CREATOR LAB PROJECT
The Crash Course Creator Lab is a modular, 4-unit project plan that helps student storytellers build the skills to create their own educational video or presentation. The goal of this project is to get digital natives thinking critically and give them the tools to create thoughtful, engaging, and fun educational videos.
This lesson plan is designed to help your students gain a deeper understanding of storytelling, increase media literacy, and learn the basics of video production. We’ve provided worksheets and activity ideas, guidelines for scripting and finding reliable sources, and student-facing resources for independent study. As their final project, students will scope, write, revise, and produce their very own Crash Course video, in the Crash Course style.
PROJECT STRUCTURE
This project is divided into four units. Each of these units has a distinct learning objective, meaning that this project can be taught in a modular fashion depending on your needs. When taught individually, these units provide a clear lesson for the topic at hand. When put together, all four units create a comprehensive project that outlines video-making from start to finish. This project is designed to be taught either way.
Each unit is broken down further into sections that help you create a lesson plan. These units contain:
- Warm-up: A brief question or discussion with which to begin class.
- Discussion: Often building on the warm-up, discussions are more in-depth with clear direction.
- Exercise: A short, interactive portion of the lesson that gets students curious.
- Activity: Designed to make connections between the unit discussion and real-world application.
- Project: A larger portion of the unit featuring hands-on, independent application of topics.
Much like the units themselves, these sections can be adjusted based on your classroom needs and resources. We have provided time estimates as a guideline, but educators should feel empowered to linger or move on from a topic as needed.
Unit Four, which focuses primarily on video production, also has an alternate version that instructs students to create educational slide decks, rather than educational videos. This alternate option is presented for environments where video recording is not possible. It is not recommended to complete both versions of Unit Four.
SHARING STUDENT VIDEOS
Crash Course does not recommend sharing student videos on YouTube or any other public video platform. While this project does feature video creation, it is not recommended that final projects are shared on any public online space without explicit and written permission from students and their guardians. We know it can be exciting to share, but digital privacy must remain a priority throughout this project.
Instead, we recommend students upload final projects to a private assignment within your LMS, or present them in class using their assigned devices.
CREATOR LAB UNITS
4 MODULAR UNITS DESIGNED TO BE USED TOGETHER OR AS STANDALONE LESSONS
Select VIEW COMPLETE PROJECT to be directed to Google Drive folders with teachers guides, discussion prompts, activities, and worksheets.
UNIT ONE: STORYTELLING
ESTIMATED TIME TO COMPLETE: 90–120 MINUTES
LEARNING GOALS
- Define script writing terminology such as hook, intro, conclusion, etc.
- Evaluate an idea for its narrative engagement
- Apply learned techniques to outline, draft, and edit a script
KEY TERMS/CONCEPTS
- Story
- Hook
- Intro
- Conclusion
UNIT TWO: MEDIA LITERACY
ESTIMATED TIME TO COMPLETE: 70–80 MINUTES
LEARNING GOALS
- Analyze and evaluate sources
- Recognize misinformation and disinformation
KEY TERMS/CONCEPTS
- Media
- The media
- Media literacy
- Media messages
- Media effects
- Misinformation
- Disinformation
UNIT THREE: REVISION & EDITING
ESTIMATED TIME TO COMPLETE: 80–90 MINUTES
LEARNING GOALS
- Revise and rewrite a script
- Edit a script for clarity
- Fact-check a script for accuracy
KEY TERMS/CONCEPTS
- Revision
- Editing
- Context
- Sources
- Fact-checking
UNIT FOUR: VIDEO PRODUCTION
ESTIMATED TIME TO COMPLETE: 5+ HOURS
LEARNING GOALS
- Revise and rewrite a script
- Edit a script for clarity
- Fact-check a script for accuracy
KEY TERMS/CONCEPTS
- Revision
- Editing
- Context
- Sources
- Fact-checking
PRODUCTION TIPS
Resources for the video production portion of the project.
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
CAMERA OPTIONS
- Smartphone Camera
- Webcam
- Video Camera
MICROPHONE OPTIONS
- Built-In Phone, Laptop, or Tablet Microphone
- External Microphone
LIGHTING OPTIONS
- Lamps
- Windows
- Video Lights
EDITING SOFTWARE OPTIONS
- iMovie
- WeVideo
- Canva
- Adobe Express
- Any Tool With Which Students Are Already Familiar
GROUP WORK
The Creator Lab is designed to guide each student through the creation of their own educational video, but we’ve found some educators prefer to group students to save on classroom resources, project management, and grading.
Educators report that groups of 2-5 students work best for this project. For groups of 6+, we recommend running multiple groups. With you in a directorial role, students can be assigned the following leadership positions:
- Script Director: oversees script revisions and ensures the narration flows clearly
- Research Director: verifies sources and gathers supporting material
- Production Director: manages filming setup, equipment, and production logistics
- Editing Director: leads post-production and editing decisions
- Host: appears on camera and delivers the presentation
Depending on group size, students may share multiple roles or some roles may be excluded. In addition to streamlined classroom management, this structure also reflects real-world media production, where teams work together to create a final product, contribute different strengths and skills, and cover one another during unexpected challenges or absences.