Creating Narrated Slideshows and Digital Stories on a Chromebook Using Adobe Spark

One of the more popular tips and tutorials I've created has been how to create a narrated slideshow on a Chromebook. I used to use WeVideo for this, but last week Adobe released a tool called Spark. I was hoping it would be a simpler tool than WeVideo.

I tried out its features for importing images, adding narration and exporting the finished video and I'm happy to say it has worked very easily so far. I made a quick screen recording of the process so I could share it with teachers and students in my district.

This is new for all of us, but in case this helps others to get started with Spark, here's the video:

If you are interested in this post, you might also like my Tech Project Packs. Each one is a collection of resources for tech projects you can use in any class or subject.

How to use the Google Slides mobile app to make comics from real life photos

A lot of teachers have been using my process for creating comics with Google tools. I was thrilled to find it can now be easily done using the Slides mobile app! The best part of this is now you can bring in the real world pictures very easily.

If you haven't seen the general process and possible final products, you can read all about it on this page from my Education On Air presentation from a few weeks ago.

That process starts on a Chromebook or a computer and it uses either Google Drawings or Slides.

Now you can start in the Slides mobile app. I did this on an iPad, but the Android app will be similar.

First, start a new Slides presentation.

On a blank slide, click the + sign and select Image.

Choose to get the image From Photos or From Camera. Notice that if you use the camera, this is an amazingly simple way to immediately bring the real world into your creations!

Crop, resize and move the image as necessary.

To add comic elements, click the + again and select Shape this time.

Select Callouts and scroll down to the three comic elements. Choose the one you want.

From there, it's just a matter of placing the thought or word bubble, dragging the point to the character who is speaking or thinking and then entering the text. Here's my sample taken from a game I was playing with my son.

A few things to consider:

• While the tools are easy to use on the app, you might prefer to just use the app to bring the pictures into the Slides presentation. Then you (and any collaborators) can open that presentation on a Chromebook or computer for easy editing. 
• See my two-minute tutorial on creating the comics using a computer. The first steps are now replaced by the import process above, but the rest of the video shows the details of adding and editing the comic elements.
• You can change the background color of the slides by editing the presentation on a computer or Chromebook at any time.
• See the Projects page of my website for possible end products we make such as PDFs, virtual books or videos.

How to Create a Narrated Slideshow on a Chromebook Using Google Slides and WeVideo

I've had a few teachers ask for a project somewhere between a PowerPoint presentation and a full blown video project. I have been suggesting what I call a narrated slideshow and I made a tutorial to show them how to do it on a Chromebook.

This process uses Google Slides and WeVideo. I really like how the whole thing can be done on one device.

I recently updated the final video below to include:

• Correct terminology for the final step in WeVideo.
• Steps showing how to turn it in through Google Classroom.

Some of these steps are specific to the Chromebook, but the great thing about these tools is that you can use them on any computer as long as you have a microphone.

First, here's an example of what I mean by a narrated slideshow:


In part 1 I show a brief overview of creating the presentation and how to download the slides as image files.



In the second stage I show how to import the images into WeVideo and how to build the video presentation. (WeVideo was recently updated, so some screens won't be identical to what you see in this video.)



In Part 3 I explain how to record your narration. (WeVideo was recently updated. It looks like they fixed the problem I refer to in the video about showing the preview while recording.)


In this final step I show how to finalize the project as a video saved in WeVideo and Google Drive. I also show how to turn it in through Classroom.

Note: Be aware that the free version of WeVideo is limited to how many minutes of video you can export each month. If the students keep these under five minutes there shouldn't be a problem, but they need to be sure their work is as good as possible before exporting. Multiple exports of even short videos could end up exceeding the limit on free accounts.


Note about first four videos above:
The first four videos were recorded on a Chromebook. I normally make my video lessons on a PC with Camtasia. Here I used the SnagIt Chrome app and extension. I edited in WeVideo (using some premium features as part of a free month trial). I am happy with the results using the free tools, but they are not as polished as other tutorials I have created.

Reflection assignments from the Mini-Documentary Project

A few weeks ago I posted resources from our mini-documentary project from our high school Communications and the Media class. As we were finishing the project, I realized the students needed time to reflect on all the learning that had taken place. I created these two assignments for this purpose.

This first short assignment was given when they collected most of the content for their videos, but before they finished editing.
Reflection Assignment 1

When the videos were completely finished, we gave students this longer reflection.
Reflection Assignment 2

Mini-Documentary Project for High School

The past week I've been working with Melinda Newcombe, an ELA teacher at our high school. She teaches the Communications and the Media class and we decided this year to do a mini-documentary project.

Eventually students will be making short documentaries or informative videos about something in our school. More than just retelling facts, we are requiring them to tell it through a story or at least to include a story in the video.

We hope this generates a few segments we can use in our regular video announcements. I helped kick things off with a few thoughts and examples in a presentation. I also created some worksheets to aid students in planning. We are still working through the project, so I'll add notes, examples and other resources as they come.

Resources we used are below, but I want to point out first what a huge help the Stillmotion videos on storytelling have been. I used them last year in a similar unit I posted about. I refined that lesson and have used the Stillmotion videos slightly differently, but their information was foundational in our approach.

This is the presentation I used as an introduction. It mostly served to show a few clips of informative videos in different styles. The first is a video I created for our district several years ago when I was completing my master's degree. It was good for catching our students' attention with scenes familiar to most of them. The other videos are more well known, but in all cases I'm sure you could find any number of excellent clips online that will suit your needs.

Note that we are encouraging students to find a story, not just to retell some information. The description of a story (a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it) comes from Donald Miller's books A Million Miles in a Thousand Years and Storyline. I wrote about those ideas at length here.

