Collection Production: Student Projects

Video projects are a great way to motivate students. Whether developing a music video, re-enacting a historical events, or taping a cooking show, students love the challenge of planning and producing their own projects. Along with having lots of fun, teachers can also address standards across the curriculum. Students must write scripts, understand the content, and collaborate with their peers.

Both 30-second video clips and 20 minute documentaries can be effective learning experiences. When designing assignments for students, start with the specific learning outcome rather than the video product itself.

Read the off-site article I Read, I Learn, iMovie: Strategies for Developing Literacy in the Context of Inquiry-based Science Instruction by Randy Yerrick and Donna Ross from Reading Online.

Read the off-site article, Using Digital Video to Enhance Learning at BBC News. Explore the student projects.

Explore the off-site articles at Kids Doing the Media from Media Literacy Review. This issue focuses on students developing media projects. It contains links to lots of examples.

Audio and Video Projects

There are many ways to develop and share projects with audio and visual elements. One approach is to take traditional projects and add multimedia elements. Another idea is to adapt lessons and webQuests you find on the Internet. Do a Google search for video webquest, music video webquest, news video webquest, fitness video webquest or any other topic for lots of examples.

Project Ideas

The following projects could have exciting audio and video elements.

• A City Lost and Found from The New York Times Learning Network
• Learning About Immigration Through Oral History from Library of Congress
• Make a Music Video from Education World
• Marketing Song of Roland - the Movie - students create a movie
• Student Recording Projects Capture Rural Culture, History from The Rural School and Community Trust
• Video Project on Idioms - students act out an idiomatic phrase

Audio Products

Combine the old with the new. Create digital booktalks, book trailers, podcast book reviews, and other high tech ways of sharing books. Check out some examples (from Teachlibrarianwiki):

• Digital Booktalk
• Catcher in the Rye and Handmaid's Tale
• Circle of Seven Productions
• Nancy Keane's Booktalks Quick and Simple
• Tucson-Pima Public Library Teen Summer Reading

The following lessons involve students completing audio recordings.

• Old time Radio Show
• Reading Literacy-Books on CD from Apple iLife Lesson Idea

Video Products

The following webQuests are examples of inquiry-based projects that ask students to create a video as a final product.

• Learning About Tolerance through Folktales by Nancy Gorman, Community Consolidated School District 146, Tinley Park, IL
• Roald Dahl WebQuest
• Solar System: Mining Asteroids WebQuest
• Video WebQuest - product is a fitness video.

The following lessons ask students to create a video as a final product.

• Learning through Storytelling from Turner
• Lesson One: Creating Great Audio for Video from PBS
• Project-Based Learning with Multimedia - video guide
• Understanding Television from Discovery Channel

 

Video Project Evaluation

Checklists, rubrics, and other assessment tools can be used to evaluate student projects. Be sure to think about both the process and product. If students are working in groups, consider both individual and group assessments.

• Evaluating Student Videos
• Video Production Rubric
• Video Production Rubric
• Video Project Rubric
  

Examine the Criteria to Consider When Creating Interactive Media Content for Kids from Children Now. Do you think about these things as you design materials? What other elements would you add to the list?

School and Class Television Programs

Library media specialists are increasingly involved with school-wide video programs. From local cable stations to webcasting there are many ways for students to share their productions with others.

Many schools are developing their own streaming video webcasts. The best example is CHSTV. Check out examples at at Studentbroadcasts.com.

Additional Resources

• Constructing Media in the Classroom from Media Literacy Review
• Integrating Video into the Classroom - tutorial
• Quick and Easy Method of Making Really Cool Videos by Margo Nanny
• Storyboarding Guide by Adam Shulman
• What's in a Video? by Donna Harwood - unit plan
  

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