Video+Activities

Video Activities for your Beginning Students
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 * Targeted listening to understand important aspects
 * Straightforward recognition tasks at or just above his or her current level (numbers, colors, dates, actions).
 * Alternating between viewing and listening to improve weak listening skills.
 * redundancy between the image and the text so students cam guess and verify meaning most reliably.
 * Familiar genres and topics
 * Segments with simple story lines to focus on the main action and encourage them to risk ignoring the difficult detail.
 * Even difficult programs often contain segments useful for beginning students; don't hesitate to use these short segments with students in the early stages of language learning.
 * Use segments with simple story lines to focus on the main action and encourage them to risk ignoring the difficult detail.
 * Programs created expressly for teaching beginners are often designed with built-in repetition to help strengthen listening skills and vocabulary.
 * Even difficult programs often contain segments useful for beginning students; don't hesitate to use these short segments with students in the early stages of language learning

Full Video

 * Transcribe the text of a song and then join in a sing-along.
 * Have students raise their hands when items from a given category appear in the video; rewind and replay so that all students hear the item.
 * Have groups each note items from a single category of items, e.g., actions, objects, numbers, and places in the text; follow up by assembling lists on blackboard; option: have each student form a sentence using expressions from at least two categories; erase words as they are used.
 * Identify words on a list that are English cognates of words used in the text.
 * Identify verbs on a list that are infinitives of verbs used in the text; supply the conjugated form

Check off or count occurrences or order a list of items appearing in the video.

 * Classify elements of the segment by marking or completing a chart.
 * Complete a partial outline of main points of the segment.
 * Complete a cloze exercise with blanked-out numbers, key words, easy or difficult words, verbs, nouns, or colors; option: provide list of choices.
 * Create a complete list of items from a specific category, such as numbers, places, airplane parts, actions seen or mentioned; option: replay and freeze-frame after each item, assembling a list on blackboard.
 * Enumerate objects or a class of objects presented (students take notes as video plays, instructor then uses blackboard to assemble results).

Identify which questions on a list are answered by the segment.

 * Indicate the order in which sentences from the text occurred or were uttered.
 * Indicate the proper order of a list of actions according to when they happened in time or when they were presented in the segment.
 * Indicate whether statements about the segment are true or false.
 * Indicate which items on a list are heard and which are seen in the segment.
 * . Mark multiple-choice questions that closely follow order of the segment.
 * Predict the action of the next subsegment based on the previous one.

Recreate the approximate narrative for the segment; option: have small groups or pairs each take a subsegment and then present the results.

 * Retell the action of a series of subsegments; specify the tense to be used; replay the subsegment as often as needed for general comprehension.
 * Stop on an image and describe the scene in order to elicit key vocabulary or structures such as colors, objects; compare people; locate buildings, objects, etc..
 * Take notes on five to ten main points using a list of key terms.
 * Transcribe brief subsegments such as conversations.