of the skaters doing their tricks. Sometimes, I might · people were able to see my drawings and paintings. Now, with my camera and the Internet, I can perfect my videos and then

of the skaters doing their tricks. Sometimes, I might set my camera up on a tripod so I can keep the camera still and get good shots. I have to make sure I don’t set it up too close to the skaters! One time, my camera almost was demolished by a skateboarder who fell during a trick.

When I’m finished shooting the video, I hook my camera up to a computer and download the video. Next, I edit it using special video editing software. I take out scenes, repeat some scenes, and even add words and music. I might slow down the video so that the skaters look as if they’re moving in slow-motion, or speed it up so they look as if they’re moving

super-fast. When I’m finished, I have some pretty unique videos.

When I’m done with my video, I post it on a webpage for my friends and followers to see. Before I started sharing my videos, I asked my dad if he would help me set up a webpage. He said I could share the videos only if I promised not to give my last name, location, or show my face in the videos. That’s for safety reasons, and I understand that. A lot of people visit my website and watch my videos, often leaving

When I was younger, I loved watching these cool videos on the Internet. My favorites were the ones that showed famous and not-so-famous skateboarders doing remarkable tricks. I attempted to do those tricks on my own skateboard, but all I ended up with were a lot of bruises. I just wasn’t coordinated enough to learn them. Still, I enjoyed watching other people doing them, including my friends. Then for my tenth birthday, I got a video camera from my dad, and that’s how my video art started.

Now I make my own videos of skateboarders doing amazing tricks. Some of them are my friends, while others are older skateboarders, even a few well-known ones. My videos are quite a bit different from those old videos I used to watch, though. First, I take a lot of video footage

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a change, insert something new, or try swapping some elements, it’s easy and fast to do. This ability to adjust things has helped me be more confident and more creative.

In addition, when I drew and painted, not many people were able to see my drawings and paintings. Now, with my camera and the Internet, I can perfect my videos and then share them with a lot of people. Sharing also encourages me to be creative and try different things. I know that people will be looking at it and commenting on it.

Today’s technology makes me want to create even more art than ever before. It’s the ultimate creative experience.

comments telling me how cool they are. I think making and sharing videos is a great way to express myself.

Today’s video art is so much more creative than video art in the past. In fact, now making videos is a lot more creative than some people think. With editing software, I can add details to make something look different. In some of my videos, I have the skateboarders do tricks in front of a green screen, which is really just a green blanket that I’ve hung up behind them. Having a solid background helps me change the background in my videos to anything I want. For example, I can make the skateboarders look as though they’re skating in the ocean, up on top of buildings, and even in the clouds.

I used to do a lot of drawing and painting, but now that I’ve started creating video art, I find myself drawing and painting less and less. If I make a mistake while painting, then I have to start all over without being able to save the parts I like. I also need to start over with new materials, such as paper and paint. But with video art, if I make a mistake, then I can just “Undo” or “Delete” it. I don’t have to worry as much about making mistakes. If I want to make

DID YOUKNOW?

The first video artist is considered to be Nam June Paik, a Korean- American artist who began using televisions in art exhibits in 1963.


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American life, which can make for some interesting experiences! For example, last week I attended a basketball game at my school where I sat with a large group of people in the gym. I like to wear a traditional headscarf sometimes when I go to special events. However, at the basketball game, I started sweating under my scarf. My friends kept telling me I should just take it off and stuff it in my purse, but I didn’t want to do something untraditional. So I kept it on until the game was over and took it off in the car. Later that night, I wrote about this experience and my feelings about it in my blog.

I try to write at least two or three times a week. My best ideas come to me in the evening, when I’m reflecting on the events that have happened during the day. If something interesting happens at school, then I try to quickly jot it down on my phone’s notepad application. Later, I’ll bring up my notes and begin writing down my ideas for a blog. Then, I’ll begin typing up my blog on the computer.

When I’m done writing, I’ll post it on the Internet on my blogging site. A lot of other Afghan-Americans read my blogs, especially preteens and older teenagers. It’s very difficult to live in America and still maintain the traditions of someone’s native culture. When I write about my experiences, I feel like I am reaching out to other people who have

I was five years old when I came to the United States from Afghanistan along with my parents and older sister. We left our native country to seek a better life, according to my parents, and we have found it. Now, I am just another American teenager in a large high school crowded with kids from different backgrounds. But despite our different backgrounds, sometimes I feel like we are a huge herd of goats that look and act the same, all heading blindly in one direction. So I have to express myself in some way, whether it’s through clothing, music, or blogging.

As an Afghan-American, I think I have a different perspective on life as a teenager, so I blog about this outlook. My family is a blend of traditional Afghan beliefs and traditions and American ones. I feel like I have one foot placed firmly in my Afghan life and another foot placed just as firmly in my


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comment, I might think of another idea for a blog right away and begin working on it.

Before I started blogging, I kept a diary in which I would write my most private thoughts. With blogging, though, I can connect with other people through my writing and gain more insights into how others think. I also take time to make my writing as nearly perfect as possible before posting it. I have to think carefully about what I write. When I wrote in my diary, I simply jotted down my thoughts and feelings without thinking about how they sounded or how others would react. Technology has helped me make my writing better and more creative.

similar thoughts and feelings. I’m letting them know that they are not alone, and, at the same time, I feel that I’m not alone.

