Great way to incorporate music and visuals for an anticipatory set!
Community Review for Animoto: Video Maker & Editor
My Take
Animoto is an incredible teaching tool. It is very easy to manipulate (upload jpg), create an order or random view, and add music - that's it! I like that the tool is easy for students to use therefore, the mechanics of the tool do not get in the way of the expression.
BE CAREFUL how long you make the video, unfortunately, I had to sit through a professional development wherein the presenter had a 15 minute Animoto that liked to bore everyone in the room to tears! It doesn't take much to get your point across - just remember, quality, NOT quantity!
How I Use It
I have used Animoto in various ways, but my students really enjoy Animoto when I use it for an anticipatory set. For example, here is a video (link) I created as an anticipatory set for the novel Bud, Not Buddy depicting setting (Great Depression) https://animoto.com/play/uME5HkmFnABGj6e1t4066A
When the video started, you could hear a pin drop in the room...students were completely engrossed in the video, they loved it, both visuals and the music. It lead to high level discussion about the time/era social barriers etc.; students rolled the discussion into creating Cinquain poems depicting setting (great depression). POWERFUL tool!
I've also used for class overviews and Back to School Night so parents would be able to have a snap shot of what goes on in our classroom.
More community reviews for Animoto: Video Maker & Editor
Great for Beginners
Easy to use and great for visualizations
