I often plan my instructional videos using a Google slide deck. If I want to create guided notes, it makes my life so much easier to use slide decks because I can print the slide deck. Then the guided notes match the video perfectly and are easy for students to follow.

I try to enhance my videos by having my face as a webcam in the corner and adding animation to my slides.  What I want students to focus on moves onto the screen as I am talking about it. I typically record within Screencastify as it is very user-friendly. You can edit it, publish it to YouTube, and download it. You can also embed questions into the video to help with engagement as well. 

The unit slide deck acts as the guided notes for each lesson, paired with some pages within the student's workbook from the instructional resource we have that I am required to use. Students are sometimes instructed to do work within that workbook, typically more in the brainstorming and planning portions of the lessons.

Instead of instructing students to type out their writing, you could have them produce the same things within a writer’s notebook. I would instruct them to do this if I taught a younger grade. If you have students who prefer to write rather than type, this could always be an option for them.  

The practice with this writing unit goes with our instructional resource. Students will take research notes that will later be used for paragraph formation. Students will form one body paragraph that will be added to the complete essay. Students fill out what is needed mainly on the lesson slide deck or within a workbook that my school uses for reading and writing. You will see that referenced as the “companion” in my slide deck and within my videos.