5 Ways Students Can Create with Video

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     What is the thing that most students want to be when their expectations are still a bit unrealistic? It used to be an athlete and movie star, then it seemed to be a rap star, but now it’s all about being a video creator and influencer. Youtube has been a dream for students for many years, but TikTok and Instagram have only made that dream potential greater.  Students are genuinely interested in video, and you know what that means? We can use it in the classroom.
    Video can be an excellent tool for students to show what they know because the scenarios you can lay down are almost endless. Getting more meaning out of what students create starts the scenario they are creating too. Using video means you can design multiple different scenarios just around the type of project. It gives you opportunities to add choice, and that can be the key to add student creation into your class.
    Designing scenarios is all about imagination, and I am sure you are already thinking about several. There is no wrong answer here, but I wanted to give you 5 to get started. They are:

• Commercials
  
  • ​You have to know something to sell it well, and commercials will bring that out quickly. I always had students put one together for the industrial revolution because the products are made for that (the light bulb, anyone?), but it could be almost anything. You could do a commercial for an animal, a math concept, or a literary character. In presenting that sell, students will show their understanding.
• News Broadcast
  
  • ​A news broadcast is another low-hanging fruit. You can turn almost anything into an event, and if you turn it into an event, it can be a report. You can simply have students tell the event’s story in an interesting creative way, and they can do it with that easy-to-use news broadcast format. There are even great templates you can use in apps like Touchcast.
• Paper Slide Videos
  
  • ​If you don’t have many devices, this is an excellent option for almost any type of video. The basic concept is that students write a script and draw out the story on paper. Then when they get a device, the filming time should be pretty short. It still gives students the ability to tell the story; it just puts everything before touching the device.
• Stop Motion Animation
  
  • ​Stop Motion Animation is an old-school storytelling device that used to be complicated. With the multitude of apps out there, it is now easy. Students could use this to tell stories on a large scale where having people stand in is next to impossible. Think of it as giving old-school dioramas a fundamental storytelling component.
• Interviews
  
  • ​​Interviews are simple yet effective. You can have the kids play a character, whether from history, literature, or even a creative science and math concept. Kids can then get creative in how they present it. The beauty of interviews is they can be open.