MORAVIA - Sitting around a small silver laptop in Chris Rice's fourth-grade classroom, a group of students watches a video clip they filmed in a local cemetery. Suddenly the picture turns black and white, and as the frame fills with fog, the room fills with mutterings of "wow" and "that's cool."
"It's like watching a horror story with the fog creeping in, and then 'boom'," fourth-grader Eugene Allen says as he watches the gray fog turn into black smoke.
This group of fourth-graders, joined by other Millard Fillmore Elementary School students involved in the school's gateway program, are learning how to add special effects to their film project. They have been meeting once a week since December to explore Moravia's turn-of-the-century boomtown history in order to create an original play and DVD documentary.
After receiving a grant from the New York State Council of the Arts and Partnership for Arts Education, Rice began working with art teacher Pat Kinney and music coordinator Denise Abbattista to tie local history to other subjects for a whole new way of learning.
"This project demonstrates the integration of the arts, theater, music and visual, with history and social studies," Kinney said. "And by having Chris's kids who have done a similar project before work alongside the gateway kids, you are creating a peer education system."
Rice's class helped produce a play that was performed in November and the project is now in its second phase - the DVD. The production will contain original music and student created-sets, as well as behind-the-scenes footage of what the students did.
"Every part of this is done by the kids," Kinney said. "Set, stage crew, the acting, writing and music, it's all them."
For both the students and the staff, the film production portion of the project is all new. The school has brought on board Ginny Riscio, a retired audio-visual specialist in the district, and Tom Hoebbel, a commercial photographer, to help teach and assist the kids with the documentary. Students have not only been learning how to add special effects to their slides, but have been learning how to use all of the equipment, including cameras, computers and tripods.
"This is a very hands-on project, I just try to talk them through it," Hoebbel said. "The kids really do it all themselves; I just help them put their ideas in order."
Hoebbel drives into the district once a week with wife, Holly Adams, who has been teaching the students acting and script-writing skills. Hoebbel not only provides the children with the equipment needed to work on their projects, but he also allows them to formulate how they want the film to turn out.
Students are responsible for filming old buildings and historic sites, as well as conducting interviews with their classmates and drawing story boards to organize the documentary.
"We do a lot of stuff, but what we learn and do is great," sixth-grader Zach Slater said. "I just really hope no fingers got in the way of the camera; that would really stink seeing shots of fingers."
For the students involved, the project is more than a lesson in technology and history. It also incorporates a number of other everyday subjects. While students are now broken into groups where they focus on their section of the show, in the beginning everyone was given the opportunity to try everything - from filming to stage crew.
"They are using mathematical skills, researching, literary skills, writing skills and so many others," said Ruscio, who works with Hoebbel on the DVD. "It integrates every subject they are covering in their classes into one well-rounded project."
Though the production is still a work in progress, students are gearing up for the grand showing of both their play and documentary later this year.
"This kids are learning everything needs to have a beginning, a middle and an end," Hoebbel said. "This is giving them a huge head start on so many other skills. Even if they never pick up another camera, they'll at least know how to format an essay."
Staff writer Ashley Lipsky can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 235
or ashley.lipsky@lee.net
This group of fourth-graders, joined by other Millard Fillmore Elementary School students involved in the school's gateway program, are learning how to add special effects to their film project. They have been meeting once a week since December to explore Moravia's turn-of-the-century boomtown history in order to create an original play and DVD documentary.
After receiving a grant from the New York State Council of the Arts and Partnership for Arts Education, Rice began working with art teacher Pat Kinney and music coordinator Denise Abbattista to tie local history to other subjects for a whole new way of learning.
"This project demonstrates the integration of the arts, theater, music and visual, with history and social studies," Kinney said. "And by having Chris's kids who have done a similar project before work alongside the gateway kids, you are creating a peer education system."
Rice's class helped produce a play that was performed in November and the project is now in its second phase - the DVD. The production will contain original music and student created-sets, as well as behind-the-scenes footage of what the students did.
"Every part of this is done by the kids," Kinney said. "Set, stage crew, the acting, writing and music, it's all them."
For both the students and the staff, the film production portion of the project is all new. The school has brought on board Ginny Riscio, a retired audio-visual specialist in the district, and Tom Hoebbel, a commercial photographer, to help teach and assist the kids with the documentary. Students have not only been learning how to add special effects to their slides, but have been learning how to use all of the equipment, including cameras, computers and tripods.
"This is a very hands-on project, I just try to talk them through it," Hoebbel said. "The kids really do it all themselves; I just help them put their ideas in order."
Hoebbel drives into the district once a week with wife, Holly Adams, who has been teaching the students acting and script-writing skills. Hoebbel not only provides the children with the equipment needed to work on their projects, but he also allows them to formulate how they want the film to turn out.
Students are responsible for filming old buildings and historic sites, as well as conducting interviews with their classmates and drawing story boards to organize the documentary.
"We do a lot of stuff, but what we learn and do is great," sixth-grader Zach Slater said. "I just really hope no fingers got in the way of the camera; that would really stink seeing shots of fingers."
For the students involved, the project is more than a lesson in technology and history. It also incorporates a number of other everyday subjects. While students are now broken into groups where they focus on their section of the show, in the beginning everyone was given the opportunity to try everything - from filming to stage crew.
"They are using mathematical skills, researching, literary skills, writing skills and so many others," said Ruscio, who works with Hoebbel on the DVD. "It integrates every subject they are covering in their classes into one well-rounded project."
Though the production is still a work in progress, students are gearing up for the grand showing of both their play and documentary later this year.
"This kids are learning everything needs to have a beginning, a middle and an end," Hoebbel said. "This is giving them a huge head start on so many other skills. Even if they never pick up another camera, they'll at least know how to format an essay."
Staff writer Ashley Lipsky can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 235
or ashley.lipsky@lee.net
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