We used Fotofriend to record, a website that allows you to make free videos, among many other things. The website has more than 50 different video effects (similar to Photo Booth on a MacBook) but students were asked to record their video using the normal effect. There are three options for length of video: up to 10 seconds, 30 seconds, or 3 minutes. Once finished recording, you can preview the video.
On a Chromebook, you are able to save the recorded video to your downloads folder or directly to your Google Drive. In this scenario, I had students save it to their Google Drive so they could easily share it with their teacher. Throughout the rest of the week, the teacher planned on showing a few of the poetry video recordings each day.
Students loved this activity and it was a great lesson in fluency and making eye contact with the video camera. In fact, a Speaking and Listening Standard for 3rd grade reads, "Create engaging audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details." (3.SL.4)
