by Suhail, Matar & Hani | 2006 | Elementary English
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Frequently Asked Questions
Technical Questions
- What equipment do I need?
- What software should I use?
- What's the best camera to use?
- Are camera-phones any good?
- How much time should I give my students?
- What's the best way to get started?
- What are some of the common problems and how can I avoid them?
- Why give projects to ESL students?
- The movies are full of bad English - shouldn't the teacher do something about that?
Mysteries of the Unexplained
Pamela interviews Ali about "Mysteries of the Unexplained" | 2008 | Intermediate English
The Incredible Journey
Pamela interviews Obaid about "The Incredible Journey" | 2008 | Intermediate English
Arabian Nights (Omar)
Pamela interviews Omar about "The Arabian Nights" | 2008 | Intermediate English
Arabian Nights (Khalifa)
Pamela interviews Khalifa about "The Arabian Nights" | 2008 | Intermediate English
Mysteries of the Unexplained
Pamela interviews Hamdan about "Mysteries of the Unexplained" | 2008 | Intermediate English
Monday, January 12, 2009
Fables
Arab culture has a long and rich tradition of using moral tales to teach their children important life lessons. In their second semester my students work in small groups and write and produce a short movie adapted from a fable.
They have four days to work on the project. On the first day they complete a work-sheet that introduces them to the vocabulary of fables. Then they choose a fable, complete a script and shoot and edit the video. As with their documentary project, their work is assessed on the quality of their scripts, performances and editing.
- Never Trust a Stranger
- Never Trust a Thief
- Make the Correct Choice
- Money Can't Buy Happiness
- There's a Time for Everything
- Don't Listen to Everyone
- Choose Your Allies Carefully
- No Man's an Island
Book Reviews
My students read and review two graded readers each semester as part of their coursework. This intermediate class was asked to make a video reading a passage from their favourite book and then speak with the college librarian about what the book was about and why they liked it.
They were studying for the IELTS General Training module and this project gave them valuable practice for the IELTS part two long descriptive task.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
Meet Obaid Barman
Elementary English | 2004
This video comes from the day I first used a video camera in my classroom. It was the end of a long semester and my Elementary students were practicing for their upcoming speaking test. They were tired, were showing little interest and were not working very hard. It was a beautiful day so I took them outside to the courtyard with my camera and told them we were going to make some movies they could take home and show their families. Suddenly they started taking the work seriously. Their English improved immediately and they demanded the chance to reshoot any interview of which they were not pleased. The success of this "chance" project led to a more formal project in the next semester.
Khaled Interviews Ajith
This video came from my first attempt at a video project in 2004. The students were given the email addresses of member of staff and were asked to interview them. Before making the video they had to email their questions to their subject and arrange a time and a place to conduct the interview. The college didn't have any cameras available for the project so I shot each interview on my Panasonic and edited them on my iMac at home. My work load was ridiculously high and I deprived the students of the pleasure of producing their own videos. It was the success of this early project that encouraged me to expand it the next semester and have the students themselves choose their own topics and shoot and edit their own videos.
Al Bidiyah Mosque and Forts
by Ahmed and Adhai | Elementary English | 2007
Ahmed and Adhai's work on this project was meticulous. They took the scripting and story-boarding process seriously and researched the required new vocabulary very carefully. They learned their lines well and on location took many takes of each scene to ensure the best possible English.
Touring the UAE East Coast on a Goldwing
Elementary English | Nader and Khalfan | 2007
Nader and Khalfan made this video entirely within their mobile phone - including the soundtrack, pictures, titles and editing. They made it so quickly, and enjoyed making it so much, that they chose to go out and make another rather than stay home and do nothing. This video was the very first completed project made by my students. I remember being very apprehensive that rather than take the project seriously, they might abuse the day off classes and do little or no work at all. I couldn't have been more wrong. Every student took the project very seriously and came back with work of which they were very proud.
The story-boarding is very sophisticated and I especially like the final shot as they ride of into the night. The video is marred only by wind on the microphone in the first shot.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Classroom Activities
Before attempting a major video project I have my students make a short video in the classroom.
This small project allows them to learn the basics of editing a movie with Windows Movie maker. The topic is usually a short interview asking and answering personal information questions. I use this topic so they can also practice for their upcoming speaking exam which tests this skill. The following videos are private as they contain confidential information about the students.
This is a video from my second video project. The students were asked to interview members of staff. They had to email the staff member a list of questions and made arrangements about when and where to hold the interview.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Bibliography
Capturing Learning through Student-generated Digital Video
by Sandy Schuck and Matthew Kearney
Australian Educational Computing, 21 (1) pp 15-20
"The recent convergence of video and computer technologies presents new opportunities and challenges in education. Digital video cameras and easy-to-use digital editing software have become readily available. These developments have moved video production out of the hands of professionals and into the public domain. A consequence of this move has been the introduction of digital video tasks into schools, to enhance learning. In particular, student-generated digital video projects (referred to subsequently as ‘DV tasks’ or ‘DV projects’) are now being used in many classrooms to support, extend, or change pedagogy and curriculum outcomes."
Introduction
Welcome to ESL Students in the Director's Seat. Each semester for the past five years my ESL students in the United Arab Emirates have been writing and producing short video projects - documentaries, funny stories, book reviews and enacted fables - as part of their studies.
The latest video and computer technologies present new opportunities and challenges for the ESL educator. Digital video cameras, easy-to-use digital editing software and free Internet video hosting sites are so readily accessible that digital video tasks can easily be introduced into most curricula to enhance teaching and learning (Schuck and Kearney, 2006).
I believe the projects exhibited in this site provided my students with meaningful, memorable, and motivational learning experiences. I am proud to showcase the short movies produced by my students in the United Arab Emirates from 2005-9. I dedicate this site to these wonderful storytellers who have taught me just as much as I have taught them .
Geoff Hooke, MEd (TESOL)
geoffreyhooke@yahoo.com.au
phone: +971503931530
Just Joking Index
Arabs love telling funny stories and my classes are always awash with good humour. I decided to capitalise on this by incorporating it into the curriculum. These video projects were produced after a course of Sandra Heyer's textbook, "Just Joking".
Each day for two weeks the students spent an hour studying one joke/unit from the book (here is Hassan retelling The Wish). I focused on teaching pronunciation, reported speech and the correct use of the simple present, present continuous and past tenses. Following the unit each student had to make an MP3 recording of the joke using only the joke's pictures as a prompt. At the end of the project they had to tell their own joke as a video. They were also tested on retelling one of the book's jokes using only picture prompts.
Documentaries Index
I give my students total freedom in choosing the topic of their first video project. The resulting movies provide a fascinating glimpse into their lives and culture away from the classroom.
These integrated English / IT projects were made in the middle of long twenty week semesters and were welcome breaks from the everyday classroom routine. The students had four days to script, shoot, edit and produce their videos. Their work was assessed on the quality of their scripts, performances and editing.
- Touring the East Coast on a Goldwing
- Al Bidiyah Mosque and Forts
- Traditional Medicine in the UAE
- Beautiful Birds in Kalba
- Falcons in the UAE
- A Hunting Party
- Shooting in the UAE
- Bull Fighting in Fujairah
- Traditional Village in Khorfakkan
- Cost of Living in the UAE
- Kalba
- Fujairah Past and Present
- Fujairah Museum
- Making Honey in the Hajar Mountains
- A New Car
- Sharjah University in Khorfakkan
- Wadi Sitr
Fujairah in the Past and Present
An Elementary English video project by
Salem, Ayoub, Abdullah & Ahmed
November, 2008
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