My visit to the Year 2 class followed a staff meeting demonstrating Photo Story 3 and a discussion of how it could enhance the school curriculum.
1) A whole class collaborative effort with a whiteboard. The class had recently had a drummer in and collected some photographs. In discussion with the class the pictures were selected, text on certain photos added, discussion on the pan and zoom and background music. Some children added their own narration.
2) I then worked with a group of 5 children within the class while the rest of the class carried on with their normal activity. Using a digital blue camera the children photographed each other. I then exported them onto the class PC and they were then imported into Photo Story. Each child then added text to their photo, used a microphone to speak about themselves, and decided on the pan and zoom.
3) The Scarf: a group of 5 children, photographed with digi blue camera each page and imported into PS. Children read each page as a narration putting in expression. Worked through whole story. Then children collaborated independently of me where the pan and zoom happened, indicating their understanding of the text. Children selected some music via http://audio.lgfl.org.uk to add some atmosphere. It was really interesting to hear their discussions on what was basically a role of director. Who was speaking in the text, who to and what actions dictated where the 'camera' moved to.
4) Let's dance: Similiar prep to the Scarf though with no pan and zoom. the group spent a long while selecting the music!
Picture quality is poor as we used an old digi blue camera (v2), it was a handy and immediate tool, the process was the most important factor.