A new way to learn about natural disaster

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Fourth-grade students at the East Meadow School District’s Parkway Elementary School turned toward potential careers in news reporting during a project on natural disasters.

Throughout the end of January and into February, students chose a natural disaster to research. The investigating was done through the building’s Google Chromebooks as well as books from the school’s library. After looking into natural disasters and the cause and effects of these instances, students selected historic events on which to report that included Superstorm Sandy and the eruption of Mount St. Helens.

Students formed groups and began to build questions and facts that were incorporated into interview-style questions in which individuals reported as first- and second-hand accounts. Once scripts were developed, each class used the application Do Ink to record a news broadcast with a green screen background.

Each group chose images to replace the green screen, making for backdrops that included the News 12 studio and pictures from various disasters. A personal photo of damage caused by Superstorm Sandy was among the selections. The “in-studio” interviews, recorded on iPads and iPhones, each featured one student who acted as an expert on their topic and then transitioned to the field, where a student reporter spoke to a classmate who shared first-hand experience.

As a next step, students are scheduled to edit and create news reels by using iMovie, and will eventually transfer each video into a Google Slides presentation utilizing Google Chromebooks. The final product and debut of the newscasts will be showcased to parents and peers in the future.

—Brian Stieglitz