Third and fourth grade students at Chamberlayne Elementary learned how to use green screen effects for videos today, just like the ones professional movie producers use. The green screen effect is great for making it look like you are standing right in front of a historical landmark, or a habitat you are studying in science, or a setting from a book, and it can be used right in Photo Booth! First we did a Google image search to find a good background. The third graders were making movies about Greece & Rome while the fourth graders were making Revolutionary War videos. We allowed them to choose their topic, but if too many students were picking the same topic, we encouraged them to select another one. The background photo cannot be directly dragged into Photo Booth, so they had to drag the pictures into their folders. From there we dragged them into the Photo Booth backgrounds (found at the end of all the Effects). Next I modeled how to use the green screen effect in Photo Booth. I also gave them an informal rubric to use for evaluating their videos for Content, Clarity, and Creativity. It’s important to have a plain backdrop when using this effect so I provided them with plastic colored table cloths to hang or hold behind them. Now it was time to start filming. The students acted like they were news reporters or talk show hosts interviewing people. When they were finished they saved the movies to their folders. Teachers could then post the videos on their blogs or somewhere else online for publishing. Here’s a 3rd grade example (Rome) and a 4th grade example (Declaration of Independence)