Students formed groups of three or four and they used this worksheet to review the ideas and plan their videos.
     Documentary Worksheet 1

Then we showed this second video from Stillmotion. I love how the use of keywords can sharpen the focus. This worksheet followed.
     Documentary Worksheet 2

I also created this short video as an example. I was pressed for time last week, so it's rough. That's fine because it gave us something to evaluate. Most importantly, it shows realistically what we can accomplish with technology available to our students.

We will be using this planning worksheet in the upcoming week. 

     Documentary Planning Sheet

Note that this refers to some different options for technology, such as Movie Maker or iMovie on an iPad. We have some laptops available for students, but some prefer to use their own devices. This requires us to keep an open-ended approach to the technology. This, along with the infinite options for documentary topics, is a stretch for both of us teachers involved!

As I said, more details, examples and resources will come as we finish up this fun unit.

Shadow Puppet App for Digital Stories and More

I've been very impressed with the free Shadow Puppet iPad app for quick digital slideshows. In the past I've written a lot about 30Hands as my favorite tool for creating these, but I have to say Shadow Puppet is now my go-to app.

I'll post a quick example video I made below. Here are the features that impress me the most so far:

• The intuitive interface allows you to quickly arrange some photos and record narration.
• You can add titles, zoom in and pan and also draw on the screen.
• The Edu version and website has some great resources for the classroom including image search engines and lesson ideas.
• It exports to the Camera Roll so you can share it how you like, transfer to a computer and even edit it in other applications.

The only downsides I've seen so far:

• The area for the image is cropped to a square shape rather than a 4:3 or 16:9 rectangle. 
• The music plays during the recording if I use that option.
• I got confused at the end of the creation process. I wasn't sure if I was previewing the video or finishing it.
• I'm not sure if this is a problem with my YouTube app or the video created by Shadow Puppet, but when I upload it, the audio is a few seconds off from the video.

For an app that should work well with almost every grade level, those are minor quibbles.

If I'm making a quick story for our high school news or a highlight for my church Facebook page, I'll go to the more robust iMovie. For the classroom, though, Shadow Puppet is my current recommendation to students and teachers. Download the Edu version now and give it a try!

miGoogle presentation for Comics and Creativity Games with Google Tools

This week I had to privilege of presenting at the miGoogle conference in Brighton, Michigan, along with dozens of great educators from around the state.

My topic was a very simple one--how to make comics by combining real life pictures with a few tools from Google Drawings or Slides.

Here's the website with all my resources, including:

• My presentation slides
• An example comic we started during the session
• Related tutorials
• Our sample project, including how to turn the comics into ebooks and videos
• Information on my creativity games

I shared many of these resources throughout other posts on this blog, but this one place to find them all as well as additional things I shared only at the conference.

If you want to see the sample comic we started during the session, it's here:

Tips for Classroom Video Projects

This is an updated list from a popular post I wrote last year. It's my attempt to compile the tips I find myself repeating to teachers and students whenever I help with classroom video projects.

I have enjoyed making movies and videos all my life and certainly one of the most rewarding parts of my job is getting to share the experience with students who are new to the process. Videos are a great way to showcase learning and I've been having a blast this year as many more teachers in my district are assigning video projects. I updated my previous list and regularly send this to teachers before we work together.

I'll probably keep adding to and refining this over time. If you have any comments or other suggestions, please share them.

If it would be helpful to have this as a single document, I have a Google Docs version here.

For Teachers

Set expectations at the start for requirements and the project timeline. I suggest a one page assignment sheet that answers these questions:

• What course content is required in the video?
• How much creative freedom will students have? For example, can they be serious or silly? Possibly list options for types of videos, such as skits, documentary style, newsroom style, etc.
• How long do you want the videos to be?
• When will each phase of the video (planning, recording and editing) be due?
• Where will these be recorded?
• How will it be graded? If you have a rubric, include it, or at least the criteria, on this sheet.
• What will they have to turn in (if anything) at each phase and how will they submit it?

Keep realistic, tight deadlines. Set the time you want students to use for planning, recording and editing and stick to it no matter what. Many students will take far longer if they are allowed to. Let them know they must work outside of class if it’s going to take longer.

Share the work when students are done. Share the best videos as much as possible. Post them to your own blog or website and any school public pages, etc. Of course, be sure you have permission to share images and video of the students before you post anything publicly.

Read over the list of student tips below and be sure students are aware of the ones you consider important for the current project.

For Students

Be realistic when planning. Unless you’ve created videos before, don’t plan special effects or anything that will require advanced editing.

Use one camera if at all possible. Using multiple cameras makes it harder to get all your videos in one place and file compatibility can be more of an issue. Even better, if you use an iPhone, iPod or iPad, edit right on the device with iMovie. **Note: Record photos and video to the Camera Roll, directly into the iMovie app.

Don’t plan to use music you can’t easily access and legally download at school. Part of any tech project is to learn the rules of copyright and fair use. It is not legal to use someone else’s song in your videos unless they have given permission. Here’s my favorite site for downloading free music. The composer gives permission for any use as long as you credit him in the video as he explains on his site.      
                           http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/

When it’s time to edit, bring any USB cables that work with your camera so it’s easy to transfer files. When all else fails, it’s possible to upload your videos to Google Drive, then download them to the computer you are using for editing. This will take awhile if you have long videos, though, so cables are best.

Plan in detail. It's more fun to start recording, but poor planning will result in either lots of frustrating editing or a poor final video. Good planning includes a detailed script for all dialogue or narration and a storyboard showing the basic camera views for each shot.

Make sure you are recording files you can edit later. This means you have to record with a camera, phone or other device that creates a file format compatible with your editing software. I recommend doing a quick test with your equipment first. Record a short clip and try to edit it with your editing software.

Hold your camera, phone or device in the landscape position. Not only is this a pet peeve of mine, if you get this wrong it immediately makes your video look amateur. Shoot with YouTube and the big screen in mind so your possibilities are not limited. The graphic below is one I made based on one I found from another teacher on Twitter. I don't know if this site is the original source of the image, but I found it here.

