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= Inanimate Alice  tells the story of Alice, a young girl growing up in the first half of the 21st century, and her imaginary digital friend, Brad. =

This is the day-to-day journey of Shaun Wood and Team 17 as we explored the digital stories of Inanimate Alice. We have documented our learning along with the documents we used and photographs of our work. We hope that you can use our journey as a guide for your own.

//WALT: question texts as a reader. // We discussed the meaning of 'inanimate' which we thought the 'in' might mean an opposite or even part of something else. We thought 'animate' could be related to cartoons and animation. We then read the text of Inanimate Alice and in groups recorded our questions as we read through the story. All groups shared questions for our class questions and wondering shown below. Last term we learnt to question during reading and we are showing that we are becoming good asking them. 
 * Session 1: Monday - July **

//WALT: compare and contrast different literacy media as readers. // We discussed the meaning of the words of our WALT and thought of examples to describe them. We then watched Episode One: China as a class then again in our a groups along with the text version. In our groups we used T charts to compare and contrast the print and digital versions of Inanimate Alice. All students shared their ideas for our class comparison chart shown below. We all agreed that although we preferred the digital version, the print was still as we could visualise.
 * Session 2: Tuesday - July **

//WALT: recognise emotions and moods through text, images and music. // Today during reading we watched " Inanimate Alice, **Episode One: China" again in our groups. While we watched we created a feelings chart to try track how Alice was feeling on each page. Below is the Feeling Chart created by Kakariki <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal;"> literacy group. **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Wednesday - July **

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">**Session 3: Monday - July** //<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">WALT: identify the structures and features of narratives. // <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">We begun by reviewing what an 'Accountable Discussion' looked like and how we could use it to focus our group discussions. Once again all groups did excellent well thought recording in their group books and shared their ideas on our class review of what we expect from narratives and digital narratives. We tried to think of our own experiences as writers and discussed these questions: <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">What is a narrative text? What is digital fiction? How is a digital text different from a print text? What do they have in common? <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Then we watched Episode 2: Italy while thinking about the structures and features of narratives that we had recorded. <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">

//<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">WALT: to identify features interesting website may have. // <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">During our computer suite time we are learning to create websites for the TVNZ6 NETGUIDE SCHOOLS MULTIMEDIA CHALLENGE. We explored past winners to see what features their websites had. We also wondered what made the good ones so interesting. This is our brainstorm, we also thought that many of these features are the same as those we identified in Inanimate Alice.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Thursday - July **

//<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">WALT: use inference to help gather information. // <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">We started with students sharing what we had explored in yesterdays lesson for the students who were away. We recognised inference because we have been learning about that strategy in reading. In our groups we watched episodes 1 and 2 again and our purpose was to gather information to answer the questions below. Once again everyone shared their ideas which we collected onto the sheet below. We had some great discussions about whether Alice was living in Italy or on holiday their and had to explain what clues made us feel that way. <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">We thought that we had succeeded in using inference to help gather information.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">Session 4: Tuesday - July **
 * [[image:brs-team17/What_we_know_about_Alice.JPG height="510"]]Character Inference sheet by Saylor **

//<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">WALT: predict common narrative features in the next episode. // <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">We used AnswerGarden to brainstorm and share our prediction. <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">What do you predict will happen in Episode 3?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">Session 5a: Monday - August **

//<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">WALT: identify author's craft and intent. // <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">We tried to think as authors and identify the techniques, styles and strategies that the author uses to create the theme of Alice.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">Session 5b: Tuesday - July **

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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">After brainstorming what we knew and could infer about Alice, we drew a picture of what we though Alice looks like. We then each created a character description brainstorm. We studied character descriptions last term. media type="custom" key="7020461"
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px;">Friday - August **

//<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">WALT: to plot the main events of a story on a timeline. // <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">In our groups we watched Episode 3 again. We wanted to plot the main events of the story and see how this matched the *'tension' of the story. We also practiced spotting the parts of a narrative on our timeline worksheets. <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">* tension: we imagined tension like an elastic band. When the story gets exciting or scary we feel the tension as readers, like an elastic band ready to snap. //<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">There were some scary moments! // media type="custom" key="7020467"
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 17px;">Monday - August **

