It's Show time!

Close-up Shot

I have been teaching television production on the middle and high school levels for the last nine years and one exercise I always include the first week of school is vocabulary.  I can not count the number of times a student has told me they can shoot video standing on their head and that they're really, really good at it.

Then, I normally respond, really!  Great!  Show me!

I give them a list of vocabulary terms similar to the two below list and have them go out around the school and shoot them using a still camera to see their visual interpretation of the vocabulary terms.

Over-the-shoulder Shot

Medium Close-up shot

Once they return to class I have them to upload the shots to our Edmodo class page for everyone to see and identify the vocabulary terms.

This process helps the visual learner and will allow anyone who might be struggling another visual aid they their peers can identify with.








When they can show me that they have mastered taking still images of the vocabulary terms it's time to pick up a video camera and go back out and do the same thing again.  But, this time they must record each shot for :30 seconds.

Again, when they return to class they upload the individual video clips and identify the shots to the class Edmodo page.




There are only so many ways to introduce vocabulary to our students and my students on all levels tend to be able to master these task quickly.  Then, we move on to identifying the vocabulary in videos.  We watch a series of videos and the students call out what they see.

During this phase the students post a short video and present it to the class.




Bernice Young
Oakleaf High School
Orange Park, Florida