This page contains Movie Maker tutorials and sample movies, hints on getting movie clips and still shots from a digital still camera, freeplay music download instructions, how to share the movies, and most importantly ORGANIZING your project.

Brief Instructions/Hints for a Succesful MovieMaker:

1. Pick one computer to work on for the entire project.

2. Create a folder on the C drive of the computer.

3. Save all pictures, movie clips, and sound files to that folder on your C drive.

4. Begin your MovieMaker Project and save it in that folder on your C drive. Put the word Project in your file name.

5. Import your pictures, movies, sounds and create your timeline. Add all of your transitions, effects, and titles.

6. Finalize (Finish) your movie and save it to that folder on your C drive. Put the word Final in your file name.

Handouts and More Information:

• Organizing  /  Getting Ready --This is the MOST important part of a succesful MovieMaker project. Be sure that you understand where the files need to be saved so that your project and your student projects will go smoothly. This is the number 1 problem that students and teachers have, the number 1 reason when a MovieMaker project is unsuccesful and so far, the only problem that I have ever had with MovieMaker projects. You have to be SURE that your students understand where to save and what to name all files associated with a MovieMaker project. HINT: Keep your MovieMaker movies brief and concise--not really long documentaries or filiming entire perfromances. We are focusing on demonstrating an idea, communicating a conept, etc. This helps with storage, completion of project and easier sharing/posting.
• Storyboard1--I suggest using a story board for your students to plan their projects--which pictures/movieclips/text will go into the storyboard in MovieMaker. This is a huge time saver. Before students sit to the computer, they should have all of their pictures and video clips taken and should have their project planned out.
• Storyboard2
• How to Get Movie Clips and Pictures from your school digital still camera--I reccommend using the Sony Cybershot purchased by your school. You can also use the FUJI class digital cameras provided by the Fun Run. This is important as some digital cameras save the video clips in Quicktime--which MovieMaker will not import. If you want to use a different digital still camera, just take a few practice video clips and make sure you can pull them to your computer and into MovieMaker. Big Hint #1--have students DELETE movie clip mess-ups imediately from the camera and re-shoot the footage. When they are finished filming, the students will only have the video clips they want to use in their project on the camera. Have students shoot small segments of video at a time so there are small video clips on the camera. Hint #2--have students take one digital still picture on the camera--even if they only want movie clips. This will make the copy to folder OR scanner and camera wizard appear when they plug in the camera. If there is not a still picture on the camera, the wizard will not appear.
• How to Get Music Clips from Freeplaymusic.com--Freeplay is a great way for students to get music into their movie. There are no words to worry about. The clips can be searched by mood/feeling and are free and very easy to download to use in projects. If you want to allow students to use songs from a CD, you can go to Windows Media Player and "rip" the songs so they can put the song file in the folder on their C drive. If this is your first project, I don't reccommend allowing this as it is more confusing to you and them than getting the clips from Freeplay.
• Movie Maker Tutorial--In case you or your students need/want step by step MovieMaker instrucitons or if they ask you questions that you are not sure about. MovieMaker is pretty self-explanatory, but you or they may find this helpful. A great way to instruct students on MovieMaker is to use your projector and show them on the Big Screen. You can open MovieMaker and import a pic/sound/movie clip, drag to storyboard and go through creating titles, adding transitions and finishing a project. Just give them an overview, and they should be able to run with it. Hint: When you import movie clips that you've taken from the digital still camera, they will NOT come in all in one collection. Students may have trouble finding all of their movie clips. At the top of the MovieMaker window, they will click the drop down arrow next to collections, and then they will see all of their movies.
• Adding Music and Narration--The adding music and saving to DVD handouts are just extra iformation if students are asking about these things.
• Saving Movie to DVD

Examples of MovieMaker files: 

Sample Math Movie

Geometry with MovieMaker  (Powerpoint-on slide 8 has movie maker project examples) 

Sample American Revolution Movie

Sample WWI Movie

Now that you've created your movie, what will you do with it?

1. Our teachers can upload to their in10sity webpage:

• Not a huge moviemaker file. Be sure it is a quick movie clip, or upload the smaller MovieMaker file size (Saving as email format--If you want to save it to a smaller file size, you can use this handout to save your MovieMaker file as an email format to that folder on your C drive. Put the word FinalSmall in the file name.)
• Have only one movie file at a time on your school webpage. Be sure to remove the movie from in10sity's server before adding another movie.
• This is not a good way to share student movie clips--unless you pick just one to share. 

2. Save to a pin drive or CD--the students can do this for themselves.

3. Have students place final movie files in Projects or Shared drive, and the teacher uploads to TeacherTube. (Just sign up for a free account.)

 
What is TeacherTube? TeacherTube is an online community for sharing instructional videos.  It was launched in March 2007 and is completely free to the public. It was started by an educator. TeacherTube's target population includes teachers, students, and home learners.  TeacherTube is distinctly different than other video sharing websites (such as YouTube) in that the content is all educationally focused and support documents (PowerPoint’s, assessments, lesson plans, instructions, ect..) can be uploaded and attached to videos for further dynamic educational information sharing.  Access TeacherTube at www.teachertube.com 

What problems does its use solve? This tool can be used to provide professional development (teachers teaching teachers), to share videos with students (either in a distance ed. setting or in a face to face setting), as a project sharing medium for students, and as a sharing of lesson plans and teaching tools in a particular subject or field.  If you are a teacher of 8th grade math and want a snappy video on a boring subject you can search for one on TeacherTube or create one yourself for other 8th grade math teachers to use.  As a college professor you can make videos on information you were unable to cover in class, or outside class time learning available to your students 24 hours a day. 

Information on teachertube and handouts from: http://nursingedtech.pbworks.com/Teacher-Tube

Tutorial on how to upload a video onto TeacherTube:   Click here  (blocked from school; watch from home)

4. The teacher uploads to his/her Posterous Blog. (Just send them an email--our school Outlook email has a file size limit of 5MB.) 

6. Students and teachers can upload MovieMaker files to VoiceThread. (Remember, it is a good idea to create quick/brief MovieMaker clips--not really long documentaries.) Teachers in MBS have VoiceThread accounts. Students in grades 4-9 have student voicthread accounts. Once the VoiceThread is created, the URL can be emailed to other teachers, parents, or posted to the teacher's webpage.

There are many options when uploading video to Voicthread. The teacher can create one VThread and allow students to upload several short video clips to the one VThread. She could allow individual students to creat and upload to their own VThread. For more information on creating VThreads, you can visit my VoiceThread webpage.

Click here to see an example of a VoiceThread where a sample MovieMaker was uploaded.

If students create inidividual VoiceThreads, you will want an easy way to share them. One suggestion is that the teacher creates a Word document and places it on a shared drive that studnets can access. One at a time students click Share in the Menu of their VoiceThread and choose Copy the Link and open the Word document and paste the link and save the Word file. Once all students have pasted their link, the teacher can upload the one Word document to his/her in10sity webpage.