U.S. History & Imperialism: Explaining With Creativity

Tools Used:
Mindly App
Explain Everything
Adobe Draw

I'm a huge fan of "Common Craft" type of videos.  Students will be creating "Common Craft" type videos completely on the iPad using their creativity and some tools.  Since 2012 our students have created "Common Craft" type videos, and we have progressed with our tools.  I look back on my first explanation video and we definitely can improve.  I feel we are!



Student Created 2018

Creating Keep Folder In Plain English

Draw & Show Plus Explain Everything To Make Common Craft Videos of History of Psychology

Mr. Krause's students created Common Craft videos using the iPad in a different class with different subject matter earlier in the year.  Applying that experience, students in his Psychology class were able to discover and master the "History of Psychology" information while creating videos.

Discover how he changed from lecture format to engaging student driven discovery while using the iPads.

Lunch N' Learn @ PCMS

Starting January 17 for 10 minutes, technology tool tips will be presented to make your life more efficient!

When: Thursdays Sixth Grade Lunch OR Seventh Grade Lunch OR Eighth Grade Lunch

Where: 6th Grade: Mr. Pratt's Room; 7th Grade: Mrs. Schmidt's Room; 8th Grade: Mrs. Mills' Room

Why: To Utilize Tech Tools To Be More Efficient

Topic: Different Every Week

Get all the details in the video below!

Explain Everything Student Productions

Concluding our Common Craft project required production.  One person was the speaker, one person was the mover of objects, and one person was the start stop of the recording.

Worked perfectly!

See how it is done.

Common Craft Day 2 Sharing iPad Photos

We needed all students to contribute to the Common Craft video by making paper props.  We shared these with the person who is actually making the Common Craft type video with the Explain Everything app via our Google Drive app.

Perfect.

Draw and Show Lite For Common Craft Props

As we started our Common Craft videos pertaining to Imperialism, students discovered the features of Draw and Show Lite.  An additional feature of this video provides the reason for creating video tutorials for students.  This allows for students to learn at their own pace.  It is located on the teacher's blog.

See our students in action.

Common Craft Type Videos Entirely On The iPad

Mr. Krause, Mrs. McCumber, and Ms. Wilcox informed me today that he would like to complete Common Craft type videos on the iPad because, as he states it, "I like the explanation aspect".

I immediately thought, "This could be a great opportunity to create the entire video on the iPad."

I chose a drawing app, specifically Draw-n-Share Lite because of its paper feel, and it was free!

I also chose Explain Everything because it is the tool that best provides a canvas.  I thought of Lee and his "four 750 watt  bulbs" that he uses for shooting video.  We don't have that!  Explain Everything removes the additional equipment that is needed while still providing a great production canvas. View the process!


I also liked Explain Everything, because I could write a script for each slide, thus stating clearly what was to be spoken on each slide.  I used Evernote, but any tool, including paper and pencil, could be utilized.
With ONLY one hour into the project, I was able to make the following Producing Muscles In Plain English.



In one week, I look forward to viewing what the students create.