Hello all,
This week’s genres were folktales and legends. Legends was a fairly new genre for me. I had a little trouble finding books that met the criteria, however I am sure that is in large part due to me being an overthinker. I will find a book that I think meets the criteria, worry that it doesn’t, and then talk myself out of using it. My children and I read these books together and our favorite legend story was The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors.
Folktales are one of my absolute favorite genres. Growing up, one of my favorite books was It Could Always Be Worse which is a retelling of a Yiddish folktale by Margo Zemach. Due to the length of time since its publication I was unable to use it for this class, but I was very happy to find another more recent retelling of this story to use called The Crowded Farmhouse. I believe that Zemach’s version will always be my favorite, but The Crowded Farmhouse is good, too. This was a fun week for reading and I will definitely be including both of these genres in my future storytelling endeavors.
The Beginning: Selection
Selection was probably the most fun part of the experience for me. My children are home for the summer so they are heavily involved in pretty much everything that I do and this was no exception. We do the reading for this class together. I was going to use my youngest daughter’s new favorite book, Mr. Complain Takes the Train, but once we read Bedtime for Bad Kitty they decided that this was the book for the job. In addition to the positive feedback from the kids, I felt that Bedtime for Bad Kitty also had a lot of opportunities for using different tones of voice as well as for audience participation. The pictures are also large and simple which I believe is helpful when you are holding a book up for an audience (or a camera) to see.
The Middle: The Setup
The middle part of my experience and probably the most difficult. I went on a mission to find the most “well lit” spot in the house where the background wasn’t too distracting. In addition to finding a well lit spot, I also needed to figure out how to film myself. I decided to use my phone and then upload the video to flipgrid because the audio is better on my phone than on our Chromebook.
Now that I had my well lit spot and recording device, it was time to figure out how to set up the phone to film. I decided to prop it up and use the front facing camera. This was tricky because my “well lit” spot ended up being at the bar in my kitchen so I needed something that was about chest height in order to show my face and the book. After a few tries, I eventually came up with the perfect filming setup: a laundry basket, something my oldest daughter made out of wood, and a candle holder. I know that a tripod would have been a better solution, but when you are on a mission there is simply no time for a trip to Walmart.
I have included a time lapse of my search for a well lit area for your entertainment.
The End: Filming and Upload
I practiced reading this book to my own children many times so I was not really nervous about reading it for the video. It took me three read throughs on camera before I was happy with the result. My first take was great except I said the author’s name was James Bruel instead of Nick Bruel. The second take was good and I was happy with it but then my dryer went off in the background. The third take I felt went pretty well. My children watched the video and said that it was a good story so I decided to go with that take.
One thing I did NOT anticipate was that I would not be able to upload the .Mov file to flipgrid. I ended up having to convert it to an MP4 and then to compress it before I was able to upload it to flipgrid. I had a little internal crisis thinking I was going to have to redo everything before I realized there was probably an app that could help me. Here is a photo of me contemplating every choice I have made prior to this moment.
.HEIC)
All in all It was a positive experience. There was laughter, panic, and learning. I anticipate that next time will be much easier. I will be going into experience two knowing where to record, how to set up my phone, how to convert / compress files, etc. How did it go for you guys? Do you feel better prepared going into experience two? IS THERE AN EASIER WAY TO COMPRESS AND OR CONVERT A FILE?! Let me know in the comments!
Thanks again for reading my blog.
Lauren Jordan
My Shares for this Week:
Author Wade Bradford read a snippet of Mr. Complain Takes the Train
My Reading Log for This Week:
References:
Bradford, W. (2021). Mr. Complain Takes the Train (S. Britt, Illus.). Clarion Books.
Bruel, N. (2021). Bedtime for Bad Kitty (S. Bruel, Illus.). Roaring Brook Press.
I absolutely loved reading your blog-I can really hear your voice throughout it. I also very much appreciate your quest for good lighting. I feel like no matter the lighting that I found in my house, the problem was my camera always looked fuzzy. It's nice that you have kids to give you feedback on the stories because kids tend to be brutally honest, so you know you are getting honest feedback. I wish I could help you with your technical issues-it's an area that I really struggle in. I would recommend Youtube tutorials, there's a tutorial for everything now.
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