In Term 2, as part of the History and English component, Year 6 participate in the Day of Notables Project. This involves many different components that students submit, however the main part of this ongoing interactive project is writing a biography on an Australian notable. This involves submitting a proposal to the teachers, ensuring they have justified why they would like to write about this notable Australian and thoroughly researching this person on their iPads at school. At the end of Term 2, students present their biography at the school’s annual Day of Notables Exhibition, dressing up as their notable and presenting a creative and interactive background display that parents/carers come to see.
Students use the Pages app on their iPads throughout this process to structure their biography. This allows them to set out their biography neatly and with subheading to help them organise their information.
The use of iPads is an especially great tool to use for students who experience difficulty reading, as the accessibility options allow students to have the iPad read any highlighted information to them.
Music Component using Garage Band app
This project is studied throughout many key learning areas, including Music. During Music lessons each week, students work on the app Garage Band to compose music that represents their notable. This music is then used in the background of their interactive timeline.
Artivive and Interactive Timeline on Keynote.
As part of their project, students study cubism in art and learn how to draw cubist portraits of their notable. These portraits are then coloured in and are used in the app called Artivive.
Students are then asked to create an interactive timeline on Keynote where they can animate and add the music composed for their notable in the background. This is a fantastic way for guests who visit the Day of Notables exhibition to learn about all the notables in a very easy and efficient way using their device.
In the Artivive app, students can take a picture of their portrait and link it to their timeline and recount video. Once this is done, guests can hover their devices over the portrait with the app, and the student’s interactive timeline pops up for them to watch. This has been a very popular tool used at the Day of Notables and all the parents and visitors have found the process easy, convenient and a lot of fun.
You can use the Artivive app on your own device if you’d like to watch the student’s content.
After the interactive exhibition is over, students write a reflection about the day and how they felt the whole process of preparing for the day went. This is then uploaded on the Seesaw App so parents can view students work.
The Day of Notables is a wonderful annual event that is a rite of passage for our Year 6 students, and the way technology enhances their work is an example of the fortunate nature of working in an Apple Distinguished School.
For more information on our “Walk Of Notables”, as a part of this fantastic day – see this other post Creating a Reality Composer “Walk Of Notables” For A Parent Expo
Stories of Learning In Our Classrooms 
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