I believe my blog is an expression of my self. It is my art form. I can be as creative as I want to be. In fact, I think blogging is much more creative than traditional writing. For example, I can post a blog and receive immediate feedback in the form of comments. My readers tell me what they think about my ideas and tell their own ideas and feelings. When I read and respond to their comments, I feel like I am sitting at a big, round table discussing important issues with a lot of people. Reading their comments fuels my creativity even more. Because of one person’s

DID YOUKNOW?

The term blog is an abbreviation for weblog, which means a web site that maintains an ongoing chronicle of information, similar to a diary or log.


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During the next year, I saved my money to buy my own Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), a software program for creating and combining different music tones. A DAW also allows me to recreate the sounds of musical instruments. With my DAW, I basically have my own music arts laboratory. It lets me come up with some really unique dance tracks. I spent hours with my friends trying out different rhythms, music styles, and sound qualities, or timbres. I liked being able to add different elements, remove others, and mix sounds in different ways. If I don’t like the way it sounds, I can change it immediately.

Because a lot of teens want to hear new kinds of dance music, I began sharing my dance tracks

When I was growing up, I had three main interests: movies, computers, and music. So once I discovered that I could use the computer to make digital music to put in a video as a soundtrack, I was thrilled. Developing digital music became a creative outlet for me, then it became a hobby, and now it might even become my career.

I was thirteen when I first started experimenting with digital music. I liked building playlists and being a “deejay.” I began using a free tracking program, which creates completely digital music. The only instrument is the computer. Some of my friends also were interested in making digital music, so we got together after school and on the weekends to make our own music tracks. We created a lot of techno music, which is a form of technology-based dance music that has an electronic sound. As I tested different tracks, my friends gave me advice, and their immediate reactions helped me become more creative. I could make changes instantly to see if using some of their suggestions worked better.


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If you’re familiar with how computers work, then you can learn how to create music with a DAW.

With traditional music, you may only have one instrument you can play. It’s creative, of course, but you can’t produce the sounds of many different instruments. In digital music, you can create and change almost any type of musical instrument through your computer and DAW software.

We all live in a digital world now. Almost everyone has a cell phone, a computer, and a digital music player. So, why shouldn’t the creation of music be just as digital? Even though I can’t play a musical instrument, technology has allowed me to become a music artist by using my own ears, pointers from others, and a computer.

on the Internet, mainly to people at my school and to other local teens. They told me that my dance tracks are so much better than the ones they buy. Their praise gave me a lot of confidence, which made me want to try even more new combinations of sounds. By fifteen, I joined a club to share my music experiments with others and to see what others

are doing. This give-and-take of ideas inspired me to keep trying new, creative mixtures.

Next year, I will attend a summer music course for teens who are interested in careers in the music industry. I will learn about things like how to create digital music for movie soundtracks and for video games!

I think today’s music technology has allowed ordinary people to become as creative as they can possibly be. The technology is inexpensive, easy to get, and not that difficult to learn how to use.

DID YOUKNOW?

Before computers, synthesizers were machines that musicians used to create and combine the sounds of instruments using a piano-like keyboard. The first synthesizer was created around 1955, and it was first used by bands in the 1960s.


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hold in my hand. However, instead of applying the paintbrush to canvas or paper, I’m applying it to a digital canvas on my computer screen. All I have to do is choose my tool and then touch my screen. Even better, I don’t have to worry about the mess of paint, water, cleaner, and canvases.

In addition, I can upload photographs and use them in my art. I like to add artistic details to the photographs with my digital tools, combining both photography and art. Both of these types of digital art allow me to be as creative as I possibly can.

When I’ve completed my digital art, I post it on the Internet on a social media site. I’ve made my own page for my works, and a lot of my friends like to see my artwork. They let me know what they like and what they think would be more interesting. Their comments help

I have always enjoyed creating art, whether drawings, paintings, or three-dimensional art made from recycled materials. Then when I got my tablet computer last year, my art expanded to become something completely different from any type of art I had made in the past. My art became digital art.

When I began creating digital art, first I installed a special art program on my computer. This program has digital tools for just about any type of art medium. I could use different types and sizes of paintbrushes, paint, colored pencils, and even oil pastels, a type of oil-based crayon. With these tools, I can create a painting on the computer that looks almost exactly like an authentic oil painting. The paintbrush tool makes the same types of brushstrokes as a paintbrush I would

DID YOUKNOW?

Some digital art is also multimedia, meaning that different types of media are used to create it, including photography, animation, and video.


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try more inventive approaches. I know that if it doesn’t look the way I want, it’s easy to change.

