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Greenscreen Storytelling: Hero or Horror Stories


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Keywords: Flip Video, Storytelling, Greenscreen
Subject(s): English/Language Arts, Technology
Grades 7 through 8
NETS-S Standard:
  • Creativity and Innovation
  • Communication and Collaboration
  • Technology Operations and Concepts
View Full Text of Standards
School: Blatchley Middle School, Sitka, AK
Planned By: Emily Demmert
Original Author: Emily Demmert, Sitka
Desired Results: Students will meet several Alaska State and National Standards.
Students will learn how to tell a story where the main character is dynamic in other words, where he/she learns something or changes in some way.
Time: At 45 minutes per day, this will take 5-10 days depending on how many students you have and their technical abilities.

Language Arts
A) A student should be able to speak and write well for a variety of purposes and audiences.
4) write and speak well to inform, to describe, to entertain, to persuade, and to clarify thinking in a variety of formats, including technical communication;
5) revise, edit, and publish the student’s own writing as appropriate;
6) when appropriate, use visual techniques to communicate ideas; these techniques may include role playing and body language.

Arts
A student should be able to create and perform in the arts.
1) participate in creative writing;
4) demonstrate the creativity and imagination necessary for innovative
thinking and problem solving

Technology
A student should be able to operate technology-based tools.

ISTE NETS
• Creativity and Innovation
• Communication and Collaboration
• Technology Operations / Concepts

Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology:
b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression. Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively.
a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.

Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations:
a. understand and use technology systems.
b. select and use applications effectively and productively.
c. troubleshoot systems and applications.

Assessment Methods
I will use a rubric to assess students’ adherence to storytelling techniques, their performance on video (including audio and video quality), the appropriateness of their artwork to the subject. Plus, there will be a public showing of their work (with popcorn) which should be highly motivating for them.

Classroom Considerations

Sequence of Learning Activities
1. Students will learn how to use the FlipCam (5 minutes if everyone has one).
2. Students introduced to greenscreens by watching my Prezi (https://prezi.com/secure/fdad951a9bc08f4db3b16eb5dd979fd65daff0f0/)and other clips from Drew Carey's Greenscreen show
3. Discussion - what makes a good story. What is a 2-Column Storyboard?
4. They will watch task exemplars of other students. I will use the overlay feature on the Promethean Board for this so that we can pause and write on the board to show how what the storyteller says lines up with the background.
5. StoryStorm - They will come up with story ideas loosely based on a graphic organizer depicting Campbell’s story map OR I will enact it with them, so they have it set in their minds!
6. Before they write anything, they will pitch their stories, “Hollywood style,” to each other. This will hopefully help kids generate more ideas and cut or revise irrelevant or boring ideas.
7. Students will compose in the 2-column storyboard.
8. Peer review and revision of storyboards.
9. Create and scan artwork and/or take pictures with Canon and/or download pics from the web.
10. Practice performance.
11. Film performance, upload, and edit.

Accommodations/ Modifications Students can merely use their voice to
record audio into a mic on a headset if they don’t want to be on video
camera.

Materials/Resources
Digital Storytelling in the Classroom by Jason Ohler
www.jasonohler.com
Windows Movie Maker Live (free)
Adobe Premiere Elements (teacher computer only)
Zamzar.com (free)
FlipCam
studio lights (borrowed)
Computer
Digital Camera
Extension Cords (borrowed)
Extra Lightbulbs
Tripods
Headsets with mics
Wireless mic
Audacity (free)
iTunes (free)
the WWW, of course
Comments
After teaching this once, I realize what a tech-heavy class this is for middle school students. So I still let them run the camera, import their video and create their backgrounds. But then I merge the videos together. I have a couple of pretty good examples here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J90m2I-NzvU and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64RyZDpauoE. Both of these videos show that a main character learns something or changes in some way. But remember, this was my first time through. The kids didn't actually stick to the idea of making their stories hero or horror, but we will do that eventually. They all learned to use the Flip Video Cameras and the software necessary for creating their story backgrounds. I'm very proud of them!
Cross-Curriculum Ideas
Language Arts could use this to perform stories, recite poems. Science classes can use this to describe a scientific process. Leadership classes can use the Flipcams to perform lessons about how to behave properly at school.
Follow-Up
Other technology lessons:
Show students how to embed their videos into their blogs! Show students how to burn their movie into a CD or DVD - two different lessons. Show Discovery Streaming videos about how lasers work.
Links: Lina's Story
Eminem and M&M
Materials: Speech and Language, Dyslexia, Autism, Early Learning, Integrating Technology, Tripods, Flip Video
Other Items: 2 Studio Lights, $25 each, total of $50.00
1 Flipcam, $150 each, total of $150.00
1 Adobe Premiere Elements 9 or other video editing software, $90 each, total of $90.00
1 Greenscreen, $35 each, total of $35.00