"Produce and star in your own music video that you can take home with you."
Music videos are short stories that convey a message of hope, insight, and anything that your imagination can create. At Zeum: San Francisco's Children's Museum, the music video genre is just one of the many activities found within the walls and high ceilings of the interactive museum. From picking out the right props to writing the perfect music, students are able to create their own works of art.
The music video field trip allows students to produce videos featuring their own poetry and music. Before and during the field trip, Zeum educators encourage students to engage in every aspect of the process. Students work in groups to brainstorm a concept, create original poetry, digitally compose original music, choreograph dance routines and perform and film the final project.
In just two hours, students are developing and enhancing skills that help them understand literacy, math, technology, critical thinking, collaboration, and decision-making skills. At the end of the day, students take home these skills and a DVD of their music video to share with their family and friends.
Check out these examples: A group of students from Hercules High School in Contra Costa County take on a serious issue that is plaguing all schools: budget cuts.
At St. Paul's School in San Francisco, a group of sixth graders create a fun way to remember the order of math operations. PEMDAS - parenthesis, exponants, multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction.
Broadcast news has been a staple of the media over the past few decades. The news broadcast field trip offered at Zeum: San Francisco's Children's Museum offers students an opportunity to learn the basic production skills that many people wish they could have access to. The newscast workshop provides an outlet for students to discuss current events and story development.
Zeum educators help students gain an understanding of the production process. Students form groups and learn to collaborate on each step such as choosing topics, creating scripts, and producing and filming the broadcast. While the students are learning the essential skills of literacy and performing arts, the basic fundamentals of journalism such as the "who, what, where, when, and why" are highlighted.
From brainstorming script ideas to storyboard development to the rehearsal stage, students learn the technical skills such as composition and chroma key techniques and the collaboration kills which are needed when you work with people in a group. At the end of the field trip, students have not only created a news broadcast, but they have learned the basic knowledge that comes with film making.
Check out this example:
A group of fourth and fifth graders from Cresmont Elementary produced a news segment that was a part of a larger news broadcast. Their newscast was about the escaped tiger from the San Francisco Zoo.
"Dream up a story, create your own clay characters, and bring them to life in an animated movie."
At Zeum: San Francisco's Children's Museum, the clay animation field trip offers students a crash course in the basics of classic stop-motion animation. With the help of talented Zeum educators, students go through the process of producing a short animated movie. From story board to sculpture to filming, groups of students work together to create content that demonstrates their field of study or any idea that they seem fit.
The clay animation field trip encompasses various skills that help students in the long run. While the students are obviously developing their visual art and technological skills, they are enhancing their literacy and math skills in the process of creating their movie. Students have to work together in writing and developing their storyboards. During filming, students have to calculate the frames to determine the length of their movie. All the skills come together and in two hours, everyone will be able to enjoy their movie on DVD.
Check out these examples: "The Lemon Tree" Stage Write, a San Francisco based non-profit that brings theater to public schools, collaborated with a group of 2nd graders to create this piece of animation. The story follows a young woman who finds a magical lemon tree.
"Journey to Mars" A group of 6th graders from Sacramento Adventist Academy in Carmichael, Ca decided to let their imaginations flow freely. As a space ship lands on Mars, they discover a whole other world outside of what they know is possible.
"Romeo and Juliet" It just shows that Zeum isn't just for children when a group of 9th grade English students from Hercules High School take on the clay animation field trip. A group of students took on the classic balcony scene from the Shakespeare tale and reimagined it for today's audience.
This San Francisco Children's Museum is a hands-on, multimedia arts and technology experience for kids. We envision a world where the 3Cs of 21st-century literacy - Creativity, Collaboration and Communication - inspire new ideas and innovative solutions. We believe that the success of the next generation will hinge not only on what they know, but also on their ability to think and act creatively as global citizens. Our mission is to nurture these 3Cs in all youth and families.
We are a nonprofit 501(c)(3), community-based organization.
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