12th Grade — Phase 3, Unit C5: One Last Studio Piece: Motion Graphics Capstone: A Class Send-Off Reel

🗓️ Before Class: Teacher Prep

Gather/set out: Yearbook photos/footage from this year (with appropriate permission), Video/motion software available (Premiere Rush, CapCut, Canva, or Photoshop), The Motion Path (companion book), as a concept reference.
Pull up today's slide deck (see 🖥️ Slide Deck below) so it's ready to project.

🖥️ Slide Deck (project or share with students)

Short, on-the-board pacing slides for today's Do Now, agenda, vocabulary, and exit ticket -- the full detail lives in the handout above, not here.

🧑‍🏫 Substitute Teacher Guide

A scripted, step-by-step runsheet for today's class -- hand this to anyone covering the room who doesn't know the daily routine.

🎯 Essential Question

What does a genuinely finished motion graphics piece look like, built from four years of this program's own real work?

📈 Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson (3 Days), students will be able to:

Plan and build a short (30-60 second) motion graphics reel using photos, video clips, and yearbook material from this year.
Apply real keyframe animation, text animation, and basic compositing techniques instead of only built-in template effects.
Export the finished reel at the correct settings to actually be shown at the Grand Send-Off.

📐 Standards Alignment

CDOS (Career Development & Occupational Studies)

CDOS 1 — Career Development -- students will be able to explain the range of career choices, and identify personal interests, skills, and aptitudes that relate to those choices.
CDOS 2 — Integrated Learning -- students will demonstrate how academic knowledge and skills are applied in the workplace and other settings.
CDOS 3a — Universal Foundation Skills -- basic literacy, communication, and problem-solving skills required for a career.
CDOS 3b — Career Majors -- knowledge and skills required for success within a specific career pathway (here, Digital Design).

Industry Standards (CCTC)

AR-VIS 3 — Analyze and create two- and three-dimensional art forms using various media.
AR-VIS 3-3 — Analyze multimedia applications of software/hardware for the purposes of visual communication.

📚 Key Vocabulary

Motion Graphics: Design that moves -- animated type, logos, or transitions, built frame by frame or on a timeline.
Compositing: Combining multiple visual layers (footage, graphics, text, effects) into one final integrated piece.
Text Animator: A control that animates specific text properties (position, opacity, tracking) letter by letter, word by word, or line by line.

🧰 Materials & Tools

Yearbook photos/footage from this year (with appropriate permission)
Video/motion software available (Premiere Rush, CapCut, Canva, or Photoshop)
The Motion Path (companion book), as a concept reference

🧠 Do Now (Warm-Up)

If you had 45 seconds to sum up this entire program -- four years, in one piece -- what specific moments or images would you actually choose?

📁 Portfolio Update — Once a Week

Once a week, add your best finished or in-progress yearbook (or, later, studio) work to your portfolio with a 1-2 sentence caption -- and once you're in the Design Studio phase, a photo of the piece in its real, installed location if possible. This is the same evidence trail you'll use for Archive & Portfolio and any PBAT/portfolio review.

✍️ Example description for your Google Sites portfolio (fill in YOUR blanks -- don't just copy this):

For this piece, I made ______________ (name what you made) for “Motion Graphics Capstone: A Class Send-Off Reel.” This project asked: “What does a genuinely finished motion graphics piece look like, built from four years of this program's own real work?” I used Motion Graphics by ______________ (explain how you used it in THIS piece). The hardest part was ______________, and I solved it by ______________. I'm proud of ______________ because ______________.

📋 Main Workshop / Lesson Sequence

This lesson spans 3 Days. Suggested pacing:

Day	Focus	Plan
Day 1	Gather & Plan	Do Now (5 min, above). Independent work (35 min): gather real photos/footage from this year and storyboard a rough sequence and pacing for the reel.
Day 2	Build	Independent production work (40 min): assemble the sequence and add at least one genuine keyframed text or graphic animation.
Day 3	Finish & Export	Independent work (25 min): finish compositing, titles, and music/sound if appropriate. Export (15 min): export at the correct settings and confirm it plays back correctly.

✅ Assessment & Exit Ticket

Finished reel assessed for a real, deliberate sequence with at least one genuine keyframed animation, not just built-in transitions, and a correct final export.

Exit Ticket: Which single moment in the reel are you proudest of including, and why did it make the final cut?

📊 Pull up the anonymous Class Check-In for students to fill out before they go.

🧩 Differentiation & Accommodations

English Language Learners: model every step live, then check in one-on-one; provide translated materials and vocabulary support as needed. Students with IEPs: apply the accommodations and modifications listed in each student's plan (examples include extended time, graphic organizers, speech-to-text tools, chunked instructions, and visual schedules). Students with attention-related needs: break tasks into short, checklist-driven steps and provide brief movement or focus breaks. Students ready for a challenge: take on a leadership role critiquing peers' work, extend the project with a second iteration, or research how today's skill is used professionally in the field.

🔗 Resources & References

The Motion Path (companion book)