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Educational video has been around since the invention of the film projector. It's nothing new, so what's the big fuss about online video and YouTube? First, YouTube isn't all there is. Many sites have sprouted up in recent years to that offer a host of high-quality online educational video. However, YouTube has the largest, fastest, most searchable, and most comprehensive library of video on the planet, and it is all free. YouTube, however, remains a passive medium just like the reel-to-reel film projectors of old. To use online video effectively in the classroom, remember it's not just pushing play. Videos require context, engagement, and debriefing to be effective learning tools. The quality of your selection is important too. Below are eleven ways you can incorporate online video into your language arts classroom and some great video resources as well. At the very bottom, you will find a sample lesson plan for using online video. Use it as a model for your own lessons. Click here to jump to the lesson plan. Keep scrolling to learn about great online video resources out there and how to use them in your classroom.
Online Video Resources and Ideas
Online Video Resources and Ideas
Probably my favorite use of online video in the classroom (and possibly most effective) is to provide detailed feedback on digital projects. I do an annual Website Project in my Grade 6 and Middle School classes where the kids need to build an informative website. Rather than writing a long email or having a prolonged meeting in the classroom about he site, I can make a quick video that gives feedback to the group. Students prefer this as it gives them the opportunity to be able to go back again and again to review my comments. Nothing is forgotten and all is saved (which is great when assessment time comes). To the right is an example of one of these feedback videos I have made recently. These are easily made with free programs like Screencast-O-Matic.
Another video from Crash Course Literature, this one is one of the best introductions to Shakespeare I've seen. Before teaching Shakespeare, it is important for kids to understand the context in which he wrote. This video gives an excellent background to one of his most famous plays, and to the man in general.
Crash Course Literature is a series of free on videos on YouTube written, hosted, and produced by best-selling author and world-famous vlogger John Green. In the video below he discusses how all reading is an act of empathy. A great response to that question kids sometimes ask, "Why should I read?"
Sometimes the classics are the best teaching tools. By classics, of course, I mean classic TV. Many old educational TV productions can be found (usually copyright approved) on YouTube to show your kids. School House Rock is a big favorite. They have some excellent grammar videos like "Conjunction Junction" below.
I don't know about you, but I've always had a hard time relating figurative language and literary devices to kids. While cheesy, this video does a fantastic job summarizing each literary device in a simple and catchy way. Trust me, they'll love it, and will come way knowing exactly what literary devices do: add flavor to your writing.
While we want our kids to read independently, sometimes they are just too young and haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet. For young learners, online video gives you access to an entire video library of animated children's books. Many of your kids' favorites can be found. It works best when you read the book to them first and then show the video. They really get into it. Like this one below, the kids will be yelling "No" right along with the book!
Early English learners need to learn phonics. There are a lot of ways to teach and introduce kids to phonics sounds, but I always say the more ways you can throw a concept at a kid, the better. Books and cards are great for teaching phonics, but never underestimate the power of video and cute hand puppets. Geraldine the Giraffe is a great series by Mr. Thorne who has an entire library of great video resources for teaching English. Take a look at this sample.
Nothing teaches young kids like a song. Of course, this depends on what you are teaching. If you are teaching new terms, a song is a fun way to get the kids to remember not only the term itself, but also the essence of its meaning. If you are not a good singer, find a god YouTube video with the song (and cool animation) and show it to the kids. Show it, teach it, sing it a few times, and watch the magic happen. Don't forget to print out the lyrics. This will enhance their learning. Here's a great song for teaching story parts.
Journal writing is a must in every language arts classroom. Sometimes the dry writing prompt on the whiteboard just doesn't cut it. Try using a video as a writing prompt. There are many interesting YouTube channels out there that provide an array of fun and engaging videos that are sure to sweep your kids into a writing frenzy. The post-writing discussions are always the best. Two of my favorite channels for video writing prompts are Vlogbrothers and Vsauce. Here's a sample Vlogbrothers video that works well.
