Zombies Invade Freshman Tech Seminar!

by Colleen Worrell, Secondary Technology Integration Coordinator

 

The 9th grade students in Freshman Tech Seminar are working hard to fight the zombie threat -- all while having fun building key 21st-century skills (including digital literacy, collaboration, and critical thinking) and honing their “tech” skills.

The first class meeting involved the “technologies” of paper, scissors, and tape with the challenge of building the tallest free-standing paper tower. At the debrief that wrapped up this first tech-challenge students shared their insights on how this activity related to helping them “learn how to learn with technology.” They also commented on how much they enjoyed working in teams.

During session two, Tech Challenge #2 helped students learn about copyright and creating digital posters. Here are some of the posters students created to spread the word about the zombie threat: Zombie Posters.

Tech Challenge #3 asked students to work in pairs to create a 45 second video public service announcement designed to tell their audience how to survive the zombie apocalypse. See one team’s infomercial on survival tactics, which had to be created in 20 minutes using only a bank of images provided by the teacher: Zombies!

All of these activities are preparing students to work on an individual video project, which requires each student to create a short video on an issue or topic relevant to the HHS community. Topics range from the mission of Keep Smilin and volunteering for Project Just Because, to why a Chipotle come to the HHS cafeteria. We will share out their digital creations later this term.

PS: See how preparing for the Zombie Pandemic works in the real world (of Kansas, anyway!): October is Zombie Preparedness Month in Kansas.