Think about what the viewer is seeing and break up the scene accordingly. Does it make sense to stand back with the camera and just record the whole scene as if it were a skit? Or would different camera angles throughout make it more interesting? Would close-ups of certain action help tell a better story? Is there anything in the background that will distract the viewer from what is most important?

Listen before recording. Is there background noise or bad acoustics that echo when actors talk or make other sounds? Choose a quiet location.

Listen carefully when you are recording too. Be aware that a distracting noise (squeaky chairs, doors closing, etc.) while someone is saying a line can't be removed later. We often block these things out easily when listening to someone in real life, but when watching a video they are impossible to ignore.

Speak clearly when being recorded. Probably everyone involved in the video knows the script and knows what is being said, so everyone understands the lines. The viewers don't have that advantage. Pay attention to how fast you talk, how loud it is and whether or not the words are distinct.

Record too much rather than not enough. Start recording several seconds before action will start. If someone will say, "Action," or otherwise alert everyone to start, be sure they wait at least a second after the camera has started before they cue the actors. It is so easy to trim a few seconds off the start or end of a clip in editing. Compare that to the case when the camera person turns off the camera immediately after the last line or the actors start talking as soon as the camera starts. Those make for bad edits later.

If you have the time, get two good takes of each shot. You can overdo this, but generally if everyone finally gets a good performance once, the next one will be even better. During editing it can help a lot to have a couple choices for the take that will end up in the final video..

When acting a scene, don't look at the camera or the people behind the camera. It is very common for actors to look to the person working the camera as if to say, "Did we get it right?" Those looks can ruin an otherwise great take and sometimes you won't notice them until editing later.

To sum it up, remember you will have a much better final video if you…

• Plan carefully.
• Pay attention when recording.
• Always consider what the viewer will see and hear.

Comic Assignment with Google Drawings, Slides, WeVideo and Flipsnack

This week I continued our comic assignment with two more parts. (Click here to see how we started the project.)

First, students used Google Slides to convert their comics to a PDF. Then that was uploaded at Flipsnack to turn it into a virtual book.

For the final step, we are converting those same comic images into a video using WeVideo.

The assignments sheets are here:

• Comic Assignment 2 - Creating an eBook
• Comic Assignment 3 - Turning Your Comic into a Video

Here's an example (just four pages) of how these ebooks look on Flipsnack.

And below is the tutorial I created that shows how to use WeVideo to make a simple video slideshow. As explained in assignment 3, there is no audio. Also, there is a table of contents that makes it easy to jump to just the short parts you need based on the steps of the assignment.

Comic Assignment with Google Drawings

Back in April I posted about using Google Drawings to make comics. Since then, I've had a chance to use it in a couple settings. Below I'm linking to the latest assignment I created for our high school Digital Media class.

First, here's the outline:

• We took pictures of two students who posed with a few emotions.
• The pictures were uploaded to a shared Google Drive folder where students could access them.
• The rest of the class looked at the pictures and planned their original stories.
• Using the process shown in a video tutorial, students added word bubbles and thought bubbles to make comics.

You can view a copy of the assignment here. It has a link in the assignment to the shared folder of pictures and the video tutorial.

Follow-up assignments will show the students how to turn the images into an ebook and a video version of their stories. Those additional steps will appear here on the blog after we use them in class.

The Tutorial

If you want to see the video tutorial that shows how to create the comics, it's here. Note that this was for our students, so I refer to the teacher by name in one part. If you're using it in class, just explain your students would share it with you.

Three Simple Tutorials for Creative Project Based Learning

I'm preparing for a P^3BL session I'll lead this weekend and all that work is filtering into my Teaching Like an Artist blog. I didn't realize I hadn't updated this one in over two weeks!

Here are three tutorials for short digital projects that are worth pointing out:
Narrated Image Slideshows using Pixlr and Videolicious on iPad - These make great ways to present spoken poems or short stories.
Narrated Image Slideshows using iMovie and GarageBand for iPad - This is another method for creating slideshows. By using Garageband for the narration it also allows the opportunity to make up simple music too.
Quick Songwriting with UJam - I have created other tutorials for UJam on this blog, but this one shows the simplest way to turn a short tune into an mp3 of a fully arranged song.

Digital Storytelling for Middle School with WeVideo

I created a digital story assignment to introduce WeVideo and we tried it out this week.

It confirmed for me that WeVideo is a great tool for the classroom. This assignment results in a digital slideshow, so we were only uploading photos. I'm not sure how well it will work with video, especially long clips, but I hope to try that out soon.

For now, it is my recommended editor when teachers ask me for a resource to create narrated slideshows.

For our assignment, I took 10 pictures of students in various poses. The students had to arrange at least six of these pictures into some short story in WeVideo. They were required to add a title and end clip as well as captions and some panning and zooming.

Here are the resources for the assignment:

• The assignment sheet - This includes directions, requirements and links to the tutorials.
• A shared folder on Google Drive with the pictures - These 10 photos were taken ahead of time.
• Video Tutorial 1 - This shows how to get started in WeVideo. It shows the basics of the interface, how to upload, arrange, add captions and titles and also how to pan and zoom.  Note:  The tutorial refers to uploading the photos because in our class we didn't store photos in Google Drive. You can upload from Drive or you could save those photos above in a different folder.
• Video Tutorial 2 - This tutorial shows how to add music and how to publish and share the final video.

This basic assignment lends itself to a lot of modification for different needs. Here are some suggestions:

• Have the students take their own photos.
• Have another class take the photos.
• Instead of using actors in the photos, students could set up action figures or maybe even objects.
• They could draw the pictures digitally or on paper.
• Require editing of the photos. For example, speech bubbles could be added.
• Narrate the story and have students read the dialogue.

