The hot, new release of Marcia and Marcelene Figueroa's new TRUE digital book is out on YouTube today!
The authors used Windows Movie Maker to upload drawings, photos and clip art to create the movie. They then used Microsoft Paint to make creative changes to the artwork. Mrs. Figueroa stated, "Windows Movie Maker is a wonderful program. I was able to explore and use my creative talents to create a project that combined both of our talents and can be used to teach other students about the joy of poetry and everyday events.I also tried Animoto but found the process too restrictive. My creative juices were controlled by another and the video could only be 30 seconds long." She listed some positives and negatives about the Windows Media Maker publishing process.
Positives:
- Easy to use
- Fun to create using your own photos and in conjunction with other programs
- audio insertion was well designed
- engaging to students
- create an authentic audience for young writers
- can be used to teach students how to visualize what they are reading
Negatives:
- The audio had to be done several times to get it right
- the movie maker accepted the 9 x 12 drawings but they did not reproduce as such. many frames were cut short.
- The story could not be directly uploaded to Mrs. Figueroa's website. She had to use a middle man, YouTube to get a URL.
- Uploading to YouTube required IT assistance
The total production time from inception to publication was approximately 6 years. The idea for the book occurred to Mrs. Figueroa and her then ten year old daughter during an eventful day at their home daycare. The book is a short poem created by Marcia and illustrated by Marcelene. Although they always planned to have it published, time and resources were not available.
When asked if they plan to create another book, they both replied in tandem, "Absolutely"!
I just loved your digital book (it's amazing!) and your writeup of the experience of making it is fabulous.
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