Material for Teachers
Teacher´s guide to Sonic Postcard Project
What are Sonic Postcards?
Sonic postcards have an author and an intended receiver. They can be sent by email and can be shared on the net. A sonic postcard is composed of:
- A short format (ca. 1-1½ minute) MP3 short audio story, with a beginning, middle and an ending, using location recordings to describe a setting.
- A personal written or spoken message.
- And perhaps: visuals, enhancing the audio
Each postcard is a personal greeting from a particular place or setting.
Introduction:
This guide is especially for teachers of English in Danish schools.
Target: Grades 6. to 10.
Pedagogical goals:
- To heighten our pupil´s awareness of their audio cultures, the sounds they make in daily living and their voices.
- To set focus on hearing and expand their listening capacities.
- To explore and exercise their skills in audio expression, communication with sounds and spoken words.
Means: A class project, with production of sonic postcards, including:
1) Preparation:
Technical requirements: student computer usage, intranet, recording and editing equipment. Pupils use their mobile phones and whatever else is available at school to record their sounds. We will assist teachers and pupils with getting their recordings into a shared easy to use editing system where they can edit, record their speaks, mix, and export their finished audio. We will be providing step by step manuals and online support, so teachers do not need to be technical wizards to participate. There should, however, be an ICT specialist for acute support at their schools. Preparation time before project start is required with teachers and school ICT specialist. We need to know:
- What can the school provide for recording in the field: cassette recorders, hard disc recorders, other?
- Do all pupils have mobile phones that can be used for recording?
- Do they have headsets so that they can listen while recording?
- Will pupils (and teacher) have access to editing software via the school´s intranet?
- Does each pupil have a folder where work can be saved and retrieved?
General:
We want pupils to focus first on audio and then include visuals in production of their sonic postcards.
Production Stages:
2) Warming up the ears / listening / getting acquainted with recording equipment
3) Storyboarding / writing manuscript
4) Recording audio at home
5) Getting audio into editing tool
6) Editing audio
7) Adding narration to audio
8) Mix audio (maximum duration: 2 minutes).
2 versions: one with speak – one with speak track muted
9) Export finished audio versions to visual editor
10) Add visuals (photos, video, drawings, text) in sync with audio
11) Export finished a /v file
12) Evaluation
2) Start sonic postcard project:
Pupils should try out their recording equipment – as well as audio file transfer of their recordings to their editing device, as part of their warming up exercises, a week before workshop start.
Warming up exercises: When starting pupils need to get in tune with the themes of audio culture, listening and audio expression. This can be done in many ways, but a good one is a 10 minute session playing SoundQuiz, an audio guessing game which we will provide.
Here are a couple of exercises, there are more coming:
Listening focus exercise: (takes about 6 minutes):
Open a window or windows in the classroom and no more talking! Just sit still and really listen. Focus first on the sounds that are farthest away from you, what is happening way in the background that you barely can hear. Then over a minute, slowly move your audio focus in towards yourself, closer and closer, until you can hear distinctly the sounds you make yourself, your breathing, sinking spit, stomach rumbling, even the your blood pumping. Repeat in the opposite direction, moving focus outwards, and then in again. Talk about what you heard.
Room exercise: (takes about 25 minutes) pupils use their mobile phones and whatever else is available to record a sound from their school. They have 6 minutes to think of their locations, go there, record 20 seconds from that location, and get back to the classroom. The recording is played and the others have to guess the location where it was made.
14 min. guessing and discussion.
The theme: identity. What sounds express who I am?
Do a “mind map”.
Then focus on: Sounds from where I live
Class assignment:
Send a sonic postcard to a new e-pal in England, describing how you live to someone of your own age. You want to give him or her some idea of your family, how you live together, your neighborhood, your town.
Think of a typical school day, focus on the sounds, that tell something about you. Just think audio –
Begin with something like this:
Hi, my name is…(your first name). I want to tell you about my …
Go on with your story for about 10 lines. Do not write more than 12 lines.
