Video Book Reviews

Green screen backgrounds
can become anything!

     Second grade teacher Mrs. Marceau was looking for a way to use technology to present her students' opinion writing pieces. Book reviews. We focused on using video. Our conversation about book review videos sparked Mrs. Marceau's memory of the classic Reading Rainbow book reviews. So we decided to recreate them. I set up the green screen on the wall in the computer lab. Then the students wrote a shortened version of their book review. One that was easier to read on camera.

The closer the teleprompter is to the
camera lens, the better the student's
eye contact with the camera.

Then Emily Sun, my SHS senior options student, transferred the short text onto a web site, which turned our iPad into a teleprompter. One by one, students stepped in front of the camcorder and read from the teleprompter. It can be a nerve wracking experience for any adult, let alone 8 year olds, but each student performed admirably with their pre-production work as well as with their on-camera Reading Rainbow performance. We recorded each video and uploaded them for display on the class blog. It was hard work, but like all tough jobs, gratifying.

From Wondering to Researching to Teaching

Wondering topics ranged from
supernovas, to sustainable energy, to
Sesame Street.

     Children come to school each day with that built-in sense of wonder. Classroom teachers are challenged to find ways to sharpen their skills for finding answers to the things they wonder about. These essential research skills, whether asking targeted questions, synthesizing ideas, or educating an audience, will serve them well in school and life. Mrs. Blackley challenged her 5th grade students to wonder about anything and write a short narrative that incorporated their findings. And while their writings were fascinating reads in themselves, the impact is in the videos they produced and then published to the Internet, which will allow them to reach and teach a broader and, potentially, global audience.
     So as a class, we discussed the video medium and how the spoken words, or script, provide information, often research findings, that support the visuals. The video script is a different style of writing compared with their expository pieces. Once we had a rough script, we developed a visual storyboard using Google Slides.
     The storyboard is our pre-production plan for editing in iMovie. Students recorded their narration using Vocaroo, a web based tool, downloaded mp3, picture, and video files into iMovie, and after one or two editing lessons, were on their way. The results were impressive. But as I always tell students, the most informative and engaging videos begin with an informative and engaging script. The foundation of the video has to be a great story. Otherwise, the video becomes Grandpa's slideshow of Yellowstone Park and your audience will yawn and lean towards the door. As I often tell my students, when it comes to making videos, the easiest thing to do is make a bad one. Our goal was to make videos that engaged and informed an audience and left them begging to see it again and again. I believe we accomplished that. Check out Manami's fantastic video production as well as her storyboard. It's unfathomable that when the year began, she hardly spoke English :)