May 4, 2012

EFL ACTIVITIES using SILENT VIDEOS

My inspiration for these video activities was this post by David Deubelbeiss.

  • the activities are short.
  • the videos are all found in Youtube.
  • there's no need to prepare any extra material.

1. Predicting what's going to happen.

  • turn volume off.
  • play parts of the video, stop and brainstorm with the whole class what  they think is going to happen. Ex: I think he will .......
  • Play and check their prediction.
Suggested video:  http://youtu.be/L6Cuq-BueEs

2. Taking notes / reconstructing scene
  • Students watch the video and take notes of what happens in the scene.
  • Pairs compare their notes and write a description of the whole scene.
  • Students then read each other descriptions.
  • Teacher can build a description of the scene with the whole class using http://livetyping.com
Suggested video: http://youtu.be/bS1ePEZZCDY

3. Describe what you see
  • turn volume off
  • get students into pairs.
  • they stand up, one facing the screen and the other with the back to the screen.
  • the one facing the screen describes what's happening in the scene.
  • teacher pauses the video and students swap places.
  • do the same for the rest of the video (or for as long as the teacher decides)
  • Students write down a summary of the whole scene.
  • If students want to, show the whole video with sound to the class.
Suggested video: http://youtu.be/1Efrg23Sqe8


4. Imagining thoughts

  • Divide students in pairs.
  • You can turn off the sound or not.
  • While students watch the video, they try to write down what the girl and the man might be thinking. 
  • Teacher pauses video when necessary.
Suggested video: http://youtu.be/8yIuiXxwUtw

5. Predicting + Retelling
  • Show the wordcloud below and ask students to predict  the story of the video. (PAIRS)
  • Students watch the video .
  • Pairs try to reconstruct or retell the story using the wordcloud (Speaking or Writing activity).
Suggested video: http://youtu.be/rHKV92sNFVM



6. Imagine an ending

  • Students watch the video up to 1.59 mins.
  • Pairs tell each other what they remember.
  • Pairs imagine an ending to the story and write it down.
  • Students read their ending to the class.
  • Show the rest of the video to the class.
Suggested video: http://youtu.be/GJbiw_bOFmY



7. Vocabulary List

  • ask students to write the heading for  two lists in their notebooks (CITY LIFE / NATURE)
  • Students watch the video and have to complete the lists by writing down vocabulary related to each topic as it appears in the video.
  • Debriefing: ask students what words they've written down.
  • In pairs students discuss what they understood about the video.
Suggested video: http://youtu.be/qdxbIRkITBk



For more suggested animations, check out this playlist I've put together:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL47140F33A452888D

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing this great information with us teachers. It is great to find this kind of activities which will surely make our classes more dynamic.