Sunday, February 22, 2009
Quack! Video Productions on the Bill of Rights
The other day my cooperating teacher wanted my opinion, so he had me watch a couple of videos on the First through Third Amendments to the Constitution. They were put together by college students through a small production company called Quack! Each video was approximately 15 minutes, and they were of good quality. The makers used clips of old films and dubbed voices over them to explain the amendments. They also had a cleverly written script, with commentary by the makers interspersed with the video clips. They were hilarious, and the information was sound. They're geared toward 7-12 grade students, and my cooperating teacher used the videos with his 7th and 8th graders. They loved them, and they can't wait to watch the others (there are four videos that cover the first ten amendments, or the Bill of Rights.) If I teach 7th and 8th grade social studies, I will probably use them in my classroom as well. One caveat is that these videos aren't for everyone! You must be a fan of the slightly odd.
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I have also had fun showing short video clips in class, interspersed with other substantive info. I think it is a good way for kids to hear information in different ways, and to digest information they've previously heard. It's nice to hear about the Bill of Rights clips, I'd like to get a link to them if they exist online.
ReplyDeleteOther clips that I've found success with I've just found on YouTube. The ones that seem to be most engaging are ones that are done by other students. I think students are interested to know what their peers from other schools are doing. Favorites have included a clip about the Whiskey Rebellion (where the rebelling farmers acted a bit like ninjas) and McCulloch v. Maryland (where the "court" was in fact a tennis court).
Do they have anything relating to science? You had me at "fan of the slightly odd."
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, they make nothing for science. I think they're a young company, and their educational videos are just a side project... I think they only had two other sets of videos, and one of them was for SAT vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteBring on the slightly odd!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteDo you have a URL for the QWuack Productions? I googled and did not find them. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThe link to their website is www.quackmedia.com but there is not much info on the site about them. And most of the links take you to a place where you can email them...
ReplyDelete