Video in the Classroom
This article is on how to use a video in the classroom. It describes the basic technique so that you - and your students - make the most of this valuable resource. (Note that this also applies to DVDs.)
Contents |
Before the Lesson
Make sure the video is set up in the right place and ready to roll. Make sure the equipment is set up and functioning properly. You don't want to start the lesson then spend ten minutes to discover the plug doesn't fit the socket.
Before you Start
Introduce the subject. Don't just wade in with the video, but set the scene. This might mean a quick discussion on the subject or perhaps going over some vocabulary the students are likely to encounter and have problems with.
One idea is to write up the words you encounter on the board and then use these with the class in trying to guess what will happen in the video.
Playing the Video
Don't turn on the video and sit at the back of the classroom yawning. You should make the video as interactive as possible. That means stop and start it almost scene by scene.
Check for understanding and use prediction to find out what's going to happen next.
Begin by getting the students to look for specific things in the video. For example, "What kind of shop does the man work in?" or "How many people are in the car." Then, when the video is playing, freeze frame it after each question could be answered and check that the students have understood what's going on.
Stop the video at crucial story points in the action and check for understanding.
After the first viewing you can ask some general comprehension questions to see what else the students have understood.
Variations on a Theme
- Try stopping the video after a pertinent piece of dialogue and ask the students what they think will be said next.
- Turn the sound down and see if the students can work out some rough dialogue.
- Turn the picture off (cover the screen) and play the sound; students work out what the visuals are all about.
- Dictation. Instead of you speaking and the students writing, the actor speaks and while you pause the video, the students write the dialogue down.
- Half the students watch the video with no sound. Half listen to the sound with no picture. They meet in the middle to piece together the whole thing.
- Half the students watch the first half of the video and half the students watch the second half. They meet in the middle to piece together the whole thing.
- Half the students listen to the video with their back to the screen. Each has a partner who explains to them what is happening (as the teacher pauses after each scene).
After the Event
- Cloze Tests using the dialogue from the video.
- Cartoon bubbles (if you can, from screen captures) which the students fill with dialog to match a particular moment from the video.
- Interviews. Several students play the characters in the video and other students interview them. If it's a well known video film students can also "play" the actors, e.g. "My name's Brad Pitt and this is my latest movie."
- Role Plays. The students can practice scenes from the video either using genuine dialogue or their own version. In addition, you may also develop these into Plays in the Classroom.
Freer Discussion Topics
- Was the video good? How was the acting? What about the settings and locations?
- Was the plot believable? What happened to the characters after the end of the video? Why did a character behave in a certain way?
- Which character do the students identify with? What would the students have done in a similar situation?
