The last American Literature Unit English 10 students studied this year included Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild. For the culminating activity, students tested out a variety of Web Presentation Tools to display their knowledge of the themes and motifs in the novel. A RAFT is a culminating activity that allows students to choose how to show their own learning. For this individual project, students chose a role (a character or entity they would “be”), an intended audience (the person or group the piece would address or “talk to”), a format, and a theme or topic. Students were required to use new technology tools to present their projects. I have included links to several student presentations along with student descriptions of the projects and the web tools. Here is a link to the assignment document itself. Credit is given to Karie Lynch for the assignment idea. Here is the RAFT assignment.
From Zoe K.
Link to Weebly Blog
My RAFT project was a digital diary written by Chris McCandless. It was intended to be viewed by friends and family members so they could perhaps understand how he felt while he was camped in the Alaskan wilderness. It was a kind of personal philosophy, showing how Chris felt when he went into the bush about the world and his family and showing how those feelings changed over time. For the project, I used two sites. The bulk of it was done with Weebly, a free website creator. It was simple to use and also looked quite nice. For one page, I created a collage using Fotor, an online collage creator. It was a little confusing at first, but after playing around it became very simple. I learned that there are many tools to use online. I also learned that writing a diary for someone else can be difficult because you don't know exactly how they would feel about something. Overall, I think my project gave insight on Chris's (presumed) thoughts while in the wilderness. I think I could have added more entries that began when his journey did to offer even more understanding, but aside from that I feel it was effective.
Link to Weebly Blog
My RAFT project was a digital diary written by Chris McCandless. It was intended to be viewed by friends and family members so they could perhaps understand how he felt while he was camped in the Alaskan wilderness. It was a kind of personal philosophy, showing how Chris felt when he went into the bush about the world and his family and showing how those feelings changed over time. For the project, I used two sites. The bulk of it was done with Weebly, a free website creator. It was simple to use and also looked quite nice. For one page, I created a collage using Fotor, an online collage creator. It was a little confusing at first, but after playing around it became very simple. I learned that there are many tools to use online. I also learned that writing a diary for someone else can be difficult because you don't know exactly how they would feel about something. Overall, I think my project gave insight on Chris's (presumed) thoughts while in the wilderness. I think I could have added more entries that began when his journey did to offer even more understanding, but aside from that I feel it was effective.
From Wyatt C.
Link to Powtoon
In my RAFT project I am playing the role of Chris McCandless. My audience is a group of college students, and I am telling my point through a poem. The theme of my project is, "what it means to live an ethical life". I decided to use Powtoon for my project. Powtoon is a software that is used to make basic cartoons. I really liked using this software. It was my first time using Powtoon, or anything like it, and I was able to get the hang of it quickly. In addition to the poem in my presentation, Powtoon allowed me to add a voiceover that read along with the poem. I thought that I did a very good job displaying my message with Powtoon. I learned how to make short cartoons, animate text, and add a voiceover. My project is effective in displaying the theme of the project.
Link to Powtoon
In my RAFT project I am playing the role of Chris McCandless. My audience is a group of college students, and I am telling my point through a poem. The theme of my project is, "what it means to live an ethical life". I decided to use Powtoon for my project. Powtoon is a software that is used to make basic cartoons. I really liked using this software. It was my first time using Powtoon, or anything like it, and I was able to get the hang of it quickly. In addition to the poem in my presentation, Powtoon allowed me to add a voiceover that read along with the poem. I thought that I did a very good job displaying my message with Powtoon. I learned how to make short cartoons, animate text, and add a voiceover. My project is effective in displaying the theme of the project.
Karina M.
My RAFT project was played by the role of Carine McCandless. She was addressing the audience of Chris McCandless, her brother. I tried to convey the theme, "How to establish healthy relationships" through the use of multiple collages in the form of a slideshow with the addition of music. To accomplish this, I tried a numerous amount of different technology programs and most of them failed me, causing hardship and sadness. I made the collages through Ribbet.com. I would recommend Ribbet to anyone who wanted to make collages the way it was in their mind. I then took the collages and tried to put them in a slideshow with music through the program Fotobabble. I would not recommend Fotobabble for someone who wants to do what I tried, it failed horribly. I then moved on to a program called MoviVod. That was disastrous. I then tried a program called Slidely; lets just say after two hours with that program it failed. I then went on to yet another program called Stupeflix. I would not recommend that, it was a waste of time after fiddling with it for over an hour. I finally got it to work with the use of a website Kizoa. Though it will not let me download, upload, or save it, I can play it through the website and after hours of stress and turmoil, that was good enough for me.Throughout this whole experience, I learned it is not easy to try something new and venture out of your comfort zone. I had never attempted a collage let alone putting it into a slideshow while trying to figure out how to play music with it. It was definitely a journey. I hope my project will convey the point and imagery I want which I have laid out in my head. I believe with pictures and the aid of music, my RAFT project will be effective; I hope I am not mistaken.
My RAFT project was played by the role of Carine McCandless. She was addressing the audience of Chris McCandless, her brother. I tried to convey the theme, "How to establish healthy relationships" through the use of multiple collages in the form of a slideshow with the addition of music. To accomplish this, I tried a numerous amount of different technology programs and most of them failed me, causing hardship and sadness. I made the collages through Ribbet.com. I would recommend Ribbet to anyone who wanted to make collages the way it was in their mind. I then took the collages and tried to put them in a slideshow with music through the program Fotobabble. I would not recommend Fotobabble for someone who wants to do what I tried, it failed horribly. I then moved on to a program called MoviVod. That was disastrous. I then tried a program called Slidely; lets just say after two hours with that program it failed. I then went on to yet another program called Stupeflix. I would not recommend that, it was a waste of time after fiddling with it for over an hour. I finally got it to work with the use of a website Kizoa. Though it will not let me download, upload, or save it, I can play it through the website and after hours of stress and turmoil, that was good enough for me.Throughout this whole experience, I learned it is not easy to try something new and venture out of your comfort zone. I had never attempted a collage let alone putting it into a slideshow while trying to figure out how to play music with it. It was definitely a journey. I hope my project will convey the point and imagery I want which I have laid out in my head. I believe with pictures and the aid of music, my RAFT project will be effective; I hope I am not mistaken.
From Lauren T.
Link to Ribbet / Powerpoint collage
For my RAFT, I picked the role of Chris McCandless, the audience Walt McCandless, the format I picked a collage and then to show it in a slide presentation, and for the theme I picked how to establish healthy relationships. The technology I used was Ribbet.com and PowerPoint. Ribbet.com is very efficient for making a collage. It was very easy and quick to figure out. I would recommend this for other student that like to make collages or have to for a school project. What I learn from using Ribbet was how to make a quick collage. My project is effective because it shows how Chris had healthy relationship with the people that he met on his journey.
Link to Ribbet / Powerpoint collage
For my RAFT, I picked the role of Chris McCandless, the audience Walt McCandless, the format I picked a collage and then to show it in a slide presentation, and for the theme I picked how to establish healthy relationships. The technology I used was Ribbet.com and PowerPoint. Ribbet.com is very efficient for making a collage. It was very easy and quick to figure out. I would recommend this for other student that like to make collages or have to for a school project. What I learn from using Ribbet was how to make a quick collage. My project is effective because it shows how Chris had healthy relationship with the people that he met on his journey.