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Grammarcise
Steven Balzarini
Michael Ferraro, Holmdel Intermediate School, Holmdel, New Jersey
Subject: Language Arts
Grades: 7-8
"This most prosaic and stultifying subject matter was made
palatable and even pleasurable. The students exhibited a growth
of grammatical knowledge between the pre- and post-tests, and
many remarked that it was the first time they really understood
some of the parts of speech."
Purpose and Description of Project
As part of their study of grammar, Steven Balzarini's and Michael
Ferraro's students conceptualized, planned story sequences, shot
slides, and recorded narration for a slide/tape presentation on
the eight parts of speech. Each visual vignette was to demonstrate
the grammatical element and then be included in a sentence. The
project was intended to help the students master basic grammatical
concepts and to create an audiovisual learning aid for others.
Activities
Ferraro first used a pretest to measure the students' knowledge
of parts of speech. Then small groups of students were each assigned
a part of speech to research and illustrate. The groups viewed
professional storyboards, learned the basic components of visual
presentation, and reviewed examples of effective visual communication;
then each group created its own storyboard. Balzarini demonstrated
such basic elements of photography as
camera
usage, composition,
and lighting; a "hands on" demonstration of cameras
and equipment followed. Students reviewed their storyboards and
assigned production team tasks-e.g., photographer, actor, prop
gatherer, graphics designer, and costumer. After Ferraro's approval
of the storyboards, Balzarini assisted the students as they shot
the slides for the final presentation; the students used original
costumes and backdrops, and selected "shooting locations"
all around the school. Each group sequenced its developed slides
and prepared an audio script; the audio tracks were recorded in
the Media Center. Individual segments as well as the entire program
were viewed by the groups and the class as a whole for purposes
of evaluation. Ferraro also administered a post-test to measure
increased knowledge.
Materials, Resources, and Expenses
Teachers, building support personnel, and the principal appeared
in the grammar vignettes. Equipment included 35 mm cameras, a camera
to shoot illustrations in books and magazines,
a slide projector/sorter to view and edit the slides, tape recorders,
copy stand, lights, flash attachment, strobe light, audio mixer,
and microphones. Although materials varied from group to group,
most students used Kodak slide film, light bulbs, cassette tapes,
lettering materials for titles and captions, TV storyboard pads,
and sample professional storyboards.
Outcomes and Adaptability
Balzarini and Ferraro comment that the use of photography heightened
students' interest, and they demonstrated greater visual awareness
and logical thinking in their storyboarding and visual composition.
Even the most lethargic students were motivated by this goal-directed
project and by the fact that it would be viewed by their peers.
The students also created an entertaining and educational audiovisual
product that was to be made available to the school district's
four library/media centers. The packaging of the slides and cassette
tapes made it very easy to share with teachers of fifth through
eighth graders. In fact, third and fourth-grade teachers had requested
to use the slides dealing with the parts of speech they would
be introducing. This approach could be applied to other areas
of language mechanics; Balzarini and Ferraro have already done
this for a unit on punctuation and plan to do the same for verb
completers. The teachers find the following features most transferable
to other settings: the student-centered approach to writing and
storyboarding, actual field work, editing, and student evaluation.