Writing a Video Book Report
Are you a student who has to write a book report on a recently read book or a teacher assigning a report as homework to your students, looking for a creative approach to mix things up?
Thinking back to the good old days in grade school, we can all probably recall having to write at least a few book reviews, right? And for the most part – those were done in a written format. But let’s stop here for a second and consider that it is indeed the 21st century, and we do have a few more options now. One is using technology to aid traditional tasks, such as making a quality animated video using a video-creation tool like mysimpleshow. Not only does it encourage students to creatively engage outside of school, but it tackles different learning formats and serves as an alternative to regular homework. Thus, students can improve their organizational skills by applying their content knowledge in a creative matter that will foster retention while boosting interest.
The Benefits of Writing a Video Book Report
Videos have a much larger spectrum for learning opportunities than the regular written approach. Having to recreate the story and its components, the students work on their storytelling skills by embracing creativity. Furthermore, videos additionally offer the choice of visuals, which allow the students to think in symbols and thus requires them to show a deep understanding of the content. Videos don’t allow for endless keystrokes, compelling the students to stick to the key points and work to improve their skills of easy and simple explanation. For teachers, the benefits lie in the opportunity to flip the classroom and assign videos as homework or in-class activities. Videos consider and tackle different learning styles and promote independent working as well as research skills. They allow for a great sharing and presentation method available to all students. Check out this video book report on The Scarlet Letter: A Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne:
How to Write a Video Book Report
After making sure that certain necessities such as a computer, internet connection, and images are available, everything you need to know about creating a video book report using mysimpleshow is below!
- After signing up with mysimpleshow and having activated your account you choose ‘My Videos,’ ‘Create New Video,’ and then ‘Write Your Own Script.’
- Luckily, the education templates already include ‘Summarize Literature or a Movie’ or ‘Interpret Literature or a Movie.’ You may choose one according to the assignment.
- Simply follow the video creation steps by writing the text for your review first before choosing suitable images to strengthen your message in the visualizing phase.
- Lastly, you have the choice of a voice over and the opportunity to preview your video and to make any last few adjustments before rendering it. Download and sharing options are available for your video.
Other Uses for Video Reports
You can have the students share the videos in the form of a presentation, or create smaller groups to look at each video, give feedback, and enhance requiring and sharing of knowledge in a creative way. Since the videos are short, you may want to consider assigning follow-up videos about key elements or students’ points of view. Videos don’t have to replace a written report, but may serve as an alternative or an asset to traditional assignments.