Students' "Khan" Project

To teach is to learn.

That's what students will do this week as they create their own Khan-like videos.

I just worked on my own example for a couple of hours--it's not as easy as it looks as it takes time to choose the best language and models to explain your thinking.

Tomorrow or the next day, I'll show a Khan video related to equivalent fractions and I'll share my video draft too.  My video is not finalized yet because I made one mathematical error during the process. I'm going to show the film with the error to give students a chance to find it--they love finding my errors.  I'll also give students a critique sheet to fill out as they watch my video.  Then we'll discuss what would have made my video stronger, and the steps to creating their own fraction videos.

Students will work in teams to compare two fractions. Using models and words students are required to do the following:

1. Using a draft template students will explain which fraction is greater or if the fractions are equivalent. They'll also prove their point using fraction models, a number line and words. (Fraction pairs will serve to differentiate the assignment.)
2. They will meet with a teacher to edit their draft.
3. After that, they'll create a short video that teaches their lesson using Quicktime screen recording, Photobooth or iMovie.
4. Finally they will share their video with the class. 

Sometime during the process, I'll edit and correct my film and reshow it to the students to model the revision process.  

Creating "Khan" like math movies will develop students' understanding of fractions and also give them a greater ability to access and use Khan's and other similar videos as a learning resource.

Have you tried this project?  If so, let me know how it worked.  Also let me know if you have any suggestions for the students or me.  

This is a fun part of teaching, don't you agree?

Project Update
Since I found the time, I corrected the error and published both videos for students' reference and critique.  Here are the links:
Ms. Devlin's Equivalent Fraction Movie
Ms. Devlin's Simplifying Fractions Movie

Khan's Simplifying Fractions Video
Khan's Equivalent Fraction Video