If you use this assignment or you have suggestions for other changes I'd love to hear from you!

Tiny Tap App for Digital Storytelling...Or Flipped Teaching

Update 3/7/2014: I just updated the app and I was very happy to see they added a "Jump" option to the Sound Board activity! This allows you to make a region of the screen a sound AND a link to a new page. Story lines can now branch, making for "choose your own adventure" style, interactive fiction. This was the feature I was waiting for, so multiply the positive of this original post by at least five!

Tiny Tap is a free app for iPad that allows the user to create very simple games. I installed it at least a year ago and used it with a few young children, including first graders. Recently I discovered newer features that could make it excellent for digital storytelling or maybe even flipped teaching or blended learning.

The primary activity in the games is to tap the correct part of the picture. You can record an audio prompt, such as, "Tap Grandma's picture." When the user taps Grandma a success sound is played and a balloon rises on the screen. I have found students enjoy playing the simple activities.  As soon as I show them how to make them, they immediately want to make their own questions by choosing the "answer area" on their pictures.

At some point the app was updated and I noticed it had a few more bells and whistles. One time when I tried to show someone how to use it, I ran into trouble with getting the imported picture to "stick". I didn't have time to figure it out and I didn't come back to it for many months.

But this week at the family Thanksgiving dinner I decided I'd show it to my nephew. He is in kindergarten now, so I was curious if the app would be simple enough for him to make a game. (I knew he'd be able to play one I made, but I was hoping to encourage some creativity rather than just another gaming experience.)

I learned that with a little assistance he picked it up quickly. I also discovered they added two other types of activities. Now instead of every page being a guessing game, there is also:

• Sound Board - A picture is displayed and you can enclose areas that are "buttons". For each one, you can record narration or a sound.
• Say Something - This allows you to add narration to a page.

By using Say Something, the app becomes a very nice tool for telling a story involving pictures and narration. 

It is easy to import the pictures. (I learned that to stick the picture in place after importing it from the camera or Camera Roll you have to double tap it and choose "Stick".) Once imported, they can be resized and arranged. There are a few simple art tools to write or draw on the page.

Next, you can add one of the activities. Once I showed my nephew how to add a question he was excited. He made a few pages with ease. There are a few steps, so I had to remind him where to click the first few times.

I love the potential for a narrated story that has guessing activities or a Sound Board in it. Imagine a story about a toy coming to life and hiding. The question pages would provide fun for the child to identify the hiding place, possibly based on carefully listening to the previous pages. The Sound Board pages offer a lot of room for creative uses, such as an exploration to gain clues by tapping different areas or just a "play area" where objects might make fun sounds.

Besides making simple lessons (flipped teaching or blended learning for lower elementary?) I imagine teachers could use this to teach procedures in the room at the start of a school year. Pictures and narration would explain things first, then question pages could quiz them.

If you make an account you can share the activities. This should allow you to load a creation on multiple devices. They also can be shared on Facebook too, so it could make a great end product parents and family could see from home.  (Sharing requires the user to "tap and hold", so it's unlikely a young user is going to share or access something without an adult's assistance.)

If you make any fun creations like these using Tiny Tap, I'd be glad to hear it! Please share as a comment or by email.

10 tips for recording video in the classroom

I updated this post in October 2014. I added a few tips for teachers and created a Google Docs version too. The new post is here.

Given the popularity of this post, I created a video version of the tips. It is embedded at the end of the list.

I would think many of these items are obvious, but as much as I have to remind students I know they're not obvious to everyone.

• Plan in detail.  I know it's more fun to start recording, but poor planning will result in either lots of frustrating editing or a poor final video.  Good planning includes a detailed script for all dialogue or narration and a storyboard showing the basic camera views for each shot.
• Make sure you are recording files you can edit later.  This means you have to record with a camera, phone or other device that creates a file format compatible with your editing software.  I recommend doing a quick test with your equipment first. Record a short clip and try to edit it with your editing software.
• Hold your camera, phone or device in the landscape position.  I didn't think to remind students of this until we started letting students use their own devices.  Remember that computer monitors are always in landscape.  Don't hold the phone or iPad so the image is taller than it is wide.  It might work great for Vines or other clips you send your friends, but it really weakens the final product no matter how good everything else turns out.
• Think about what the viewer is seeing and break up the scene accordingly.  Does it make sense to stand back with the camera and just record the whole scene as if it were a skit?  Or would different camera angles throughout make it more interesting?  Would close-ups of certain action help tell a better story?  Is there anything in the background that will distract the viewer from what is most important?
• Listen before recording.  Is there background noise or bad acoustics that echo when actors talk or make other sounds?  Choose a quiet location.
• Listen carefully when you are recording too.  Be aware that a distracting noise (squeaky chairs, doors closing, etc.) while someone is saying a line can't be removed later.  We often block these things out easily when listening to someone in real life, but when watching a video they are impossible to ignore.  
• Speak clearly when being recorded.  Probably everyone on the set knows the script and knows what is being said.  The viewers don't have that advantage.  Pay attention to how fast you talk, how loud it is and whether or not the words are distinct.
• Record too much rather than not enough.  Start recording several seconds before action will start.  If someone will say, "Action," or otherwise alert everyone to start, be sure they wait at least a second after the camera has started to cue the actors. It is so easy to trim a few seconds off the start or end of a clip in editing.  Compare that to the case when the camera person turns off the camera immediately after the last line or the actors start talking as soon as the camera starts.  Those make for bad edits later.
• Along with that, if you have the time, get two good takes of each shot.  You can overdo this, but generally if everyone finally gets a good performance once, the next one will be even better.  During editing it can help a lot to have a couple choices for the take that will end up in the final video..
• When acting a scene, don't look at the camera or the person behind the camera.  It is very common for actors to look to the person working the camera as if to say, "Did we get it?"  Those looks can ruin an otherwise great take and sometimes you won't notice it until editing later.

