FLIP Camera + 8 year old, part 2 ---> Incorporating Story

In my previous post, I sent my son on a Geometry Hunt. (see post) After hearing Jason Ohler and Daniel Pink speak at PETE&C, my new challenge to myself is to find a way to incorporate "story" into my students' school experiences.

If you have not yet seen The Greedy Triangle, by Marilyn Burns, I highly recommend you get your hands on a copy. The main character, a triangle, has grown very dissatisfied with his life. It is boring to only have three sides and three angles, so he goes to the Shapeshifter time and again to get just one more side and one more angle. The reader follows the triangle through his adventures as a quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, and on and on! With each transformation, the triangle discovers different activities. For example, as a pentagon he was privy to top-secret information, but he couldn't share with his friends. While this book is excellent for reviewing and/or reinforcing many common polygons, it is also a story about being happy with yourself.

So, using The Greedy Triangle as a springboard or model, I could have students incorporate digital storytelling with the treasure hunt. Let the planning begin!

Additional Academic Standards Addressed:
1.4. Types of Writing
1.4.3 GRADE 3
A. Write narrative pieces (e.g., stories, poems, plays).
Include detailed descriptions of people, places and things.
Use relevant illustrations.
Include literary elements.

Write with a sharp, distinct focus identifying topic, task and audience.


1.5 Quality of Writing
1.5.3 Grade 3
Write using well-developed content appropriate for the topic.
Gather and organize information.
Write a series of related sentences or paragraphs with one central idea.
Incorporate details relevant and appropriate to the topic.

Write with controlled and/or subtle organization.
Sustain a logical order.
Include a recognizable beginning, middle and end.

Write with an awareness of the stylistic aspects of composition.
Use sentences of differing lengths and complexities.
Use descriptive words and action verbs.

Revise writing to improve detail and order by identifying missing information and determining whether ideas follow logically.

Edit writing using the conventions of language.
Spell common, frequently used words correctly.
Use capital letters correctly (first word in sentences, proper nouns, pronoun "I").
Punctuate correctly (periods, exclamation points, question marks, commas in a series).
Use nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and conjunctions properly.
Use complete sentences (simple, compound, declarative, interrogative, exclamatory and imperative).

Present and/or defend written work for publication when appropriate.