CS
Japan News Show
While student teaching, I did a month-long unit with my students as part of their year-long country study on Japan. Bringing in my own background in video production, I guided my students through the process of producing a news show about Japan. Students worked in groups to research particular topics, write scripts, illustrate background, and finally perform their skits in front of a camera. At the end of the unit, I edited the footage together into a 12-minute video, and invited parents to the screening to see the fruits of their students' work.
Research
After an initial introduction to build background knowledge, students ranked their top choices for topics. They were broken into groups based on their interests, their abilities (I wanted heterogeneous groups that could support each other), and their behavior. Groups were formed around the following topics: sports, weather, schools, food, fashion, art, and cherry blossom trees. Two student leaders were selected to be news anchors.
With guidance, modeling, and support, students started their research on iPads. They then narrowed down their topic to something more specific. For example, the sports group chose to focus on Judo, the art group chose to focus on bonsai trees, and the fashion group chose to focus on anime fashion .
Scripts
Through a process of gradual release, students wrote their own scripts to report on their topics. They chose characters and settings that fit with their narrowed-down topic. They included interviews and facts about their topic in their scripts.
See some sample scripts here.
Backgrounds
After students had finished their scripts, they started to work on their backgrounds. They wanted to make backgrounds that showed details from their chosen setting. Several of them incorporated information about Japan's landmarks that they had learned earlier in the year.
Video Recording
Finally, students had the opportunity to put it all together. A videographer who lives in the neighborhood volunteered his time and equipment to come in and record the news show.
Group by group, we hung students' backgrounds, and students stood in front of them as they recited their lines. Some students had their lines memorized, but most had their scripts with them for reference.
When groups were not recording, they were illustrating pictures related to their topic that could be edited into the video.
Over spring break, I edited the video together. My cooperating teacher and I invited students' families in for a screening of the video the following week.