To sum it up, remember you can save a ton of time in editing with careful planning and by paying attention.  Consider what the viewer will see and hear.  After you make a couple videos thinking like this you'll appreciate your favorite movies and television shows all the more!


Based on your experience, what advice would you add to the list?

30 Hands - A great free iPad app for narrated slideshows

I used to use Pixntell for a simple, free option for narrated slideshows in the classroom, but now I'm sold on 30 Hands.  I have used it with several students at the middle school level.  It lacks a text tool (update: Text tool added as of 8/6/2013.  Great!) and it won't let you pan and zoom, but for a quick narrated presentation or for digital storytelling it can't be beat.

(Another feature I haven't tested yet came with the last update. It allows you to duplicate a slide. The developer suggests using this for animations.)

Below is an example (created with the app itself) of the basics.  I also included a second example where I talk about some games I've made.

The third video below shows how I transfer slides (usually created in PowerPoint) from my computer to my iPad using the Google Drive app.  That process, in conjunction with 30 Hands, is a great way for students to finalize and publish their work.

Coming Soon - The Creativity Game of Great Movie Trailers

I'm very excited to announce this new classroom creativity game (or what some are calling classroom presentation games) based on concepts from Donald Miller's Storyline and Million Miles in a Thousand Years.

In the game, students create elements of a great movie trailer.  It's all based on Miller's description of what makes a great story:  A character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it.

Through creativity and competition, three to five players will make up those elements and the class will vote on their favorites.  The objective of the game is to teach students what makes a great story and it is part of a larger work I am developing based on Miller's Storyline book and process for living better stories.

It also makes a fun creativity exercise and can be a great resource for a Creative Writing class.

Here's the link to the online version of the Coming Soon Creativity Game.  The directions for playing and other information is below.

Note that the this post refers to the version of the game that the whole class can play using a computer, projector and other optional technology.  If you want to see a party game version that students can play in groups, you can find it here. 

Here are the directions for playing this very entertaining game with a class.

Overview:
Three to five creative students compete to make the best elements of a movie trailer.  As we all know, movie trailers get us excited about those films that are soon to be released by hinting at the characters, action and suspense that make for great stories.

In this game, a random setting and character trait starts creative juices flowing.  Over four rounds the contestants brainstorm one element of the movie at a time and the rest of the class votes for their favorites.  The contestant whose contributions are picked most often over the course of several movies wins the game.

What you will need to play:
(As indicated below, some components can be adapted for available technology in your classroom and another way to use the generator is listed at the end of these directions.)

• A teacher computer that can access the Coming Soon Creativity Game webpage
• A projector connected to the teacher computer
• A way for 3 - 5 contestants to record their responses - Ideally these will be laptops or other devices in a wireless network, but contestants can just use pencil and paper.
• A way for the class to vote on the contestants' responses - Any classroom response system will work for this as long as you can take a vote from all students.  If a CRS is not available a simple show of hands can suffice.

Preparation:

• Go to the Coming Soon Creativity Game webpage and project that page at the front of the room.
• Choose three to five creative students to be the contestants.
• Have the contestants sit at the front of the class in an arrangement that allows them to easily see the webpage projected on the screen/board.
• If using laptops or other devices, to record responses, use the Socrative site to create a room and have students join it.  See below for more details on that site.
• If contestants are just recording responses on paper, make sure each one has a sheet of paper and a pencil.
• Give other students in the classroom a voting device if using a classroom response system for their votes.

Steps for each movie:
Before getting into the details of play, you need to understand how the contestants and the class will be involved in the creation of a "movie".

In this game, the movie will be created and revealed one element at a time.  The elements will be briefly described and the way they unfold is much like a movie trailer.  Since the creative process lends itself to humor, most movies and stories will be funny, but here's an example of how the actual movie Star Wars might come out in this game:

 Luke works on a farm on a desert planet.

He longs for adventure and a part in the galactic battle for freedom.

His uncle wants him home, he’s untrained and his dream seems like a boy’s fantasy.

Star Wars ­ May the force be with you

Each of those lines would come out of a different round of play.  In each round the contestants will know something more about the developing plot line and they will have one minute to write the next element.  They submit them to the teacher and then the class votes on each of them.  Here are the four elements they create:

• In the first round the contestants make a character name and describe the character.
• In the second round they write what the character wants.
• In the third round they make up one or more obstacles the character will face.
• And for the final round they write a title and tagline for the movie.  

Once the four elements are done, the movie trailer can be read in a dramatic (and usually hilarious) fashion just for fun.  This process of creating a movie is repeated as many times as desired.  Generally it will take between 5 and 10 minutes for a class to create a movie once they are familiar with the process.

Details of each round:

• At the start of each movie the teacher will create a prompt by clicking on the Start button (1) as shown in the diagram below.  Remember that this happens only once per movie.  A random setting and character trait will be displayed (2).  Currently the game has 24 of each.

• Contestants will write an idea for the current element of the movie.  Their ideas are written on either a laptop, device or paper.  As summarized above, here's what they're writing each round:
• Round 1:  Using the random setting and character trait as a guide, contestants write a name for the character of the movie and something about him or her.  This would be brief, but with a hint of a movie trailer feel.  For example, a player might write, "Meet Duke.  He is a farmer with a gambling problem."  
• Round 2:  Based on the setting, character trait, name and information they now know, contestants will submit an idea for what the character wants.  Again, it is brief and in the style of a movie trailer.
• Round 3:  In this round, the contestants write one or more obstacles that the character will encounter as conflict in the quest to achieve the goal from round 2.
• Round 4:  Finally, contestants write a movie name and tagline that fits with the story they have developed through the previous three rounds.

