“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” – Albert Einstein
A green screen in the classroom helps spark student creativity and imagination for any subject! Last year I tried a very basic and cheap green screen with my 2nd to 5th graders. I had decided last minute to use a green screen and didn’t have much time and even with this little effort the students and I had fun creating a news broadcast! I bought green fabric for less than $5 and pinned this on the wall. I didn’t even iron the fabric. The students were then asked to jump in front of the green fabric while I recorded them using the free iMovie app on my iPhone. The video still came out wonderfully and I could use any background image behind my students. What made the video better the second time around was ironing the fabric, making sure students didn’t move too much (this is corrected with lighting due to wanting less shadow), and using a tripod to record the students versus my unsteady hands. With more preparation you can integrate green screen technology in much more imaginative and advanced ways that will send students your students on incredible learning adventures! Below I have curated some of my favorite green screen examples and tutorials on Twitter using Wakelet, the great free curation tool.
?If you like these ideas, take one of my courses (CE credit or graduate course credit for a CSU Master of Education) or check out my books. Ask me about training your teachers, ShellyTerrell@gmail.com!
Cool Green Screen Ideas, Examples and Tutorials
Some quick tips and ideas before you view the bookmarks below.
- iMovie is my favorite way to integrate green screen technology. It’s also free if you have Mac or iOS devices.
- Other cool green screen apps include Touchcast, DoInk and WeVideo.
- Green screen technology is also known as the chroma key effect.
- Add a green screen in the classroom with green fabric, paint a wall green, make a green portable background, or get a normally white screen that you pull down for the projector that is green.
- To save money and time you can create a mini green screen great for claymation and animation!
- You can replace the green areas with an image or video. Students can create news broadcasts, tour guides, digital stories, music videos, tv commercials, book reviews, or DIY/how-to videos.
- Students can also animate their research (posters, book reports, or dioramas)!
- Students can animate their textbooks or books they’re reading.
- Design cool slides to import into your video with Keynote, PowerPoint, Google Slides, or any graphic editor then upload as an image to your favorite green screen app!
Below find several awesome tutorials and examples on how to engage your learners with green screen technology.
Challenge: Engage learners with one of these creative green screen ideas.
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