4th Grade Collaborative Public Service Announcement
Class 4-302 at PS 124 produced a Public Service Announcement (PSA) on the effects of global warming and what we can do about them.
After researching this topic as part of a social studies unit, class discussions determined that a class PSA could be effective by creating feelings of guilt in adults over their participation in things that could have devastating effects on the students' future.
Their video also includes an introduction that explains their production process.
Additional Resources
- Read the production plan and notes on the class blog: Mr. Marsano's Honors Class Blog PSA category
- Download the PSA Rubric students used to evaluate their work: PSA Rubric
- Watch a PSA we produced on fair use in media education, using footage shot during the production of class 4-302's PSA: Media Literacy through Digital Production
The Process
The class brainstormed ways of appealing to that specific audience, and once their attention was held, what they wanted to communicate. The class then divided into four “production units”, each with a specific element of the PSA to communicate:
- Grab the audience's attention,
- Define the issue and the audiences role in it
- Convey the importance of the issue, and
- Leave them with an action to take.
Using a projector, laptop & examples of PSAs on the web, class 4-302 analyzed the works for how the video producers used words, images, sound and video effects to inspire their audience to take action.
Each unit then wrote a script, and adapted it for the screen using storyboards. 3 of the units shot video sequences based on their storyboards. All units searched for images on the Internet to support their scripts, saved the web addresses on their class blog, and downloaded selections to experiment with during the editing process. Each unit presented rough cuts to the class on two occasions, and the class evaluated each other's editing decisions using a rubric.
This production demonstrates how thoroughly a video production can be integrated into a social studies curriculum, while also supporting video editing, internet research basics, media literacy, and critical thinking skills.