One of the difficulties of teaching English is dealing with its incessant irregularities, strange rules, and exceptions. This often frustrates students and can turn them off to the language (especially English language learners). I find a good way around this is teaching a little bit about how English came to be. Kids find the quirky, convoluted stories about the history of English interesting and are more apt to engage in the content. A good place to find these are on Ted-Ed, here. Here's a good sample about how plurals came to be in English.
A final kind of educational video that I think works well in the classroom setting are tutorial videos. Difficult to use well as a large group activity, these work well as part of a "flipped classroom" environment, a learning center, or a supplement to an individual activity. Tutorials help reinforce lessons taught in the classroom and help students better understand them. I like to post these on my class website or as part of worksheet activity to watched in class. Here's a good one about creating fictional worlds for fantasy stories.
Sample Online Video Lesson Plan
Sample Online Video Lesson Plan
Lesson Title: Quickwriting with a video prompt
Introduction: Quickwriting is a free writing exercise used in language arts to help teach students to be confident when writing on an idea and overcome the fear of the blank page. The activity requires a teacher to display a writing prompt which can be either text, an image, or a video. Students are instructed to view the prompt and then, using the first idea that comes to their mind, free write on that idea until the teacher tells them to stop writing. This quickwriting lesson is for using online video as the writing prompt.
Content Area and Grade or Age Level of Students: Grade 6 English/Language Arts (but also suitable for students grades 4 and up)
Objectives:
After seeing a short video clip, students will independently generate a writing topic from the video clip in less than 30 seconds.
Using a self-generated writing topic from a video clip, students will free write on their topic without stopping for a given amount of time.
After completing a journal piece, students will read their piece aloud to a group of peers with confidence and fluency.
Given peer-written journal pieces, students will provide at least one constructive comment for the writer.
Standards Addressed: From Common Core ELA Standards for Grade 6
W.6.4 - Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Relative Advantage: Quickwriting is a routine activity in my language arts classroom. To keep the activity fresh and interesting, i is important to vary the writing prompts for the students. While I usually put up quotes, poetry, or story segments, using a projected image or video is a good change of pace and often more well received by students. It has been my experience that using online video for quickwriting has led to higher levels of interest and engagement by students during the activity. Using video brings the added benefit of providing visual information to write about for students struggling with English fluency.
Timeline: 30 minutes
Materials:
journal
digital projector
computer w/ Internet connection
speakers
URL for online video being used (Vlogbrothers and Vsauce YouTube channels work well)
Grouping Strategies: No groups are necessary for this activity. Students watch the video prompt as a large group. Following the writing, you may want to separate larger classes into small groups of 3-5 for students to share their work with their peers.
Learning Activities:
Students, as a whole class, watch an online video like this one in silence. Prior to viewing the video, students are prompted to pay attention to the ideas the video sparks in their minds and to be prepared to quickly choose one of these ideas to write about when the video is over.
After the video has been shown twice (time allowing), students should focus on the most immediate idea they have that was prompted by the video. This could be a word, an image, a general idea, or a phrase from from the clip. Students should then begin writing a composition of their choosing without strict regard to conventions and organization until the teacher instructs them to stop.
After the teacher has instructed students to stop writing (after about 10-15 min.), students will are then to split into small groups of 2-4, and commence to share their work.
After a student shares, each member of the group should provide some constructive criticism and/or compliments to the writer.
Assessment: This lesson involves informal assessment only. The teacher should monitor the small group peer sharing and record observations of both performance and engagement by each student in an observation book.
Adaptations for Learners with Special Needs: For students who are hearing impaired to participate, enable captioning for videos on YouTube. For blind students, make sure the chosen video is adequate narrated to provide a writing prompt. Blind students will also need assistive technologies to record their ideas.
References:
Rief, Linda. (2003). 100 Quickwrites: Fast and Effective Freewriting Exercises That Build Students' Confidence, Develop Their Fluency, and Bring Out the Writer in Every Student. USA: Scholastic Publishers.
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