Use good description. Start anywhere you want, in the garden, at the front door, in your bedroom, bath, kitchen, living room, attic, or basement. Morning, midday, evening, night… Just think of a good catchy beginning sound, a good “hook” to catch the listener´s attention.
Find a title for your postcard and make a storyboard.
Pupils are asked to post their work – storyboard (visualizations) with written text (10 line speak) on the school intranet in the week before recording day. The intention is to get a clear storyboard before recording. They may of course improvise. Things seldom go exactly as planned.
3) Recording:
This could be during a weekend. With a good storyboard they should be able to record their postcard in about an hour. They can “make things happen” – or capture special moments. Pupils are encouraged not to do their speaks on location, but record good sounds. They should know how to “frame their audio shots” –ultra close shot, close up, two shot, total shot.
If they know how to transfer their recordings to their editor and how to save their work, they can start editing.
4) Production:
Pupils are encouraged to work with editing and mixing at home, if they can. Hopefully some will use some extra time. We can recommend using either Hindenburg Journalist or Audacity which can be downloaded free and are very user friendly.
There should be at least 3 lessons at school to edit and mix the sonic postcards.
5) Evaluation:
Hopefully there will be a lesson which can be used for evaluation of process and product, as well as the sharing of their work with other pupils in Europe.
There is more such material on the way, but this might get you started.
For those interested, we recommend reading the Teacher’s Pack used in schools all over Great Britten.
Why not use video (sound and moving picture)?
- Because this project aims at creating awareness of audio culture, LISTENING TO THE SOUNDS AROUND US – and providing the methods for user generation of quality audio sound pictures
- Because most of the video sound we hear (ex: from YouTube) is very poor quality.
- Because working with sound pictures is fun.
Sonic Postcard lesson plan
Question:
What do pupils use for editing?
Pupils are used to using Audacity. The choice (Audacity or Hindenburg) is up to you, the teachers. If you have the time and the inclination, I would recommend that you download and try out Hindenburg, including all stages. If not, then stick to Audacity.
If you want to check out Hindenburg Journalist (which I regard as superior to Audacity), then go to their website: http://www.nsaka.com/screencasts and find (at the bottom of the page)
See also a Hindenburg manual: http://www.nsaka.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Hindenburg-Journalist-Guide-Windows.pdf
or
Contact Preben or Nick directly by mail or phone:
+45 43423231 info@nsaka.com
Question:
What do pupils use for editing visuals?
My answer: Use any visual editing tool that you and pupils are familiar with: PowerPoint, Pinnachle, Photo Story, Moviemaker… there are many and they have their advantages and faults. Production time is limited – and we want to concentrate on the audio.
Suggestions for LESSON PLAN
Lesson 1. (45 min):
Topic: Listening to the sounds around us – and recording them.
Technical requirements:
- System for playing audio over loudspeakers in the classroom
- Recording devices (mobile phones, other with headphones so pupils can hear what they are recording
a) Exercise: “just listen” – complete quiet in the classroom, window open, door open. Shut your eyes. Start with focusing your hearing on the sounds that are farthest away, outside the classroom, and then move your focus closer to yourself, until you hear the sound of your own breathing and swallowing. Then move your listening focus out again.
b) ( about 7 minutes) Play SoundQuiz (14 sounds to guess)
scores for SoundQuiz (facet list provided)
c) (about 10 minutes) Recording exercise 1.: Work in pairs, one speaking and one recording. USE HEADPHONES while recording!
Speakers go to the one corner of the room and say one of the following “tong twisters”:
- Sally, she sells seashells on the seashore
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
Recorders go to the opposite corner of the room and start recording.
They move closer and closer to the speakers (zooming in), ending with the
Until their microphone is about one centimeter from their partner´s mouth.
Watch out for “p” and “s” – don´t place the microphone directly in front of the mouth. (The whole zoom should not take more than about 30 seconds to record.)
If there is an uneven number of pupils, the teacher may opt to join in the exercise and be a partner.
