Writing workshop evolves into girls' filmmaking club.

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After encouraging her students at Des Moines, Iowa's Goodrell Middle School to express themselves in a writing workshop, Holly Welch recently took the next technological step and enabled them to tell their stories on video. Welch was inspired to incorporate videography into her class when she learned how easy it is to edit short films using the Mac program iMovie, the Des Moines Register reports.

"The kids are from a new millennium and need to be working in all intelligences," Welch said. "They need to get more visual." During the three-week unit, the kids used a borrowed Mac to craft three-minute films on subjects they were passionate about--including airplanes and jazz bands.

In 34 years of teaching, "I have never seen students get so excited about something," Welch noted. Indeed, the opportunity promoted higher academic achievement across the board. As student Katie Connett put it, "Working on the movie makes you want to work harder in your other classes. That way you can go to language arts and work on your project."

The unit led Welch to create a Video Voyagers filmmaking club, which has a girls-only meeting every Monday afternoon and a mixed-gender session on Tuesdays. It's a great way to boost girls' interest in technology. "I received some letters from some of the girls who had finished their projects and they said that before this opportunity they thought computers were only for boys," Welch said.