CLIL Seminar in Getxo : videos

Showing posts with label videos. Show all posts

Some proven strategies for using video effectively in the classroom

I reckon I should start this post by stating that the essential ingredient you need so that video becomes an effective learning tool is preparation. Let me just suggest some simple tools and strategies for both language and content learning:

Before viewing:

Choose carefully

Try to choose videos which contain relevant content for your subject and keep in mind it has to be engaging for your students. Needless to say you should look for high-quality stuff from a reliable source.

Brevity is the soul of wit

How long should it last? The average attention span is really short in the case of teenagers so if you can find a suitable video which is longer than 15 minutes, consider cropping and editing it. Vibby allows you to edit your video and focus students' atention on the sections that matter.

Set the proper scenario

This includes telling students what the video is about, the purpose of watching it and eliciting previous knowledge on the topic. Depending on the complexity of the video and the language level of your students, you will need to pre-teach the key words and expressions from the video.

While viewing:

Avoid students' TV mode

Be sure you ask your students what you want them to do while they watch the video. In other words, do not let them think this is time for entertainment or daydreaming. This generic video note-taking worksheet can be hepful.

For CLIL teachers, the video response worksheets should be specific-content related. Let me show you an excellent example of a video lesson on cladograms by a teacher called Mariana Garcia:

These are the worksheets students had to fill in while and after watching the video above.

As you can see, students were asked to use mind maps to show understanding of the concepts in the video. (The use of mind maps is a very effective strategy when checking students' understanding. You can use this strategy while watching or after watching the video).

Pause often and use the watch-think-write strategy:

Watch: students watch the section of the video you choose. Writing is forbidden at this stage.
Think: students discuss the section in pairs or small groups. Still no writing allowed.
Write: students now write the required information in their guided notes, and prepare new questions they still have on the topic.

If students are working at home and you want to monitor the learning process, use Edpuzzle . This is a great formative assessment tool for teachers who want to assign videos for homework, or want to encourage asynchronous communication, and unfortunately such is the case now. Edpuzzle will help teachers provide students with valuable information about the degree of achievement of specific learning outcomes that have been set beforehand.

After viewing:

Do not be in a hurry. Take the necessary time to reflect on what they have learnt, make students retell the video or parts of it , prompt their critical skills by asking them to find videos on the same topic with a different viewpoint, have different groups create posters on it, etc.

Allow students to spend some minutes on self-assessment of their work. We are fostering formative assessment and students' self reflection on their outcomes is an essential part of it. I hope this tool I have created will be useful for you.

Some free sources for educational videos:

Bozeman Science Youtube channel

Minute Earth

Simple History

Math Fortress

Last but not least, from these lines, I would like to congratulate Mariana Garcia on her superb work for scaffolding students' learning process while viewing .

Fostering reading habits through reading and viewing

This post is aimed at helping teachers to foster reading habits in their classrooms. Do you find it difficult to make your students read pieces of literature? I would like to share my insight into engaging students in literature through combining printed texts and video adaptations of the texts. This ppt includes some practical proposals for the classroom based on two short stories and two poems.

CLIL THROUGH VIDEO VIEWING (ii)

In this post, I would like to provide you with some video channels for different content areas.

Fran Gregorio Videos is dedicated to providing teachers and students a powerful new resource to combat student apathy. Here you will find dramatic, visually stunning video "trailers" in the Natural Sciences choreographed to powerful music, designed to motivate and inspire students at the beginning of a lesson to the wonders of Biology, Earth Science, Astronomy or Chemistry.

From mainly visual videos to visual and verbal videos, I would highlight Crash Course channel. Content areas are very diverse: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Economics, Philosophy, World History, and many more.

A very useful channel around "eternal" questions is The School of Life. It mainly focuses on philosophical and ethical issues but some videos on figures from Universal Literature are really good too. I have chosen the following one on Leo Tolstoi for you to enjoy:

For specific content areas, look below at the list of channels I highly recommend:

Maths

History

Science

This was the second post on video channels for CLIL classes and I am sure it will not be the last one because video channels are, no doubt, ever-increasing on-line tools that will be very useful in the learning process of any content area in our classrooms.

SAFETY ON THE INTERNET

Cyberbullying, sexting, grooming are starting to get into our dictionaries because unfortunately traditional bullying has evolved into a new way of humiliating or harassing kids and teenagers. Cyberbullying means that someone may be harassed by someone else hiding behind his or her cell phone or computer screen. I reckon that our role as teachers must include setting out clear standards of behaviour when they use the Internet, social networking sites and mobile phones.

