Hello there.

Windows movie maker...yes..it is great. I teach my pupils to use windows movie maker because it is the easiest way to make a short video. I am new in ePals Global Community and I would like to share some of the pupils work somewhere in February when I start my computer club.

Sulmawati

I use it all the time! If you check out my blog: www.baravekeyboarding2.blogspot.com you can see the requirements for their assignment- they have to take a commerical/ or make one up....and deconstruct it. If you have classroom digital cameras it is a blast.  They absolutely love it more than Powerpoint.

Brianna

Hi Becky,

I am hoping to get into MovieMaker production with my gifted 5th graders. I wrote a grant to buy flip video cameras. The kids have already made simple movies using the sample files on our computers. My goal is to have them become videographers, producers and then teachers of this technology throughout the school. I like your "getting to know me" idea. I think having them make a video about our gifted program is now my starting point. I also like the claymation idea! Would you share the videos your kids made so mine could see them?

How do you "teach/facilitate/group/manage" your kids? I am more of a Socratic teacher...they do, I ask questions to guide, clarify and get them thinking of how to solve problems. I have no desire to "master" Windows Movie Maker. I have made movies for graduate classes and at conference workshops so I have a basic grasp of the process. I don't want to "teach" the software. I'd rather let them explore and find out as they "need" and that is the way they prefer to learn. We are a nice fit, eh? :)

Possible problem: I have 12 computer stations in my room called N-computing stations? 6 keyboard/monitor stations run off of one machine. Are you familiar with this configuration? It works for most programs because each kiddo can log in a station with a different loginid. So Brainpop, Jason and other webdelivered login sites work. During their explorations...we had some glitches but I was not sure if it was user error or using one computer for the actual moviemaker program. I have 2 N-computing stations so I may be limited to 2 movies being produced at the same time...we'll figure it out but I thought someone out there might read this and know the answer.

Hope you'll be interested in writing back...but I understand if my deal isn't yours! Anyone else just beginning the MovieMaker journey? We could commiserate/travel together? :)

Toodles,

April

You can build some slides in powerpoint save each one as JPEGS and use them in Windows moviemaker. We used this for certain pictures that we wanted to integrate.

I've used MMaker successfully from grades 5 and up. This year our students are creating an instructional video about our school so we can give it to prospective students and their families.

The best venue for class-created videos is SchoolTube. All videos are viewed by a moderator before they are posted to ensure there is nothing objectional.

Yes, as a 7th grade teacher I used windows movie maker  for a poetry multimedia project.  The students picked a poem- They found pictures to go along with their poem and narrated the movie by using the microphone.  They practiced their oral language skills in phrasing and intonation. They enjoyed it very much.  

My technology class made movies of recipes.  They found a favorite recipe- narrated it and found pictures to go along with the ingredients.  You can find us on schooltube under HMS.

Hello from Southeast Kentucky!

I think your project is a wonderful idea!  I want to do something similar with my freshman, but our school has recently switced to IMAC, so the program is iMovie instead of windows movie maker and it is a bit confusing.  So my movie making is in a bit of a hiatus at the moment, but kudos to you!!  Good luck with it!

Hello from the Midwest, USA. I just started using MM with my 13-14 year-olds(8th Grade). They are creating a Power Point, and then transistion the slide show into MM. They also create an introductory video segment they add into their project. They also add music files into their project. The end result is a 2-4 minute movie. After some small problems with the output to DVD, we are turning out some really nice projects the kids are excited about.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me. tburau@epals.com

Hi, everyone! I've used WMM (Windows Movie Maker) for film-making (Stop Motion techniques) with my 8th-graders in a story-telling activity based on literary books, and it's been so a successful experience that I'm planning to expand the project work. Beforehand, I had prepared some Power Point slides including Movie Maker screens which showed them its tools; while I was showing them the slides on the data show screen and explaining to them how to use the WMM tools, the students were practising on their computers. It was a great experience, because, besides their learning, I could see their interest, motivation and involvement during the activity.

Regards,

Carla

We have used it often. It's great for story-telling projects. Have you every been to SchoolTube.com? Awesome site! We post our videos there. You would be most interested in PhotoStory 3, a Windows free app that does the same thing as MovieMaker but is even easier. You just can't load the videos in it. It's for still images. I actually prefer it to MMaker.

I have used Movie Maker to create book talks with 4th grade students.  I did the video taping, so it was a very time consuming project.  The students did the editing once the video was downloaded into Movie Maker, and they turned out pretty well.

Microsoft Photo Story - another free Microsoft download is an easy way to work with photos (which are easier for students to do themselves). The students can add transitions and effects, and can then narrate the slideshow.

Shelly

Hi,

My name is Jonathan Boehm and I am a college student enrolled in the education program. I am doing a class presentation to fellow students who also want to become teachers and I am doing it on this website. So I would just like to know if you think epals is beneficial for teachers and if so for all grades or just certain ones? How long have you used Epals? Do you enjoy it? What are the best applications for this website? Would you recommend this website to other teachers? What are your favourite aspects of this website?

Ok, well thanks if you can answer these questions for me. I really appreciate it.

I use a  variety of technology in my classroom.  From movie maker to photostory to wiki's and blogs.  We are coming up to our Greek mythology unit in which my students make a Greek myth into a movie and present it to the class.  Last year's presentation were great.  If you are hesitant about movie maker, try photostory first.  It is a lot simpler and still creates a movie.  It takes the user through step by step. We used it for "A Christmas Carol" when the kids made a Scrooge for Mayor advertising campaign. 

If you have more questions, email me at kris10newc@epals.com.

Kristen Newcomb

Patricia,

My 7th grade students created biographies using Movie Maker. It was very successful and the kids really enjoyed using it. There are other programs such as Movie Maker that are used at the college level so I believe it is a good idea for the students to experience using something other than PowerPoint. The only glitch with Movie Maker is that any pictures or music that you use in the project must be on the computer that you are creating the Movie Maker project on. My students work off of flash drives and that was a headache for awhile until I figured out that all the pictures and music used in the project have to be on the local computer and the flash drive. You simply needed to sync the flash drive with the music and send any pictures that are on the flash drive to "My Documents/My Pictures," on the local computer. Of course if your students do not use flash drives then you will not have this problem.

Good luck!

Desiree

Hi There,

What is the easiest way to convert PPT to Windows Movie Maker? Thanks!