Resources for making movies and integrating video production in the classroom.
How to Make Better Classroom Movies
Make better classroom movies with simple tips that will help elevate your moviemaking to the next level in terms of artistic and technical merit. Learn how to storyboard like a pro, choose shots that support the telling of your story, and capture better lighting and sound. Regain lost opportunities to teach media literacy and higher level thinking with video production by empowering your students. Created for the K12 Online Conference.
Examples of Moviemaking in the Classroom
Camouflage Jones was created with in a second grade classroom to coincide with a unit on animal camouflage. The academic goals of the project included improving student comprehension of the material. A byproduct was improving classroom management by tapping into students’ untapped ability beyond paper and pencil assignments.
Tales from the Yard is a first grade horror movie based on the book In a Dark Dark Room by Alvin Schwartz shot using still images in the style of arthouse classic, La Jetee by Chris Marker. Rather than memorizing the script, students read and reread their parts as reader’s theater to improve reading fluency.
Not every classroom movie is meant to rival Citizen Kane. This simple movie was created by primary age students themselves and resulted in gains in reading fluency and writing scores. In addition, it helped English Learners gain the skills necessary to support their mastery of the English Language.
