Photos and Videos
3.2 - Creating
Focus Tasks
Taking Photos and Videos
Photo Taking Activities
Pupils should be taking photos all the time! Just make sure you have some planned tasks to focus on the skills involved. Here are some suggestions:
- Grow plants from seeds and ask your pupils to take a photo every day to show its growth. (Make sure you print these out so the children can see their photos displayed).
- What's your favourite areas in the school? Pupils take photos of their favourite areas (e.g. yard, forest, cafeteria, reading corner etc.).
- Alphabet Photo Bingo - Give your pupils bingo cards with 9 squares and a letter of the alphabet in each square. Ask your pupils to go around the classroom taking pictures of objects whose names start with those letters. Can they fill their card?
Remember, the focus during these activities should be on how to take, and select, good photos. Teach them"
- To take two photos of the same place, then check to see which one was best and delete the other.
- To decide for each photo whether to use the iPad/camera in portrait or landscape mode.
- To decide how far from, or how near to, the subject matter they should hold the camera.
- That their photos can be sent to a computer to be looked at or to be printed. (They don't need to know how to do this yet, only that it's possible.)
Video Recording Activities
Just as with photo taking, you need a few activities focusing on the skills required when recording video.
- Film each other re-enacting the story from the class' current storybook.
- Film their partners explaining what was their best part of the school week.
Remember, the focus during these tasks is on the digital skills. Here are a few tips you can give your pupils:
- They film in landscape mode, not portrait.
- They need to film close enough to the person talking so that we can hear their voice (but not too close!)
- Their videos shouldn't be too long. Short clips are the best but certainly no more than a minute or so in length.
Voice Recording Activities
- Use a 'miming' app to enable pupils to make characters come to life. Pupils can use the app to make any character or object talk. They can put words in the mouth of the Tiger who came to tea, or have Queen Victoria say she's not amused.
- Use Book Creator to insert photos and record facts about different dinosaurs (or mini-beasts, or countries or any other group of items).
Guide to Using Book Creator
Enhanced Provision
The Camera Never Stops
Photos
Encourage pupils to take photos regularly. You are likely to need photos of most activities for evidence purposes so why not have a weekly class 'Photo Monitor' who can help out?
Videos
- During PE lessons that involve groups doing different activities and moving from one to another, have one station be the 'Video Recorder Station' where the pupils video pupils in other groups. This works even better if they immediately show the video to the pupil featured in it so that he / she can quickly review their performance and improve it on the next attempt.
- Film their partner explaining how they solve a maths question.
- Every Friday, pupils film each other explaining what was the best part of their week. Remind them to stop filming after a maximum of 15 seconds.
Voice Recording
Voice recording apps such as Yakit Kids and Book Creator lend themselves to any topic (and kids LOVE to use them!) Make sure there are enough iPads available for pupils to use such apps as often as possible.