Lesson Spotlight: Recording Mistakes using Screencastify
"Tell me, and I forget. Teach me, and I remember. Involve me, and I learn."
~Ben Franklin
~Ben Franklin
Check out this fantastic lesson on TpT if you want to empower your students with their voices using Screencastify to create videos? Do you want to see your students get excited about learning? This activity requires students to look at 6 Google slides with design, spelling, grammar and factual mistakes. They watch a short video on how to complete the plan, which taps into research and literacy skills. Once they find the mistakes, they must choose at least 3 slides to record a video illustrating the mistakes on those slides using Screencastify tools. There is a video that gives clear instruction on how to download Screencastify. There is another video that demonstrates how to record the errors on a slide. An example is provided to give students a clear understanding of expectations.
I strongly encourage all teachers to show the class the videos prior to the unit and let students know that they can re-watch the videos if they are still confused. They can always pause or rewind videos to help them with understanding. I have not had a difficult time with my 6th graders with this unit who have a wide range of digital and literacy skills. Some of my struggling students have thoroughly enjoyed this unit. I firmly believe this unit gives students a greater confidence when they realize they can make a video. They absolutely love finding more or less errors than the assignment provides in the lesson. I intentionally left them to challenge students even more. You can turn it into a game. I use Classcraft and give them more power and crystals in the game if they find errors that I make in class.
Carry Mistakes.mp4My students thoroughly enjoyed this activity, which gave them the opportunity to use their voice. They enjoy solving problems and what a great way to bring attention to common mistakes with spelling/grammar errors. There are a lot of factual mistakes on the slides, which can turn your students into digital investigators. Teachers can use this assignment to perfect their recording skills to give video feedback to their students. Here are 2 examples provided by my students. One of my students found less errors on a slide than I have specified in my written directions. As a teacher of this lesson, you can perfect the written instructions or you can leave it for students to find more mistakes. They did give me permission to share and I have hidden their last names. Emily’s example and Carrie’s example
Screencastify is a free tool that allows students to make a variety of videos. Once they perfect this tool, they can make a variety of videos on various topics. They can download the video as an mp4, create animated gifs or just share the link with an audience. Teachers can easily modify the slides to complement their subject area. I teach design, so some of these mistakes include errors in design. A social studies teacher could change the slides to include factual errors for students to find. English teachers could add a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes for students to find. Math teachers could add computational errors, etc. I have another amazing unit on Screencastify that allows students to explore websites or applications and teach others how to use those tools.
All teachers are encouraged to check out my free resource so they can easily navigate Google Drive.
After completing my lessons with your students, I would love your feedback on any of my units. Fill out the survey and I will randomly draw names for another free digital lesson at the end of each month. I encourage any educator who uses my resources to reach out to me if they have issues. I plan on dedicating my time to helping teachers to make their lives easier. I know how hard it is to be a teacher. We have so many hats to fill and teaching is only part of a teacher's job. I think back on my first years of teaching and am amazed how much technology has changed. I have spent a great deal of my free time to become more proficient with tech integration in the classroom. I have continued to modify my lessons to maximize the learning experience of my students. I find it challenging and very exciting. You can see student comments by visiting this link.
