Dwight got the bonus
word: extraterrestrial.
When the test was over,
Miss Blau called on students
to spell words. "If you need
help, choose a helper," she
encouraged.
Just then, the bell rang.
Recess.
❑
Miss Blau's Students Are As
Comfortable With Technology As
They Are With Pen And Paper
AMY J. MEHLER
Staff Writer
M
arlon Gisi, 10, stood
in front of the video
camera, plaid flannel
shirt tucked in, hair perfectly
straight, his script in his
hand.
"A little to the left," re-
quested Joshua Linton, 10,
his cameraman.
"Like this?" Marlon ask-
ed, pivoting on the sole of his
muddy, scraped-up sneakers.
"Perfect," Josh said, peer-
ing through the camera lens.
"Now, I'm gonna zoom in
while you introduce
yourself," he warned.
"Book Look take two,"
Josh announced for the se-
cond time in as many
minutes. "Ready, set, go — I
mean, action!"
Marlon and Josh, fifth-
graders at Leonhard
Elementary School, are
practicing their first video
book report. It's something
their teacher, Cheryl Blau,
thought her class could
make for Homework
Hotline, a weekly one-hour
cable TV show produced at
South,' eld-Lathrup High
School.
"Hi, my name is Marlon
Gisi, and I want to tell you
why you should read a book
called Castle in the Attic, by
Elizabeth Winthrop."
"Don't look at me; look at
the flashing red light," Josh
whispered, stamping his foot
behind the camera.
"Toy soldiers come alive,"
Marlon continued, louder.
"A woman shrinks by magic
and goes to live in the toy
castle," he said, using his
hands. "If you want adven-
ture and excitement, read
this book."
"Cut! You have to do it
again," Josh said, standing
to the right of the camera,
clapping his hand against
his forehead.
Miss Blau, creator of
Homework Hotline, a pro-
gram for third-, fourth- and
fifth graders, has aired other
student productions on the
show.
By calling 746-7345,
Southfield elementary
school students can ask Miss
Blau or her three student
assistants, Geeta Mehta,
Bonnie Marr and William
Aaron, any question about
their homework. If they get
Continental Cable Channel
35 on their TV, they can
watch the program from 3 to
4 p.m. every Wednesday.
Earlier this year, Miss
Blau's fifth-grade class pro-
duced, wrote and directed a
series of informational
videos. Miss Blau checks
each script. Some dealt with
how to plan a sleep-over par-
ty, another video inter-
viewed Carol Pike, principal
of Leonhard School, and ex-
plained what she does. The
videos come on between
phone calls.
"I got the idea after taking
classes on video production
this fall," Miss Blau said. "I
want my classes to be
technologically literate.
You're never too young or
too old to learn."
Increasingly, technology
plays more of a role in Miss
Blau's classroom. Southfield
students younger than fifth
grade are encouraged to use
school computers to type
their papers and essay
assignments. Some children
have computers in their
homes; others work in
school. Often, class time is
spent teaching students how
to type by using special stu-
dent typewriters. "We have
video equipment at home,
L to R: Video producers,
Melissa Levi and Elizabeth
Mathis Rodgers instruct
classmates Danny Weiss and
Doug Burda in Homework
Hotline Video.
but I didn't know how to use
it until Miss Blau showed
us," said Elizabeth Mathis
Rogers. "Now I use it all the
time.
"I can name you all the
parts of a camera and tell
you what they do," Josh
said.
Miss Blau said students
expect to learn with com-
puter technology. "We have
to keep up with them," she
said. "They take to it with a
natural affinity."
When Miss Blau planned a
recent lesson on the study of
plate tectonics, rock forma-
tions beneath the earth's
surface, she didn't tell her
students to turn to a text-
book. She took her class
into the school library, sat
them down on the floor and
plugged a laser disc into a
TV monitor.
"It looks like a record,"
said Alaina O'Connor, look-
ing at the disc closely.
"It's like a humongous
compact disc record," offered
Sean McCulloch from the
back.
"It works just like a com-
puter disc," Miss Blau ex-
plained, holding up the disc.
"On it is stored thousands of
microchips of information."
Miss Blau browsed
through the menu of options
and clicked tectonics. Up
came the earth's crust in full
color, every layer marked.
"We want to see the
dinosaurs," some students
shouted. They saw dinosaurs
on the menu before Miss
Blau clicked rock forma-
tions.
Up came the dinosaurs.
Students quieted down as
they watched a mother
dinosaur gently lay her eggs
in a deep, wide pit. When she
thought it was safe, she
moved off to find food.
Behind a rock, another
dinosaur watched the
mother cover her eggs.
"Ooh, he's gonna eat
them," cried Jennifer
Kurland.
The invader, with evil,
gleaming yellow eyes,
lumbered toward the pit. He
looked around to make sure
no one was watching. Then
he plunged his sharp, steely
claws into the eggs and ate
them. Drippy goo hung all
over his mouth. His tongue
Miss Blau said
students expect to
learn with
computer
technology. "We
have to keep up
with them," she
said. "They take to
it with a natural
affinity."
snaked forward to catch the
excess.
"That was disgusting,"
said Anita Alosachi, who
couldn't tear her eyes off the
monitor.
"That showed them more
than any reproduction in a
book," Miss Blau laughed.
Next month, Miss Blau's
class embarks on a project in
telecommunications. They
will be linked electronically
to a classroom of children
across the ocean.
Stay tuned. ❑
Cheryl Blau explains the finer points of videotaping to students.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
77
'.
'
numbered it 1 to 20. "This is
just a practice test," Miss
Blau reminded. "You can
always take it over. If you
miss some words, you can do
them tonight for home
play."
No one gets homework in
Miss Blau's fifth grade.
"Miss Blau doesn't believe
in it," said James Wingate.
"She tries to convince us it's
fun all the time."
Rania Kassah, a newcomer
in the class, never heard of
such a thing. "It's new to
me," she said.
Miss Blau pulled a screen
down to cover up the spelling
words already on the board.
Everybody knew what would
be on the quiz. They chose
all the words themselves.
Words like "Chao Praya"
(a river), "baht" (Thai cur-
rency), "Emerald Buddha"
and "Thailand," came
straight from the postcards
Miss Blau sent her students
over winter vacation.
Others, such as "Viper,"
"concept" and "prototype,"
came straight from the auto
show several children had
visited.
GENERATI ON
to write down before she
forgot it.
Journal time was almost
over. Next came the practice
spelling test.
Miss Blau's class always
knows what is next on the
schedule. She puts the day's
subjects on the board at the
back of the room. She has
magnetic cards for spelling,
reading, social studies,
math, art, instrumental
music, science, library. They
can be mixed and matched,
depending on the day.
Miss Blau makes time for
special projects like essay
writing. The class is in the
midst of several writing con-
tests. One of them is the
Martin Luther King "I Have
A Dream Contest." Entries
must be 250-words or less.
"Mine is 254 words, Miss
Blau. Is that OK?" Elizabeth
asked one day. "That'll be
fine, Lizzie," answered Miss
Blau.
"I think Dr. King would
be proud of our class,"
Elizabeth wrote in her essay.
"I go to school with boys
and girls of every race and
religion. My friends are
black and white and Jewish
and Chaldean . ." "Is that
how you spell Chaldean?"
Elizabeth asked, turning to
Anita.
"Let me see? Yeah, that's
right," Anita said.
Miss Blau called out in-
structions. Everybody took
out a piece of paper and