Christy Matteson Swafford1
SEW Instructional Menu
Technology - Video Documentary
Christy Matteson Swafford
Conceptual Lens: Power
Unit Plan Titles: Now Playing: You (2-3), Ready…and Action (6-8)
Guiding Question: How do you want the world to view the SEW experience?
Unit Summary: In this unit, students will use video technology to share their SEW experience with the world. The unit focuses on the importance of producing a final product that portrays SEW through the eyes of a student. Students will plan, shoot, edit, and present a video documentary of their SEW experience. During the class, students will discover how easy it is to use technology to document current events and connect with the outside world. They will also become more comfortable with video cameras and video editing software. By the end of the unit, students will possess the framework to further evolve their technology skills and apply them to real world situations.
TYPE I ACTIVITIES
1.To generate interest, read following books related to interviewing:
●Pat Cummings’s Talking With Artists Volume II
●Pat Cumming’s Talking With Artists Volume III
●Leonard S. Marcus’s Author Talk
2.View video clips of students conducting interviews
● (good)
● (not-so-good)
3.Discuss the differences in a “good” interview and a “not-so-good” interview
4.Log in to MediaChalk.com, watch a demonstration video
5.To better plan interviews, discuss all SEW Classes and their descriptions
6.Review the video clip of a good student interview for the role of interviewer >
7.Watch a video clip on the role of a producer/director > (2:15-4:40)
8.Discuss how to organize many ideas to create a plan
9.View examples of real scripts
●E.T.
●The Chronicles of Narnia
●Toy Story
10.Watch a video clip on script writing > (2:00-4:02)
11.View examples of real storyboards
●Purina Dog Chow
●M&M World
●Where the Wild Things Are (movie)
12.Watch a video clip on storyboarding > (Toy Story)
13.Discuss picture books that utilize storyboarding to tell a story using little to no words
●Istvan Banyai’s Zoom/Re-Zoom
●Steve Breen’s Stick
●Raymond Briggs’s The Snowman
●David Macaulay’s Black and White
●Jerry Pinkney’s The Mouse
●Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are
●David Wiesner’s Flotsam
●David Wiesner’s Tuesday
14.Introduce parts of the Flip camera
15.Practice using the Flip camera
16.Introduce Windows Movie Maker
17.Practice using Windows Movie Maker’s features
TYPE II ACTIVITIES
1.Think of many, varied, and unusual transformations for your flip camera (Productive Thinking)
2.Think of many, varied, and unusual SEW interview questions (Productive Thinking)
3.Review Talents Unlimited Charts, then think of many, varied, and unusual strategies to integrate Talents into your interview questions (Productive Thinking)
4.Use Planning Talent to create a plan for your Media Chalk All About Me/To Tell the Truth Interview. (Planning)
5.Create a Media Chalk All About Me/To Tell the Truth Interview using some of your SEW interview questions (Synthesis)
6.As a class, watch our Media Chalk All About Me/To Tell the Truth Interviews, analyze “good interview” skills and proper uses of Talents (Analysis)
7.Give many, different words to describe an interviewer (Communication #1)
8.Using the Decision Making Talent, choose two group members that best fit the role of interviewer (Decision Making)
9.Give many, different words to describe a producer/director (Communication#1)
10.Using your words as a guide, choose a group member who best fits the role of director
11.Give many, different works to describe a writer (Communication #1)
12.Using your words as a guide, select a group member who best fits the role of a writer
13.Brainstorm ideas for your SEW video –organize these ideas into a concept map
14.Create a plan for your SEW video (Planning #1)
15.Using your plan, create a script for your SEW video (Synthesis)
16.Develop storyboards for your SEW video using poster board, paper, index cards. etc. (Synthesis)
17.Begin producing your SEW video (Synthesis)
18.Use Windows Movie Maker to edit your SEW video (Synthesis)
19.Hold a private SEW video screening - rate and critique videos (Evaluation)
20.Upload your video to an unlisted YouTube account
21.While watching the final copy of your SEW video, predict the many, varied effects that sharing your video might have on others (Forecasting #2)
22.Use Planning Talent to plan a presentation for Parent Day (Planning)
TYPE III ACTIVITIES (Synthesis)
1.Create a digital video documentation of the entire SEW experience. Share your video on parent day.
2.Develop your own video production team to report on important events in your town. Share your video report with friends, family, and classmates.
3.Create your own movies using a simple video camera and Microsoft Movie Maker. You can write your own scripts, cast your friends as characters, and direct the whole production!
4.Develop your own video production classes. Educate your friends, family, or teachers on what you learned at SEW. They will be astonished at how much new information you have to share!
5.Use the storyboard process to write your own book. If you enjoyed David Wiesner’s books, use storyboarding to tell the whole story. Share your storyboards and book with a local librarian.
6.Use StoryBird.com to create digital stories with professional illustrators’ work. Share your stories with a local librarian.
References
AFIScreenNation. (2008, March 13). Roles & responsibilities: AFI's lights, camera, education! [Video file]. Retrieved from
AFIScreenNation. (2008, March 13). Script writing: AFI's lights, camera, education! [Video file]. Retrieved from
Aimee. (2009, October 16). Where the wild things are: An interview with storyboard artist Federico D’Alessandro. Retrieved from with-federico-dalessandro/
Banyai, I. (1995). Zoom. New York, NY: Viking.
Banyai, I. (1995). Re-Zoom. New York, NY: Puffin Books.
BradleySMP. (2010, November 5). Toy Story: Storyboarding [Video file]. Retrieved from
Breen, S. (2007). Stick. New York, NY: Dial Books for Young Readers.
Briggs, R. (1978). The snowman. New York: Dragonfly Books.
Cohen, J., Stanton, A., Sokolow, A., & Whedon, J. (1995). Toy story. Retrieved from
Cummins, P. (Ed.). (1995). Talking with artists (Vol. 2). New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Cummins, P. (Ed.). (1999). Talking with artists (Vol. 3). New York, NY: Clarion Books.
Dye, J. (2010, November 22). Student interview at InFusion [Video file]. Retrieved from
Lewis, C. S., & Peacock, A. (2005, December). The chronicles of Narnia: The lion, the witch and the wardrobe. Retrieved from The-Lion,-the-Witch-and-the-Wardrobe.html
Macaulay, D. (1990). Black and white. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Marcus, L. S. (Ed.). (2000). Author talk. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Mathison, M. (1982). E.T. Retrieved from
Pinkney, J. (2009). The lion & the mouse. New York: Little Brown and Company.
Sendak, M. (1991). Where the wild things are. United States of America: Harper Collins.
Simon, M. Spot: Purina Dog Chow. Retrieved from east.com/sb_dog_chow.htm
Simon, M. Client: M&M World. Retrieved from
Wiesner, D. (2006). Flotsam. New York, NY: Clarion Books.
Wiesner, D. (1991). Tuesday. New York, NY: Clarion Books.
Zimmerman, B. (2008, October 31). Student interview with Caroline Kennedy & visiting an Obama office [Video file]. Retrieved from