• Contestants have one minute to write their idea for the current round.  The timer (3) can be used to mark the time.  The time limit is a general guideline.  If a student is still writing when time runs out, he or she can finish the idea.  Anyone who hasn't started by that time is out for the round.  

Important:  Remind students not to get so caught up in tying all the elements together that they forget the goal is to write something the class will pick.  In other words, in the second round a good idea doesn't necessarily have to be explicitly related to the setting, character trait and winning submission from round 1.  To do that would take a lot more time than the game allows.  Instead, the elements previously revealed and created provide a general working space and the students just have to come up with a good idea the class will like.  How closely they are related is up to their preference and that's all part of the fun and the creative process.

• When time is up or when they are done, contestants pass or send their ideas to the teacher.  See the notes below about sending responses if using laptops and devices.
• The teacher will then read each response aloud, but keep them anonymous.  
• The teacher also will transfer the responses to the text boxes (4) on the webpage.  This can be done while reading them or she might want to wait until all have been read.  The responses must still be kept anonymous, so the boxes (labeled A - E) are not used to identify any particular student at this point.  See the notes below for more information on transferring the responses.
• After the responses are posted or summarized in the boxes, have the class vote on their favorite.  Just send a multiple choice question with three to five (depending on the number of contestants) possible answers to the devices using your classroom response system.  If you aren't using a CRS, have the students vote by a show of hands.
• The response that gets the most votes earns the contestant who wrote it one point.  (But for the fourth round give the contestant who writes the chosen title and tagline two points.  The title and tagline is usually revealed at the climatic moment of any movie trailer so this should likewise build to an exciting conclusion for each movie.)  In case of a tie, have the entire class vote on just the tied responses.  Record the point(s) for the contestant who wrote the chosen idea in the score boxes (5) shown in the picture above.
• Copy the chosen idea into the element at the top of the webpage (6) according to the round/element that was just completed.  For example, after the first round the chosen idea will be copied into the text box labeled A character....  This is so the class and the contestants can be aware of the developing story.  It also reinforces that important description of the elements that make a great story.
• If you want a record of the game, use your favorite method to take a screen capture of the current prompt, responses and results.
• Clear out the five text boxes (labeled A - E).  (Just select each response in each text box and delete the contents.  Don't refresh the page because that will erase scores and the story information as well.)  
• Repeat rounds until the four elements of the movie are complete.  Read the four elements off like a movie trailer at this time.  
• When the movie is complete, clear out the four elements from the text boxes.
• Continue with the next movie (by clicking the Start button to get a new random setting and character trait) as time allows.  
• When the game is over (after some agreed upon number of movies) the contestant with the most points wins.  In case of a tie, all tied players win.

__________

Using Socrative for submitting contestant responses:
Socrative is a free, easy to use online service that is great for having students submit responses to the teacher using any laptop or device through a wireless network.  Since sites change frequently I don't want to list a step by step tutorial for using Socrative.  You can find all details at their site.  Here is the suggested method for using it with the Generic Creativity Game.

• Create an account on Socrative if you don't already have one.
• Click the Teacher Log In button in the upper right of the screen.  Sign in using your account information.  You will be given a room number.  
• Contestants must go to the Socrative site on their laptops or devices and click Student Log In.
• It will ask them for the room number, so tell them the number for your room.
• As you are playing the game, when it's time to accept responses from the contestants, click the Short Answer option on your screen.  It will send a "question" to the students allowing them to enter their response.
• Important:  When contestants are answering the questions, do not have your computer showing on the screen.  It can be too easy for the class to see who wrote which response since it displays them in order as soon as the contestants send them.  Show a different window on the screen or use the A/V mute or similar feature to "blank" your screen whenever you have Socrative showing on your computer.

A couple notes about posting responses on the screen:
If contestants are submitting via Socrative, it will be very easy for the teacher to copy and paste from that site into the text boxes in this game.  Just remember to "blank" your screen as you copy from Socrative so students don't have an idea of which student wrote which response.  (The responses display in order of when they were sent and it can be possible for them to determine who wrote which one.)

Typos, "texting" style writing or poor grammar can be cleaned up or left as is depending on what you feel is appropriate for the class.

Alternatively if contestants are writing the responses on paper, simply type a few key words from the responses in the text boxes so the class will remember each one.  This saves time rather than copying word for word from the paper.

Other ways to use this classroom game:

• Each round can be started at the end of class (or at another appropriate time) and all students can be required to turn in a response at a later time.  The teacher can select some of his or her favorites, then present those to the class for a vote.  The game would be played this way over several days throughout the course.  In this case a winner is not as important as the creative process and the elements of making a great story.
• Students can play in groups of four to six.  In this case, they'd use a laptop to access the Coming Soon Creativity Game page and create prompts.  All players but one (who plays a ) can write responses on paper and pass them to the Judge.  He or she reads them aloud, then picks a favorite.  The player who wrote it gets a point.
• Have groups of students create the trailers as videos after playing.  Students could use the trailer feature in iMovie on the iPad or any other video editing software to compile short video clips or photos.  Include the important elements of the story that developed in the game as text (and possibly narration).
• As mentioned at the start of this post, there's a party game version of the game that does not use technology.  If you want your class to play with that here is the link.  

This project is an ongoing work and I will be glad to hear any feedback on what worked, what didn't or what you'd need to see before you'd use it with your class.  I am also looking for educators interested in using this and other resources based on Donald Miller's work in class.  Please post any comments below or contact me directly by email if you have feedback or interest in the project.

I will greatly appreciate it if you share this resource on social networks or with other teachers.

Credits and usage:
Mike Petty created Coming Soon - The Creativity Game of Great Movie Trailers.  The prompt generator was made with Stencyl.  All graphics were created by Mike Petty.  If you use the prompt generator in any way, please keep it on the Coming Soon Creativity Game webpage.  That page and these rules for use were also created by Mike Petty.

