Elementary Lip Dub: A Great Way To Build A Multi-Grade Community

Update: Here is our Lincoln Elementary attempt at a lip dub we did during the last day of school:

Social Inequality: A cross-curricular and multi-culture unit of study

For the last couple of months of 4th grade, we tackle a huge theme: Social Inequality. The prezi below shows several of its components:

Social Inequality on Prezi

4th Grade Film Festival Part 4

The last genre I want to feature in this year's advertising film festival is "celebrity." It's a tricky genre to both write and perform in, because the students have to figure out how to represent celebrities and act as celebrities without actually being the celebrities. This means that the writer has to write explicitly what she would rather assume.

The genre of "celebrity" features famous people selling a product. It's a genre within itself, because it counts on the assumption that if a famous person likes the product, then you should like it too.

The toughest part of this first commercial is the beginning. The writer figured out that the best way to introduce students playing celebrities was to have a tongue-in-cheek introduction in the limousine:

4th Grade Film Festival Part 3

The third genre of advertising we studied and wrote in is "Bandwagon." Although to be fair, it's really not possible to write a bandwagon commercial without crossing over into other genres. This first commercial could just as easily be "Adventure," and is probably the truest commercial that was made this year. It does a couple of things that have never been done before. The first is that there is no talking in the commercial. There is only a voice-over. The second is that instead of a group of friends celebrating a product, as in most bandwagon commercials written by elementary students, it shows off the genre by having a series of completely unrelated people all over the world, tied together by the child's product.

4th Grade Film Festival Part 2

The second genre of advertising that the children studied we eventually labeled as "You'll Be Better." This is the type of advertising that promises a better life if only you buy their product. This genre produced one of the most sold commercials I've seen come out of 4th grade. I like this one because it's good without any special effects. It's quick and to the point: