NOW Classrooms, Grades 6-8. Meg Ormiston

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      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

       Remind students not to wear green when they record themselves. Green-screen apps cannot differentiate a person wearing green, or other green objects in the foreground, from the physical green screen and will swap them out with the background source.

       If possible, have students mount their recording device on a stand or tripod to stabilize their recording.

       Do Ink’s Green Screen app does not make copies of images and videos that students import from their photo app or photo album. If they delete an image or video from their device, it will also disappear from their Do Ink video. However, after students export their finished projects, any content in that exported project is safe.

      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.