Coming Soon is based on a creativity game system developed by Mike Petty and Kory Heath.  Kory first recognized the potential for an overall framework for games he and Mike were designing.  His team added several important elements to enhance the play experience.  His version is formalized as The Chicken Game System and I recommend it as one of the most entertaining social games ever created.

The description of a story as A character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it comes from Donald Miller's books Storyline and A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.  I recommend both as excellent tools for viewing one's life in terms of story and taking steps to live a more meaningful one.

Most sound effects used in the Classroom Creativity Game were created by Mike Petty.

Coming Soon - The Creativity Game of Great Movie Trailers copyright 2013 by Mike Petty.  These rules will be updated regularly.  The last significant update was posted 2/18/2013.

Helping Students Live Better Stories - A review and thoughts for lessons based on Donald Miller's Storyline

I can’t say enough good about Storyline by Donald Miller.  It's not too much to say it has been life changing and I am working on ways to integrate the principles with classroom activities.  

I’ll elaborate on the book, in the way of a review, before addressing those activities at the end of this post.

I've been a fan of Donald Miller's books for about four years now.  I started with Blue Like Jazz since that was the one everyone was talking about.  It was Searching for God Knows What that really caught my attention, though.  I read it the summer before a job change pulled me from the high school classroom and I found myself working with professionals at all levels in the school district.  The book was very timely and it changed the way I saw the purpose of my work.

Our Lives as Stories

Recently one of the themes of Miller's writing has been that the things that make great stories also make for more meaningful lives.  He tells how he came upon those truths in A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.  That book was a birthday gift the year I turned forty.  Once again his thoughts were timely.  I read it again a few months ago and I found it even more helpful the second time through.

Miller started doing Storyline conferences a couple years ago.  Over the course of a few days attendees work through a process of viewing their lives as part of a larger story.  He also draws heavily from Viktor Frankl's logotherapy--a "therapeutic process" based on the idea that humans are not so much seeking pleasure or power, but meaning.  

As for the power of stories, there’s nothing terribly fresh there.  From our PowerPoint presentations to our company websites, we have been told that a strong story speaks to the heart.  But the beauty of Storyline is how Miller combines the essence of a great story (a character who wants something and overcomes obstacles to get it) and this idea that we can find meaning in suffering into a simple process that infuses those potent ideas into one’s daily choices.  

Much of Miller’s other writing actually speaks against any X-step process for self-help, so I don’t want to make this sound easy to actually live out.  It’s not.  It is easy to see the truth he is onto, though, and I will personally attest to it's potential for making vital change..

The Book

Near the end of 2012 Storyline was published as a stand alone workbook for the process he presented at the conferences.  The book was, again,a gift for my birthday.  Even with all the space for recording the exercises it is a short book of less than 100 pages, but it took about six weeks for me to read it through.  I still have not completed all the exercises even as a draft yet, but I have made enough progress to greatly appreciate the message he’s telling.

It bears mentioning that Miller's writing is always unashamedly Christian.  When he talks about finding your story in the scheme of God’s larger story he refers repeatedly to the Bible.  That might turn some away, but his good intentions are always clear.  From his books to his blog and his speaking (and even his film), I've never heard anyone outside of the faith accuse him of being offensive in his approach.  I'm sure people of all faiths and even those who would claim none have found some benefit to the ideas he presents in the Storyline book and conferences.

The Storyline process starts by reflecting on the positive and negative turns throughout one’s life.  These are the events that forever changed the way the reader sees himself or life.  From there the task is to identify a life theme which encompasses where one fits in the overall story.  According to Miller, we all fit in God’s story of saving many lives.  For example, my own theme (which will likely be rephrased over time) is “always teaching, always learning”.  (It took about two minutes to realize if I'm going to do anything important it will have to happen through my work in education. I remain hopeful.)

It is the next step that I found most helpful so far.  Drawing from logotherapy, the reader is encouraged to find ways in which God can redeem the negative turns in life by working through them to help others.  This is a deeply personal affair beyond the scope of my usual work on this blog, but the activities opened my eyes in ways nothing else has. I have found and been motivated by a renewed sense of purpose in the weeks since I have started working through the book.

In the remaining chapters we get back to what makes a better story also makes a better life.  Roles are identified (spiritual being, parent, co-worker, etc.) and within each of those roles the reader makes some clear plans.  This is all phrased within the concept of story--ambitions, inciting incidents and climatic scenes.  While I have only finished a few stages of this for a couple of my identified roles, I love the approach.  As Miller claims, the process leads to clarity and there is a deep sense of satisfaction in taking steps toward those climactic scenes.

Besides just the book and the conference there is a website devoted to the process-MySubplot.com.  Users can create an account there and track their stories with the simple organizational tools.  Some social network features also allow for comments and sharing if one chooses to make their profile public.

After finishing the book and seeing the benefit of the exercises I bought copies for a few family members. My wife is working through the book now too and, while it can be painful at times, she agrees it is a valuable experience.  

Plans for the Classroom

Another teacher, a friend of my parents, found the book at their house while we were visiting.  Having devoted much of his life to middle school students through P.E. and English classes and his passion of coaching wrestling, he was amazed by the content of Storyline.  Page after page he was taken back at how Miller was putting into words the things he felt for decades.  

That experience confirmed my plans for me the need to develop some classroom activities based on the book.  It will take more time than I’d like to try this out because I do not have my own classes.  As with most of my work, I have to wait until I find another teacher who is able to fit my ideas into her plans.  Just last week I arranged something (at some unspecified time in the future) with a middle school Language Arts teacher.  She sees the value of my ideas in terms of educational standards we can cover, but she also knows it goes beyond subject matter and test scores.  It’s about reaching young people.  

She already planned to do a journal project along the lines of Erin Gruwell’s work with The Freedom Writers Foundation.  We agreed it should be easy to to integrate the Storyline concepts within that and I am very excited to see where it leads.