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Our class discussed some of the narrative styles and techniques that we had earlier identified as unique to 'Inanimate Alice.' We thought we would show our understanding of this style by writing an orientation for the next episode. We used a Voki to create an Alice avatar to read our text as the text is told from her point of view. (Orientation with thanks to Henrica.) media type="custom" key="7020471" media type="custom" key="7020469"
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 17px;">Monday - August **

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Today we had discussions about the groups we would be working in to create our own episode of Inanimate Alice. We brainstormed all the different things we would need to do to get to the end result of a new digital story about Alice.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 17px;">Session 5b: Tuesday - August **

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Students separated into four jigsaw groups to identify and analyse elements of Inanimate Alice. Each group discussed a specific literacy element and took notes. They then presented responses back to their home group.

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">- Text Structure: What is similar about the way the text is structured across all three episodes? <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">- Changes: What differences are there in three texts? Can you identify any patterns in these differences? <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">- Storyline: What elements/themes can you identify that are common to all three episodes? <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">- Author’s craft: What techniques and strategies has the author used to create this text?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;">Our Jigsaw Learning Elements **

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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Before watching episode 4 we did some prediction about what may happen. Each student added to our AnswerGarden brainstorm below. Then we watched Episode 4: Hometown.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 17px;">Wednesday - August **



<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">We watched Episode 4: Hometown in our groups again. This time we plotted the main events, structure, navigation and tension. We will use our knowledge to help us write our our episode.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 17px;">Thursday - August **

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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Today was exciting because we are finally beginning to plan and write our own Inanimate Alice episode 5. It will be in Samoa, where many of our students and whanau are from.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 17px;">Tuesday - August **

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">We brainstormed ideas in groups and used our previous timelines to help us plan ideas for Episode 5 on a blank timeline/structure/plot sheet.

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">As each of us is writing our own 'Inanimate Alice: Samoa' narrative we then worked on own ou=wn to draw a story path from our timeline planner. Below A.J. tells Mr Wood his story using his pictures as a guide.

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Finally some of us started writing our stories using past scripts, brainstorms and planning to guide us. This will be our first draft.

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> media type="custom" key="7020489"

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Today during topic we did a jigsaw exploration of the Samoan culture. In pairs we found the information for some questions Mr Wood asked, then we each shared our learning with the class.We are learning to understand and appreciate all cultures, but this will also help us write our own Inanimate Alice: Samoa episodes.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 17px;">Wednesday - August **

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">During art we prepared some square cards for scaffito (scraping paint off to reveal the crayon beneath). Each group had up to eight card to show the key points and tell their story. In groups we drew draft plans then split the work between group members, and began scratching. Lastly we put them up on the white board and shared our stories with the class. media type="custom" key="7020655"
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 17px;">Scraffito Storyboards **

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">We are nearing the end of term and we decided to list all the things our groups needed to complete before the deadline. Each group created a time management plan and assigned each member duties.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 17px;">Running out of time **

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">While the stories were being finished off, the group leaders got together with Mr. Wood and did a self-assessment of their own group project. We used the rubric from the Alice and Friends wiki.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 17px;">Rubric Self-assessment **



<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">All groups finished their digital stories and then presented their stories to the class using our data-projector. Each group had to peer assess another group using the peer assessment form during the shows. The class brainstormed the criteria for the peer-assessment. See the slide show below for the photos.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 17px;">Presentation with peer and teacher assessment **

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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">All the student stories can be downloaded here. The story below is by Steven, Nicholas and Isaia. It has been converted to a Slideshare file to embed here, however it lost most of the music, sound effects and animation.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 17px;">Final Digital Stories **

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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Some groups decided they would draw their own Brad. <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">EXTRAS **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Brad **

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Students working on class laptops creating their Alice stories. <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">media type="custom" key="7020711"