When I think of how digital video could integrate with Social Studies, the first thing that comes to mind is reenacting a particular portion of history. The experience becomes much more meaningful to the students than simply reading it out of a book. I know that it would probably be impractical to film a reenactment every week, but it could definitely be a highlight for the year…perhaps a project to showcase at an open house. I see this as being exceptionally interesting for students as they would get to incorporate clothing, foods, or any other noteworthy characteristic from a given time period.
This first video was created students at Brightwood School performing what they call a Walk through Egypt skit. The costumes are exceptional.
This next video is actually the first of four videos that reenacts various elements of the civil war. You can see that these kinds of things can be challenging to do within the confines of the school. It’s important to predict what kinds of things need to be done prior to recording such as making sure everyone is well informed so that the scene is set when ready to film.
This final video is a creative way to approach the concept of the amendment procedure for the US Constitution. It’s basically an ad that plays on the pharmaceutical industry’s approach to marketing to sell the amendment procedure. This one was done by students at McKinley High School in Buffalo, NY.