Now play two or three of the recordings in the classroom. (As example of “framing”)
Encourage pupils to “get good clear close-ups”. Upload exercise to school intranet project folder.
d) (about 20 minutes) Presentation of project assignment:
Record sounds from your home or neighborhood that tell how you live and who you are.
Quick brainstorm on what that might be. Kitchen, bath, bedroom, living room, basement, attic, garden, etc. – morning, afternoon, evening, night. Sounds from home, sounds on your way to school, on a “typical day”.
Assignment (for next session):
You have a new e-pal in Scotland and you want to tell him / her who you are and how you live. You are using sound and words to create pictures in their mind´s eye. Start with selecting the sounds that you think tell something about you personally. Make a storyboard (a list of scenes / rooms and sounds that you think describe who you are and how you live:
- How do you begin? What´s the first thing we hear? Which room / place do we start with? Find a good catchy sound to start your show.
- What happens in your story? Where do we go? Which rooms do we visit and in what order? Do we go different places?
- How does your story end? Do you have a surprise sound for an ending?
Write/ draw your storyboard.
Scene: Location: Sound: Duration:
- Bedroom Alarm clock rings 6 sec.
Yawn 2 sec.
Speak: This is my morning routine…. 7 o´clock
And so forth… You can make things up if you want. Some choose to be princesses, others aliens.
Just have something interesting happen.
Pupils are encouraged to try some recording of their sounds at home. They are not required to write their speaks at this time. Nor is there any editing. Opload sounds and storyboards to school intranet, saved in project folder and pupil´s subfolders.
Lessons 2 & 3. (on same day):
(about 20 minutes) Review of homework: pupils play their recordings – show their storyboards, discussion: How can we improve on these?
(about 25 minutes) Getting started with editing audio.
Pupils load their recordings into Hindenburg / Audacity and begin editing.
(about 15 + 20 minutes) Exercise: In pairs, in private, so the others don´t hear, think of a location at your school that has special acoustics and sounds, like the gym, locker room, principal´s office, toilet, trash room, basement, playground, cantina. Try to think of something original. Go there. If there are others from the class that have chosen the same location, then it the pair that got there first has priority. Those second must think of another place and get there fast.
Record on your location for not more than one minute per take! Use your headphones and frame your shot! Record something that is happening there. You may want to do 2-3 “takes” to get one good one, chose one and only one to play for the rest of the class. Hurry back to the classroom. Don´t say where you have been.
Play your location sounds – and the others guess where you made your recording. Upload to folder
(about 10 minutes) Assignment (for next session):
Write a “speak” into your storyboard. Make changes if you think of something better. Make recordings of your sounds at home. Do several takes to get a good “sound picture”. Do not record your speak. Do not interview your family or friends. Do not play music on your stereo / computer. You may record short examples of sound from the television, computer game sounds, or musical instruments that you have at home, pets, your mother, father, sister, brother . These are not interviews.
Take photos of your home that complement your audio story.
Lesson 4.
(45 min) Review of assignment work: storyboard, speak. All sonic postcards must be under 2 minutes in duration. Cut down your story to that length.
Individual coaching from teacher(s).
How can the speak be improved: choice of words, style of narration, tempo, tone?
Record speaks – edit them and upload to intranet.
Lessons 5 & 6.
Editing and mixing sounds.
Editing and mixing speak in sync with sounds.
Keep on different tracks, one track for the speak and the others for sounds.
(about 10 minutes) End of lesson 6. How far are we with our audio stories? Let´s listen… (2-3 audio mixes of sounds and speak)
Upload of work to school intranet
Lesson 7.
Using visuals: photos, drawings and titles / written text in sync with audio.
Depending on which visual editing systems are available and usable. Powerpoint, Pinnachle, Moviemaker, Photostory, etc.
Transfer audio from Hindenburg / Audacity to visual editor and insert photos on timeline, write titles / texts and insert into timeline. Create a rough mix presentation.
Upload to intranet.
Lesson 8.
Final mix of all elements, in two versions:
1) With speak track muted
2) With speak track audible
Export final versions to intranet / web
Lesson 9.
Evaluation: presentation of finished sonic postcards for class.