An example of a classroom practice that can help to make our students aware of the dangers of the net is this sequence by Pilar Torres, a Secondary English teacher from Angel de Saavedra High School in Córdoba. In this project, students listen, speak and write in English about computers, social networks and internet safety. Regarding language, they will learn the vocabulary related to the topics mentioned before and they will be provided with a very meaningful context to use the modal verb "should" to give advice to their peers.

The final outcome of the project is a digital poster that includes advice on internet safety and a very useful rubric to assess both the format and the content in the poster is suggested by Pilar.

Some other related resources may be:

Video on internet safety

Internet safety quiz

Digizen website

Digital citizenship or how to use technologies in a responsible and safe way

Our students are very familiar with the use of technologies but they need a bit of help from parents and educators on how to become responsible digital citizens. That is why today I would like to recommend a website which shares very good advice and resources on issues such as social networking and cyberbullying and how these affect their own and other people's online experiences and behaviours. Enter here to see how many practical proposals for the classroom you can find.

There are plenty of resources that will be helpful for classroom purposes but I would like to remark on the video proposal you can use to deal with the complex issue of cyberbullying. Character interviews as well as question worksheets are provided here .

USING VIDEOS IN CLIL CLASSROOMS

There is a big difference between watching a video and learning something from a video. Regarding CLIL contexts, there is no doubt that videos are a great opportunity to employ authentic material and resources, but we should make sure that we design specific tasks to boost students’ understanding of the content area which is being implemented through English.

Today I would like to share with you a very interesting research carried out by Cristina Oddone. Her paper reports on a research study that focused on the use of videos for task-based learning of scientific subjects through English in Secondary education. You can read her research here. You will find not only a very complete description of the reasons for exploiting these audio-visual aids in the CLIL classrooms but a practical example for Science classes on the structure of DNA. Activities are included in her paper and you can watch the video below these lines:

Another practical contribution to our CLIL classrooms is the blog by Angela Ruiz, Bilingual Coordinator at Pedro Espinosa High School (Antequera, Málaga). This blog provides Secondary teachers with a collection of videos and worksheets on Social Studies, Science and Physical Education.

My heartfelt congrats to Cristina and Angela from here.

MOTIVATING SECONDARY STUDENTS TO LEARN ENGLISH THROUGH MUSIC AND ICT

PopuLLar is a European Union- funded, innovative, education project designed to harness music, the primary social interest of secondary school students, into their language learning.

There is a huge need to motivate secondary school students, in particular, to learn languages, focus digital competences and be creative; and music is the key.

The project will ask students to write their own lyrics to songs of their choice. They will then translate their songs into the target language they are learning, The students will then record their song (audio or video) and share it with students all over Europe.

Students will be able to combine their love of music, with creativity, literacy, digital competencies, group collaboration and, most importantly, use foreign languages.

PopuLLar is a project that is 'owned' by the students, they work autonomously and collaboratively, teachers are guides to the project process.

As at this stage of the academic year I know you are awfully busy, now you can just enter here to find a good summary of the main features of the project.

As for registration, it should be done before July by filling in this simple questionnaire

Last but not least, I would like to wish you all the best for your well-deserved summer break. Thank you very much for your enthusiasm and active participation in our CLIL seminar in Getxo. We will meet again in October so as to go through the steps that will help us to work on this project and also to plan our CLIL schedule for 2013-2014.

Current issues for teenagers on CNN Student News

Click here to learn about CNN Student News

CNNStudentNews.com is a ten-minute, commercial-free, daily news program for middle and high school students produced by the journalists and educators at CNN. This award-winning show and its companion website are available free of charge throughout the school year.

At CNNStudentNews.com, you'll find a wealth of teacher materials presented free of charge, including Daily Transcripts for each show, Daily Discussion questions, the Media Literacy Question of the Day, downloadable Maps and additional support materials to help students understand the news.

Some suggested teaching strategies:

- After viewing CNN Student News, use the Daily Discussion to help students discuss and understand the stories covered in the program. The questions are designed to promote critical thinking and are written for middle and high school students

- Distribute copies of the Daily Transcript and have students read the stories. Then, have students write their individual responses to that day's Daily Discussion questions or the weekly Newsquiz. This approach can be used to promote reading comprehension as well as in ELL classes.