With digital art, I can create almost any type of art on my tablet. Before, I struggled with learning a new medium, such as watercolors. I couldn’t be as creative as I wanted to be because in watercolor painting, for example, the artist has to carefully plan a painting, which takes a lot of skill that takes time to develop. Yet, when I make a mistake, it’s difficult to repair. In contrast, with technology, I can try out multiple types of media, even digital watercolor. Digital art has helped me to unlock my creativity.

me think of new ways to approach the next piece of artwork I want to create. Of course, I also can frame my digital art if I want. I simply download my art to a portable flash drive, take it to a local copying place, and print it on high-quality art paper for framing.

Today’s technology has allowed me to be even more creative than before. With my tablet, I can make unique, colorful pieces of art with just a touch of my finger. I have more time to be creative because I don’t have to deal with gathering together my media, such as paper, canvas, and paint. All of my media is right there in front of me on my computer screen. Also, if I don’t like a certain brushstroke I’ve made, then I can just touch “Undo” and try something different. If I really mess up on a piece of art, then I simply go back to an earlier version I’ve saved and start again from there. That means I’m not afraid to

DID YOUKNOW?

The world’s first computer art exhibition was held in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1965.


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POETRY WEBSITE

friendly competition to see which team gets to be called the “Slam Champs” in the end. At the poetry slam, I met teen poets from across the country. I had so much fun sharing my ideas and poetry with other creative teenagers like myself. When I got back home, I was disappointed that I had to wait an entire year before I could experience that again. So, I decided to create a place where teenagers could share their poetry “virtually” anywhere—on the Internet. I asked my mom about creating a

website, and she agreed to help me get it started. First, we had to consult another website creator and get some resources together. Soon we had it up and running. The website was a bit rough at first, since I was just learning how to manage the information, create website links, and so on. But over time, it has grown to become a popular teen poetry website, reaching the 200,000 visitors mark just last week!

My own poetry is mostly free verse, which is a type of poetry in which the words don’t have to rhyme. I can create visual images with my words, painting pictures for

When I was a little girl, my mother would always read poetry to me at bedtime. I grew to love the sound of poetry, the way the words flowed together and formed a kind of rhythm. As I became older, I started trying to write my own poetry. This wasn’t so easy at first, but now I feel like I can write a poem about almost anything. I still enjoy reading other people’s poetry, too, so I decided to create a place where all kinds of poets could share their work, including myself. That’s how I became a poetry website creator.

I first thought about creating a poetry website when I went to a teen poetry slam one summer in Chicago. A poetry slam is a contest in which participants work as a team to read original poetry on a stage. It’s a

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Also, before I started my website, I wrote my poetry in a journal or notebook. If I wanted to share a poem with my family or a friend, I would let that person read it in my notebook. With the technology of a website, however, anyone can read my poetry. Knowing I have a wide audience has encouraged me to become even more creative and to write even more poetry than before.

Further, through my poetry I can share my own thoughts and feelings with other teenagers across the country. This sharing has allowed me to connect with other teens who may have similar thoughts and feelings. Finally, my website has created an entire network of teenagers who share a common love of poetry. It has given us a place to express ourselves.

my readers to “see” in their minds. I like this type of poetry because it’s very creative. I write about my experiences at school and at home and about my own thoughts and feelings. I have found that I can really express myself through my poetry.

I think creating a website, especially one geared toward an art form, is a wonderful way to express yourself through technology. You can share your own art form in addition to others’ work, as well as participate in contests and forums. I have discovered that having a website allows me to be even more creative than before. Reading another person’s poem will often fuel my own imagination, helping me to think of new ideas for my poems. Also, it has helped me branch out and try many different types of poetry.

DID YOUKNOW?

The Louder than a Bomb festival is held every year in Chicago. It is the largest youth poetry slam in the world. It emphasizes self-expression and community through poetry, oral story-telling, and hip-hop spoken word.

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Name

Student ReSponSe Sheet IndIvIdual ReadIng

How does modern technology help people express themselves?

How Technology Is Used Why Technology Helps

Key Question


On Your Own

1. Read the Key Question. Then read the personal narrative. Look for details, examples, and reasons the author gives that help you answer the Key Question. Circle these words in the personal narrative.

2. Now look back at the personal narrative. Write the words you circled or underlined in the chart below.

3. Think about the Key Question. Write your answer to the Key Question using the information you found in the personal narrative you read.

My First Answer

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Name

Student ReSponSe Sheet Team Discussion

How Technology Is Used Why Technology Helps

Key Question


Share Your Ideas

Meet with your team. Talk about each personal narrative your team read.

1. Tell the team what the person in the personal narrative does. Show the chart you made.

2. Look at the charts your team made. Compare the details in each of your personal narratives by looking at all the charts you made. Answer these questions together.

•Whatistheperson’swayofexpressinghimselforherselfusingtechnology?

•Whatreasonsaregivenforhowtechnologyhelpswithexpressinghimselforherself?

Next, write the ideas that answer the Key Question on the chart below. Write only the ideas that are in every personal narrative your team read.

Answer the Key Question

Review the ideas on your team’s chart. As a team, write an answer to the Key Question. Use the information from the personal narrative to support your answer.


Our Team’s Answer

Documents

of the skaters doing their tricks. Sometimes, I might · people were able to see my drawings and paintings. Now, with my camera and the Internet, I can perfect my videos and then