How to _____ like a pro!

Grade Level / Content Area: 9th grade English

Objective: To get students to think more deeply about why they enjoy the things they enjoy, and to think critically about their lives as a whole. To get students out of their seats and actively analyzing who they are.

Materials:
*Flip Camera's - 1 per group of 2 students
*PC Computer Lab with Windows Movie Maker (or Mac Lab with IMovie)
*Written proposal, pre-approved by teacher, as to content of documentary

Prerequisite:
*Completion of the "Who I am" Poem which looks at their lives and what has made them into the person they are today.
*A written proposal by each student depicting what their "How To Documentary" will be about, and how they will accomplish the task of recording their project (what materials might they need, what actions might they do in the video or what might they demonstrate, etc).

Procedure:
1. An e-mail will be sent out to teachers in the school prior requesting available rooms for students to record their videos on this day (several groups to a room if need be, and take turns filming). This will ensure that each group is supervised and that groups will be in a quiet room for filming. Allotted time for filming is 1 class period (unless special permission is granted) so as not to inconvienience other teachers beyond a day.
2. Students will record with their partner (their partner as the videographer and themselves as the star). Students will then switch roles to allow both students to complete the project. Each video, in it's rough form, should be about 5 minutes.
3. Students will bring their Flip Cameras to a pre-signed out computer lab and upload their rough videos to their network drives and the teachers flashdrive.
4. The following day, students will come to the computer lab and, using Windows Movie Maker or iMovie (depending on the computer lab design), edit the video to a minimum of 2 minutes, removing "ummms" and awkward moments, adding transitions between cuts, and creating a polished piece of video.
5. Students will add music and effects (including a title slide) to make this their own, and export to a compatible format (WMV or MP4).
6. If the students have video/picture release forms on file, videos can be housed on the teachers Wikipage or classroom website. If no video/picture release is present, video will be graded by teacher and burned to a disc for each student.
7. Students will write a piece explaining their passion, analyzing who they are based on what they do, and discussing the creation of the video. Paper should be a minimum of 500 words.