Falling Stars

What is it?

Falling Stars by Kraft New Services, Inc. is a highly addictive app that allows the user to compose music and sound effects visually.  Confused?  Check this out:

Unlike anything you've seen before, right?  I must tell you, when I first downloaded this app, I sat and played with it for over an hour without looking up.  It.  Is.  Mesmerizing.  Why?  It bewitches the user by involving three of the five senses at once—vision, hearing, and touch.  (I suppose if you just pop in a stick of Trident, as the app is actually intended to persuade you to do, then taste and smell would come into play as well!)  

Lesson Ideas:

Descriptive Writing: Students compose their own music on the app, and then write descriptive pieces—using imagery—to either describe the music itself or serve as a process paper, detailing the steps and motivation behind their composition processes.

Creative Writing Prompt: We English teachers usually give written essay prompts, and occasionally we mix it up by using a visual prompt (such as a painting or thought provoking photograph).  But what about using a sound prompt?  As a bellringer/journal prompt, how about playing an original Falling Stars composition for the students and then asking them to write a creative narrative that fits the mood and tempo of the music? Perhaps the teacher could provide the first piece, and then students could take turns sharing their own musical compositions for the daily class focus thereafter.  

Mood, Suspense, Tone:  To assess the students' understanding of the mood of a certain work of literature, ask them to compose a piece of music on Falling Stars that fits the scene/chapter that the class has just read.  When sharing their music, encourage the students to explain their thought process, referring to specific quotes from the text that influenced their musical choices.  

Dramatic Interpretation, Poetry Recitation:  For student read-alouds, dramatic interpretation of text, or poetry recitation, pair-up the students.  As partners, the students plan ahead, one creating music that compliments the text that will be read by the other, and vice versa.  During the presentation, one reads as the other plays the music he/she composed to accompany the partner's text.  Then, they switch.  Assessment should center on appropriateness of the mood created by the musical composition as well as the tempo.  Both should reflect the mood, themes, and tone of the literature.  

Bellringer: Ok, this is simple.  When our students walk into class they are often frazzled, distracted, and stressed—in other words, in no state of mind to quickly sit down and start drafting the next great American novel (or even the next great American journal entry!). How about letting them settle in, put their earbuds in their ears, and play with Falling Stars for five or ten minutes?  I'm telling you, aside from sparking creativity, there is also something almost meditative about this app.  Let the kiddos have some time with it at the beginning of class, and afterward you just might find them calm, focused, and ready to think artistically about literature and writing.

Teacher Tip: At time of publication, there is no method of exporting tunes created on Falling Stars into other applications.  However, one can easily save the compositions directly on the app, upload them to Twitter & Facebook, or email them.  

Screenshots:

         

Barista's Rating:     

Triple shot for teacher ease, student enjoyment, and applicability.

Cost:  FREE!

3:15

What is it?

One can hardly log on to Twitter, read the YALSA blog, or check out the latest literature news these days without reading something about interactive digital literature for children, teens, and tweens.  I mean, if nothing else, we've all at least heard of Pottermore, right?!?

3:15 leads the mulitimedia lit pack with this well executed, intriguing app for iOS devices.  The app consists of a series of short, creepy stories written by Patrick Carmen of the famed Skeleton Creek books.  Each story/episode is made up of three parts (hence the "3" in 3:15): an audio teaser (listen), a short story in written text (read), and an end-of-story video (watch).  The whole experience lasts about fifteen minutes (here's where the "15" comes in).  Of course, the fun really only just begins there.  When readers finish a story, they tend to find themselves compelled to visit the official 3:15 website, participate in online discussions, read Carmen's tweets . . .  Oh, and did I mention the secret coded clues and passwords embedded within the text? I imagine readers could spend hours trying to decipher the hidden meaning behind those! 

So, here's what's really cool about this app from a reading teacher's perspective—students actually have to read silently for about ten minutes to glean understanding from the multimedia goodies.  The teaser is just that, a teaser.  And, the video at the end makes no sense without the story.  For the ten minutes in between the two, the student is engaged in good 'ole fashioned reading.  Nice!

Lesson Ideas:

Bellringer, Making Predictions, Inference, Assertion & Evidence: I know what you're thinking right now, teachers. . . BELLRINGERS!  Yes, the fifteen minute element of each story really lends itself to acting as a quick intro to the class period.  If you're on a traditional schedule, you might use just the audio teaser as the bellringer.  Require the students to listen to the teaser, and then record their predictions about the story in their journals.  Of course, for each prediction/assertion they should include evidence from the teaser (preferably in the form of a quote) that supports their assertions.  If you're on a block schedule and therefore have a bit more time at the beginning of class, the entire fifteen minute experience could be the focus of your lesson.  Either way, the students will be immediately engaged and excited about discussing the story.

Elements of Plot, Plot Diagrams: I've said this before, and I'll say it again: Short stories are great for brief lessons on the elements of plot.  Students, especially in the middle grades, often have a difficult time discerning between rising action and climax, falling action and denouement.  The design of these stories—with the written text ending and transitioning to the video segment almost always at the climax of the story—helps readers clearly distinguish between big moments in the rising action and the big moment of climax.  Students can draw plot diagrams and label them with details from the story.  My students have always loved making digital plot diagrams (They like the freedom of being able to choose the color scheme, add images, etc.).  Keynote - Apple  would be a great app for doing so directly on an iOS device.  

Creative Writing, Digital Storytelling, Multimedia: After experiencing several episodes of 3:15, students write and produce their own episodes using Pages - Apple® for drafting and writing, and iMovie - Apple® and/or Super 8™ for the filming and editing. Putting all three elements together for viewing could take many forms. . . perhaps somewhere on a blog?  If you're using Schoology with your classes, you can most certainly allow the students to post their work as blog entries, knowing that all would be available for viewing yet posted in a secure setting.  

Screenshots:

         

       

Barista's Rating:    

Triple shot for teacher ease, LOADS of student enjoyment, and applicability.

Cost: App and first episode free, each episode thereafter $0.99

Special Shout Out:

I have to give a special thanks to one of my students, Becca, who turned me on to Patrick Carmen recently when she posted this on Schoology:

"I just finished this awesome series called the Skeleton Creek.  It is a horror series and it is kind of gross.  There are 4 books named
"Skeleton Creek"
"The Ghost in the Machine"
"The Crossbones"
and "The Raven"
So if anyone is interested in horror books PLEASE give them a try they are awesome!!"