the base layer, have students explain the novel’s plot, from background to resolution, using annotations and links in an annotation app. For example, they can link within the project to the book’s movie trailer or an author interview.
• Mathematics: Ask students to import a chart or graph built on multiple data sets into an annotation app. They then assess the similarities and differences in the data sets using annotations and links to outside resources. For example, students might compare equivalent statistics between two different sports teams.
• Social science: Have students upload an iconic image from history to an annotation app and then analyze the image by adding annotations for background information and deeper analysis in the forms of videos, websites, and student-written text.
• Science: Using a world or country map as a base image, have students use an annotation app to insert annotations that link to resources that explain how human actions at various mapped locations affect certain ecosystems.
Learning goal:
I can use video tools and a green screen to mix background and foreground images.
Wow: Going Places With a Green Screen
Green-screen technology allows students to use images or video to virtually transport themselves to various locations, both fictional and real, by mashing up different foreground and background sources. Movies, TV shows, and commercials commonly use this technology. Many video apps can swap out a bright green background for a student’s choice of image or video (see figure 1.1). Green-screen productions allow students to show their learning in a unique and creative way, practice their speaking and listening skills, and immerse themselves in the content.
Figure 1.1: Students creating a green-screen video.
TECH TIPS
For this lesson, you need a large green background. You do not have to purchase a fancy green-screen kit to experiment with green screens, although many are available. A bright green piece of fabric or poster-sized piece of paper attached to a wall will work fine. You can use multiple apps for this lesson, including WeVideo (www.wevideo.com) and iMovie (www.apple.com/imovie), but we recommend the Green Screen app from Do Ink (www.doink.com). This iOS app is easy to use and allows users to choose between numerous pictures and videos to insert into a video project’s background.
Process: Creating a Green-Screen Video
Use the following seven steps to have students create their own green-screen video.
1. Before choosing a green-screen app to use, students should find or capture images or video they want to appear in their project’s background and save them to the device they use to record their green-screen video.
2. Have students open their green-screen app and create a new project. (If the app asks students to allow it access to the device’s microphone and camera, they should select OK.) Most apps, like Do Ink’s Green Screen, have a divided timeline that features multiple layers that include at least a separate background source and a separate foreground source.
3. Instruct students to choose a source image or video for their background layer and add it to the timeline. This source will appear in place of the green screen in the final video.
4. Tell students to use the available app controls to ensure the background image properly replaces the green screen. This includes cropping or editing their source content and adjusting a chroma filter to filter out the correct shade of green that your screen uses. Refer to the app’s website or manual for specific information on using and adjusting chroma filters.
5. Have students record or add video they want to use in the foreground layer. This usually features a student or student group presenting information they researched that pairs with the background image or video they selected.
6. Ask students to save and export their project to the classroom LMS.
7. Once projects are in the LMS, you can help students share their work with a wider audience by posting links on your classroom social media account.
Connections
You can apply this lesson to different content areas in the following suggested ways.
• English language arts: Before reading The Outsiders (Hinton, 1967), ask students to present information they found while conducting research on the 1960s. They should use corresponding images or videos as background sources while discussing their findings in the foreground source.
• Mathematics: Have students act as tour guides by recording themselves in the foreground taking viewers on a tour of 3-D shapes that appear in the background.
• Social science: Have students record a play or skit from a certain event or time in history, using corresponding historical images as their background.
• Science: Ask students to examine an organism by using a picture of it as their background. In the foreground, they should describe its features and give information about the organism.
• Music: Instruct students to make commercials about their instrument or a musical concept (such as the importance of changing reeds, how to hold a clarinet, or what the vibrato technique involves). They should use their green-screen app to transport themselves to a background setting appropriate for their commercial.
Using Video to Roll Out the Red Carpet
Students can use moviemaking tools to demonstrate their learning across all content areas. In this series of NOW lessons, students learn how to create videos and augmented-reality projects to incorporate into their presentations. Because they are generally comfortable using video technology to learn and teach others, grades 6–8 students should be able to effectively use multimedia to communicate their knowledge.
