Green Ambassadors


	Index Introduction Becoming a Sustainability Expert California Science Standards California ELA Standards How to Be a Green Ambassador Unit: Creating an Earth+ Photo Story Unit: Delivering an Earth+ Presentation Unit: Creating and Delivering an Earth+ Presentation Unit: Writing an Earth+ Script Unit: Producing an Earth+ Video Documentary Unit: Creating Earth+ Marketing Materials Unit: Producing an Earth+ Event Unit: Earth+ Social Marketing Unit: Producing an Earth+ Fundraiser Unit: Earth+ Public Relations Training Unit: Planning and Delivering an Earth+ Elementary Lesson Unit: Creating an Earth+ Game Unit: Creating Earth+ Alternative Marketing

Teaching Guide: Producing an Earth+ Video Documentary
Guiding Question(s)	*How can the medium of film/video be used most powerfully to engage, inspire and teach people about sustainability issues and solutions?*
Prerequisite(s)	Writing an Earth+ Script (This lesson assumes that students already have a good script for their video documentary)
Objectives: Language Arts	Standard NL-ENG.K-12.5 COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes. Concepts Pre-production Production Post-production Script Story Board Skills TBD
Objectives: Values	Students believe that they have a responsibility to contribute to the well-being of their community. Students work to gather and share knowledge that supports the well-being of their community. Students encourage other community members to engage in practices that contribute to the well-being of their community.
Assessment	In the performance task for this lesson, students work in teams to produce documentary videos, and then test them on representatives of their target audiences. (View Performance Task here)
Day One
Preparation	Select from your school library or local public library a short documentary appropriate for presentation in a school setting. Choose a segment of the documentary to present to students (not more than 10 minutes), and set up your computer (or DVD player) and projector to present it. Identify resources for teaching students about shooting and edit videos in addition to those provided here, from those listed on the Green Ambassadors Web Resources page (here). Make enough copies of the Checklist for an Effective Earth+ Video Documentary for each student. (Download here)
Into	Orient students to the objectives of this lesson and review the basic elements of the Performance Task. Show students the video you've selected. Discuss: What did you think was effective about the video you just saw?
Through	Discuss some responses to the prompt, then ask students to work in groups to respond in writing to this prompt: Write down the qualities of effective and ineffective short documentary videos, in a two-column list format. Share out the responses, making a master list on the board. Distribute the Checklist for an Effective Earth+ Video Documentary, and review it with students. Discuss whether or not you would add any items to the checklist based on what you have talked about in class today, and have students write in on their copies any additions that the class as a whole decides to make. Tell students to keep these checklists, since they will be using them.
Beyond	Ask students to go through the checklist and choose the 3 items they feel are most important, and explain, in writing, why they think so.
Day Two
Preparation	Make enough copies of the handout Steps for Producing an Effective Earth+ Video Documentary for each pair of students. (Download here) Make enough copies of the handout A Video Production Team for each student. (Download here)
Into	Discuss student responses to the "beyond" assignment from last class; collect their work if you wish. Have students respond to this prompt individually, in writing: List all of the things that you think you would have to do in order to produce a good video documentary.
Through	Tell students that their goal today is learn how to plan all of the things they will have to do to produce a documentary video. Distribute the handout, Steps for Creating an Effective Earth+ Video Documentary. Ask students to compare it to the lists they made, and discuss briefly what they learn from doing so. Discuss answers to this question as a class: Based on what you see in this document, what do you think is the meaning of these terms as they are used at the top of each column: "pre-production", "production", "post-production"? Guide the discussion so that students understand these meanings of the words: Production: The process of capturing on tape and film the images and sounds that will be used to create a video or film. Pre-production: All of the actions that occur prior to production in order to prepare for it. Post-production: Using the images and sounds captured in the production process to create a complete film or video. Review all steps of pre-production with the students. Then have each team, working with a provided script, make a list of all of the actions that would need to be done to prepare for the production of the video documentary described in that script. Share out some of the results of this work.
Beyond	Distribute the handout A Video Production Team with the assignment to study it closely enough to be able to describe the names and most important duties of each team member without referringto the document before the next class.
Days Three and Four
Preparation	Line up someone who has considerable experience in video production to come to your class and do a workshop with students.
Into	Ask each student to write the names and main duties of 4 members of a video production team. Review this data with the whole class.
Through	Hold a workshop with an experienced video producer in which the teams are taught the basics of operation of the camera and sound equiment they will be using.
Beyond	Student teams carry out the performance task for this lesson, through the pre-production and production phases (not post-production).
Days Five and Six
Preparation	Line up someone who has considerable experience in video editing to come to your class and do a workshop with students.
Through	Hold a workshop with an experienced video editor in which the teams are taught the basics of operation of the editing program they will be using.
Beyond	Student teams carry out the post-production phase of the performance task for this lesson.