Video Viewing Guide

Over the years I have developed some pretty simple assignments/activities that are so flexible in their use in the classroom, that they become something that other teachers simply MUST have. This is one of them.

Sometimes I want my students to work on their note taking skills while also learning about a current unit of study from a video. This is how this works: I'll select a video for my students to watch and they write in the title of the movie. As the movie plays, students are to record notes from the information presented in the video that they believe to be important to remember or something that was new (to them) about the topic that they didn't already know. In the beginning of the school year, I stop the video along the way and allow them to write down what they heard. Sometimes I play that section over again so that they can hear it again and write down the sentence. I teach them when a good time to write down information would be, and when they shouldn't worry about getting every word. They get the hang of it pretty quickly.

It's nice to have your students working on something that will give you a product in the end, but also is flexible in how you will use it afterwards. Here are some ideas for use in your classroom: I have used this on days when I had to have a substitute and I need to fill in some valuable learning time; students discuss with their classmates after the video what they felt was important to remember from the clip; students illustrate a picture using the information they wrote down; edit each others notes for correct spelling/grammar and check for accuracy of information (I just made that one up today!). I have graded the notes in the past, but this would be more of a subjective grade. It's not as easy to defend to a parent why you scored it the way you did. Although, some students will go above and beyond, and other will write with their usual effort, and some will not even write ten facts - so having some type of accountability is recommended. 

Video Viewing Guide