- Do you have any siblings?
- Who are your best friends at St. Martin's?
- How long have you attended St. Martin's?
- Which subjects are easy for you? Which are difficult? Has that changed over the years?
- Move on to the less obvious:
- What are you passionate about & why?
- What do you hope to become?
- What are you excited about as you leave St. Martin's and go to high school?
- What are you fearful of as you leave St. Martin's and go to high school?
Part II - How has St. Martin's helped to make you who you are?
Now that you have defined who you are, look at that and think about how your experience at St. Martin's has had a part in influencing who you are. Think about things like the following. You do not need to answer all of these questions and there may be other things you wish to talk about that aren't on the list. This list is just to get you thinking about the ways that St. Martin's might have influenced you and how your experience at St. Martin's will help you in the future. Make sure to include specific stories to truly make this about you and your experience.
- What are the things you will miss about St. Martin's next year?
- Who is your favorite teacher & how have they influenced you?
- Which other teachers or staff members have influenced you and how? It's a good idea to talk about all of your teachers (and nicely) because they will all get a copy of the video.
- What obstacles have you overcome during your years at St. Martin's?
- What is the best piece of advice that a St. Martin's teacher or staff member has ever given you?
- What are the things, the people, the events, etc. from your years at St. Martin's that will help insure that your high school years and beyond will be successful?
- If you haven't been at St. Martin's long, think about what you expected St. Martin's to be like and what it's really been like and write about that. Think about how you have already experienced a transition while your classmates might not have and use that in what you write.
- How will what you have learned at St. Martin's help you in high school?
Now that your script is written, it's "show time"! You will be filmed (preferably by a classmate but Mrs. Sedgwick or Mrs. Byrnes WILL do it if you cannot treat this seriously) delivering your script. You should do this with expression and you should not be looking down to read your script. This means that you will need to know your script or have some way of seeing it without looking down during the recording. You do not need to completely memorize your script but you need to make sure that you cover the main points that you have in it. If you are recording in the lab or somewhere you have a computer (or tablet) available that you can see, you could use EasyPrompter or CuePrompter as a teleprompter to scroll your script.
How and when you record is up to you but all recordings must be done and turned in by (and preferably before) May 26th.
- Recordings must be done horizontally - NO vertical videos!
- You can record at home and upload the video to your 8th Grade folder in Google Drive and then send Mrs. Sedgwick a message that you have done so at vsedgwick@stmartinsschool.org. If you do this, you must have a device capable of recording high quality video. Most current smart phones are capable of this as are newer cameras. Older cameras, phones and iPods (before 5th generation) do not record high enough quality.
- You can record at school during class. This will be done with a partner - 2 people at a time and no one will be partnered more than twice. You will go outside to a quiet, well lit area and record one another. This means that you will need to know your script because you (most likely) won't have it available for viewing. Avoid the fountain; it can be noisy. Make sure you record a short sample and watch it and listen to it before you record the whole thing to make sure that you can be heard.
- You can arrange to come in to the lab before school, after school, or during a study hall to be recorded in the lab. This will be done 1-2 people at a time and you can use a "teleprompter" if you film this way. The computers don't have much memory and can be "noisy" at times.
Create a title slide to go before your video using Google Presentation. To do this, you will sign in to Google Classroom and open the Title Slide assignment. On it you will find a Google Slides presentation. Open this and add a slide for your title slide. Your title slide should contain:
- Your favorite quote or a portion of your favorite lyrics. This must be from something appropriate for school - not just the portion you are using but the entire song, if using lyrics. You must include a credit on this or who said the quote or wrote the lyrics.
- A picture of you:
- Take a selfie with Mrs. S's phone or iPad OR have a friend take your photo
- Email Mrs. S. a selfie or other picture of you that you already have - send this to vsedgwick@stmartinsschool.org
- Draw a self-portrait
- Your name - it can be just your first name or could be your first & last name
There will be music at the start of the video, between each student's video, and at the end of the video. If there is time, you will be listening to options and suggesting your top 2 choices. The class will then listen to those that were suggested and vote on their favorites.
To suggest music options, go to Incompetech and find 2 choices that you would like. You can search by genre of music, by mood, etc. Find selections that will enhance the final video and then fill out the Music Suggestions Form with the ISRCs of your choices.