DS 106 Assignments

In my ECMP355 course I learned about Digital Storytelling from Alan Levine. One point that stuck out to me was when he shared a website called DS 106 Assignment Bank. On this webpage, Alan shared that you can click on different topics for assignments (ex: visual assignments, audio assignments, design assignments, etc) and then click for instructions. He said this would be fun to do with a class because it's very open-ended!! When you select a topic (ex: design assignments) it lists all the assignments related to design - this is important for multiple intelligences and giving students freedom of choice to excel in a particular interest of theirs. 

He went on to explain that each assignment is rated out of 5 stars in a level of difficulty scale. So... 5 stars is the hardest difficulty and 1 star is the easiest. He suggested that if you do this with a class, you could tell your students to do an assignment leading up to 20 stars (in elementary level I would probably choose 5 to start). So you need to pick assignments that in the end add up to 5. So if I chose an assignment with a difficulty level of 2 stars, I would still need more stars to add up to my 5. Really cool! So in turn, if I were to choose a project worth 5 stars, I would just need to do one project. It would probably take me longer than the 2 star project but then I would just do one project!! 

To test this website out a bit, I chose two assignments to do! (See below) 

ASSIGNMENT #1
Topic: Writing Assignments 
Assignment: Haiku Recipe
Stars: 4
Instructions: Write an entire recipe only in haiku. Stick to the 5/7/5 syllable pattern as much as possible, but don't leave out any key instructions!

Spaghetti Squash Meal

A Recipe in Haiku

Cooking Poetry

Yum - spaghetti squash

Super healthy and easy

Try this recipe!

The Ingredients:

1 large onion, cleaned and chopped

1 lb of ground meat

1 pinch black pepper

And any other spices

1 pinch of sea salt

680

mL in a can

of tomato sauce

1tsp of spice

Italiano at that

Everything healthy!

Instructions to cook

Add thawed ground meat to crockpot

Add everything else

Turn on high first thing

For 1 to 2 hours at most

Then please turn to low

Cook on low for 8

8 what? 8 hours of course!

Come home and cook squash

Cut squash into half

Scrape out insides and mush stuff

Now you are ready!

In ceramic dish:

Place flat sides in cooking dish 

Add 1 inch water

Cook in microwave

Heat for about 10 minutes

Then you grab a fork

Scrape out squash with fork

Put squash onto a large plate

Wasn't that easy??

Look! It's supper time!

Dish up your squash in a plate

Now add your meat sauce

Here are some options:

You can top with shredded cheese

Or you don't have to

Enjoy your supper!

Ask me questions if confused

I will answer you!

Response to Assignment:

I think this is so neat. I chose this because I like writing (not specifically poetry) but I thought I would go out of my comfort zone a bit. I found this really hard to start but once I got going I was on a roll! I hope this makes sense (It's a legit recipe! I made it today!) And it's pretty healthy and DELICIOUS! Some parts were hard - specifically the part that says: 680mL of tomato sauce. I didn't want to cheat, so I split it into three lines!!  (six hundred eighty (5 syllables) millilitres in a can (7 syllables) of  tomato sauce (5 syllables)). A little tricky but I managed it! This is just so neat for the multiple intelligences. Kids can choose what they want and really shine by displaying their individual talent. I will be sure to use this in my classroom!!! 

ASSIGNMENT #2
Topic: Mashup Assignments
Assignment: Twittr
Stars: 2
Instructions: Mashup two or more of your favorite websites using Firebug or photoshop. Try to be creative, giving the page a new name, and having attributes of both sites in the page. Take a screenshow of your work to share it

I am combining the following websites:
1) Facebook (we all know what website this is)
2) The Daily Hiit (workout website where you can do 20-30 min. workouts from home)
3) Pinterest (online bulletin board basically)

My new name for these three websites: Pinbookiit

Response to Assignment:
This grabbed my attention instantly! I love using photoshop and I feel as though this will be a pretty easy assignment to do! I combined all three websites, had some fun with effects, and created a border too. This is the perfect project for somebody who is techy and enjoys photoshop or editing photos or other things. 

In Closing... 

1) Which project would you choose out of my two projects?

2) I challenge you to... take a look at the website and pick a project you would enjoy doing!