Obviously, since I work in the public schools I plan to rephrase a lot of the Storyline content so that it doesn’t sound like I'm teaching Sunday school.  In the past when I work in classes that involve personal reflection or lessons about success it has been my practice to make it clear students can express their religious beliefs or matters of faith.  I don't require this of course, but at the same time it seems like a shame to leave a vital part of the human experience out of the picture.  From what I’ve seen in their work, many have been grateful for the opportunity to openly express themselves. 

(Almost all students have been positive about my sometimes deeply introspective assignments.  I’ve received many thanks from some for the work I’ve done.  I find it’s still hard for me to reach those guys coming from Auto Mechanics at the Skill Center, though.  I get no hate from them, but I have accepted we come at life from very different paths.)

As for the classroom activiites, here is the basic outline of what I want to cover in the classroom:

• What makes a good story? - Through discussion and other activities, we’ll determine which elements are present in the most popular books and movies.
• Viewing our lives as stories, what would be the theme?  - I will probably bring in the Three Movie Exercise (See step 2 of this blog post.) I often use when we talk about our passions.
• If our stories are about helping others, who do we think we could help?  - Here is where I want to bring out the idea of finding a redemptive purpose in our suffering.  I plan to talk about logotherapy to some extent and it is here that we can tie in the Freedom Writers and Anne Frank’s story.
• What are our ambitions and what steps can we take to realize them? - Students will set goals, some of which they can achieve by the end of the school year.  
• How can we tell our stories? - I’m most excited about how we will use blogs, podcasts and video to present the results of our work so others can be inspired to do the same.

From the educational standpoint, the reading, writing and presentation skills involved in each stage will be very beneficial.  We’ll have no trouble covering the bases as far as content standards go.  I’m also confident that students will be motivated to complete the work simply because it connects with their lives in a way that most school work does not.  And beyond our own classroom, as we perfect the project I look forward to presenting results that can inspire other students and teachers.

Obviously this is just a plan at this point, but it’s probably also apparent it is part of my own exercise in the Storyline process.  I am very grateful for Miller’s work with Storyline as it has opened my eyes to a potential blending of my work with technology, education and my passion to help others reach their potential.  I will continue to mark my progress here as I see the results.

Videolicious Updated App - Great features for the classroom

I wrote earlier in the year about the Videolicious app.  Even though it was limited in some ways, I loved how it could be used for a quick news story.  They updated it this month and now I absolutely love it.  It could be a wonderful tool for digital storytelling and I can't believe it's still free.  It's for the iPhone, but it works great on the iPad 2 that I use.

A sample video is below, but here are the good points...

New features:

• You can control the timing of the images while you narrate!  Lack of control on timing was the biggest drawback to the original version.  (Now the only potential problem is you can't control panning of the pictures.)
• It adds some filters.  I haven't tried them all, but it's a nice touch.
• You can import a "story" rather than recording yourself at the moment.  This is a great addition as well.  It essentially lets you record a video, then overlay pictures or clips over it as you control the timing.
• You can also just skip this, which amounts to showing your pictures or clips with some background music.

As someone who has worked with home video equipment for over 25 years, I am amazed at how simply this app can turn out a polished video combining narration, music and images or clips.  It's actually for the iPhone, but it seems to work great on the iPad.  Check it out for any of these possible uses in the classroom:

• Commercials for your classroom projects or the start of the school year.
• Project highlights from students after they complete their work.
• News stories for video announcements.
• Any type of digital storytelling.

Here's a video I put together to show the basic features.  The app won't help with bad narration or a shaky hand while recording!  I tried to do this as quickly as possible to show how easily one can create a video.  It's an overview of my Pegged game, which you might also find useful for a lesson activity this school year.

My Story - iPad app for digital storytelling

I originally posted this because they were doing a free special for the app.  I see it now is listed for $1.99.

The My Story app reminds me a lot of what I liked about StoryRobe and StoryKit, but it's all combined in one polished app made for iPad.

I have only had a little time to explore it so far, but I wanted to point it out as a useful tool for making a nice ebook.  Pages can diplay a picture and text and narration can be recorded as well.  I could see this being appropriate for any elementary students.  While the secondary students could certainly use it, by that time I'd like to see them doing more with video.

It allows the user to import or take pictures.  Some editing can be done with paint tools, though I found I had to write or draw slowly.  It lagged after making a mark or two.

Narration is simple to record or delete page by page.

The files are in epub format.  I am able to open them easily in iBook on my iPad.  The app itself will display them too.  There are other sharing options, but if you don't have something on your computer to open epub files you'll only get a file you can't view.

iMovie for Digital Stories and Flipped Teaching

In the past I made a few suggestions for using iPad apps for digital storytelling and flipped teaching.  I also have been trying to squeeze the most out of a few free video editors.  Then someone finally convinced me to spend the $4.99 on iMovie.  I'm very impressed with it so far.

I made the short video slideshow below that describes an experience* I had with some creativity games at the middle school level.  I love how intuitive is to arrange the pictures, set the length and adjust the pan/zoom settings.  Narration is equally as simple--just talk while the pictures go by.  Keep what worked and do the other parts over.

I haven't used the app to record any lessons for flipped teaching yet, but it makes a portable recording studio and I can't see why it wouldn't be perfect.  Cutting out a part of a clip is a swipe down to split it and a hold and drag to remove or rearrange it.  Prop the iPad up to record you presentation at the board, edit and upload to YouTube.  I am amazed at the power and creativity that this app allows.

I also love that songs from GarageBand (another $4.99 app that still fascinates me) are easily exported directly into iMovie.  I put a simple loop in the background of the video below just to try it out.



*Two notes about the classroom experience:

• My designated camera person did a good job, but she missed all the opportunities showing the class laughed A LOT as we played!
• I will have a followup post soon about the creativity exercises I mention in the video.