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So here is the final cut to my reader’s theater project. It was a lot of fun to produce, and the kids really enjoyed it. Despite many takes you can hear them snickering and laughing throughout the reading. I tried to get a take with no laughing, but failed, and I am not talented enough to erase that from the background, but since this was a project for the kids, I felt it really just showed that they were having fun. I would like to have had them on video, but was concerned about the security of putting their faces on the internet. In the end, I think this is a cute project that the kids really enjoyed. Originally it was about 20 minutes long, so the 6.5 minute story is cut a little short at the end. I hope you enjoy it.

My reader’s theater project uses primarily avatars and still images to avoid putting the faces of my third graders on the internet. Because I’m not using real video, I needed to create some kind of motion in the clip to keep the eyes interested in watching. Try watching 7 minutes of still photos blinking on and off the screen. The best way to do this is something called the Ken Burns Effect. This method uses pan and zoom on still images to create the illusion of motion. I have included a small sample of the final project here which demonstrates the use of the Ken Burns Effect.