Animoto for Education

Tinker vs. Des Moines School District

Topic:  Landmark Court Cases


Another Animoto video!  This is a sample video I created for a Social Studies teacher who wanted to give Animoto a try.  The topic for students will be landmark Supreme Court Cases.  Animoto really is a technology tool that can be used with ANY content area!

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Animoto in Education

Using Animoto to Promote the Reading of Nonfiction Texts

I love using Animoto to showcase student learning!  Recently I posted about creating a music video on a fiction book using Animoto.  An English teacher at my high school recently came into our media center and asked about ideas for student book projects.  I suggested to her that the students could read a nonfiction title instead of fiction.  As we all know, CCSS emphasizes the reading of informational text.  The more students read nonfiction, the better they will be at comprehending, analyzing, synthesizing, etc.these texts types that are typically also written at a higher lexile level.

The project was a success!

We started out with a library activity where the students chose one book from each division of the Dewey Decimal System and described why it was a title they found to be interesting.  This activity helped students see the variety of high interest books and topics that are available in each area.  It helped dispel the notion that nonfiction = reference materials, textbook-y, dry, and boring academia books.

I also did a booktalk and used a variety of nonfiction books to showcase - such as the following:

            

I also showed students a sample of their assessment - a music video with texts and captions featuring a nonfiction book in our media center.
I chose No Choirboy:  Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row by Susan Kuklin as my video topic:

The students enjoyed reading their nonfiction books and loved creating a music video with Animoto.  Animoto allows them the chance to upload and include their own visuals, graphics, and images in their final video.  They also can demonstrate their learning by including relevant texts, keywords, and vocabulary all relating to the topic and subject of their nonficiton texts.  Here are a few student examples of our music videos made in Animoto on nonfiction books:







































I wish I could post all of the videos, but this teacher's class was very large!  I am adding more of the music videos on nonfiction books to a Symbaloo. 
New to Animoto?  Just apply at the educator's site for the free Educator's Account in order to obtain a classroom code!
This code will allot you 50 student accounts with full access - full length video productions!  Your account will expire in 6 months.  Re-applying under your account settings, though, is easy and fast.  Animoto is very user-friendly.  You can find tutorials on their website that will guide you through the video-making process.

This is really a great tool to use with students - particularly for those who tend to be hands-on learners!

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Tired of the same book projects and generic novel analysis handouts? So are our students! It’s time to show them Reading Rocks!

Reading Rocks! Using Animoto in the ELA Classroom will provide you with the resources you need to create an engaging, exciting digital storytelling activity. You will utilize this multimedia assessment tool year after year with your students once you see firsthand their excitement, effort, and the sense of ownership over their own learning. 

This teaching and student project packet can easily be implemented with any 6th-12th grade ELA and High School English curriculum and is also aligned with Common Core State Standards. 

As we move towards the widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to implementation, it is clear that the use of technology can no longer be an isolated opportunity - it must be implemented in all areas of thinking and learning. 

Students will be expected to evaluate information in multiple media formats and to produce multimedia presentations in order to showcase their learning. Reading Rocks! Using Animoto in the ELA Classroom provides your students with multiple opportunities to acquire these digital literacy learning skills. 

When educator's integrate digital storytelling with a Web 2.0 ed tech tool such as Animoto, students have the opportunity to engage in a process that includes multiple options for digital literacy learning. 

With the Reading Rocks! Teaching Packet, students engage in the creative process of using technology to analyze, plan, search, access, select, sequence, and synthesize images, text, and music through a variety of digital resources. 

In the included lesson plan, students may work individually or collaboratively to showcase their learning by 

 Searching and selecting representative images and music
 Generating relevant texts and keywords
 Analyzing how their music video’s content relates to their 
novel/topic

In this 58 page bundle of teacher and student resources are lesson plans for creating an Animoto video based on a novel, a teacher’s pacing guide with detailed instructions, and the following editable student templates: Student Image and Pre-search Planning handouts, Elements of a Book Trailer handouts, Animoto Image and Keyword/Texts Analysis worksheets, Creating a Video Based on a Novel Project Description and expectation sheets, Animoto Novel Video Grading Rubrics, and Rate that Movie student slips classroom activity. 

This bundle of resources also includes alternative student worksheets and handouts in order to differentiate instruction within your classroom.

You will have access to a Symbaloo Webmix with over 30 Copyright Free image resource links to simplify your students image searching. Included in this teaching packet is access to a Symbaloo Animoto Video Webmix of over 50 bookmarked Animoto student created videos - all based on popular tween and teen novels! 

Teachers can introduce the Create a Music Video Based on a Novel project by showing these examples of student book trailers in order to motivate and excite their students. This webmix of digital resources can also serve as a springboard for class discussion on identifying what elements make an exciting, enticing book trailer.

New to Animoto? Don’t worry! This packet has you covered! 

As a middle school and high school Media Specialist, I have implemented Animoto with hundreds of students the past nine years and successfully facilitated the video creation process with students from start to finish. Reading Rocks! Using Animoto in the ELA Classroom includes over 58 pages of editable teacher and student Animoto resources - all specific to ELA and the English classroom. 

Included are easy to follow How To Create a Video Using Animoto handouts with screen shots, detailed instructions on how to set up your student accounts, and how to work around common problematic scenarios, such as students not having email addresses as required by Animoto. You will also find tips on how to create and manage class Animoto accounts when you need more than the 50 free student accounts allotted by Animoto. The student login username and password slips template will help you keep all login problems at bay. 

The Teacher’s Toolbox handouts will provide you with the information and guidance needed to avoid or troubleshoot problems during the video creation process– such as when the students ask “Where are the images and pictures I saved?” and “Why won’t my picture upload into Animoto?”

With the purchase of this bundle of Animoto in the Classroom ELA resource packet, you will have on hand editable templates in order to use this activity with ANY story or text – from Shakespeare’s plays to nonfiction, informational articles!

This resource bundle will empower students with the capability to create a final product reflecting their own analysis, highlighting their creativity, and providing an outlet to express their own unique voice. 

Sunday, January 19, 2014