Tag Archives: Video
Video activities
Using the video recording function of a smart phone or iPod Touch is a fun, interactive and engaging way for learners to practise their speaking skills. Video activities can help with fluency, confidence and presentation skills in English.
In each of the activities below, you can decide how much ground work is involved before the final video is created. This could involve research at home or brainstorming in class, depending on the learning goals.
About me (Individual task / Pair task with students being interviewed by a classmate)
Students create a short video (1-3 minutes) and talk about an interest they particularly enjoy.
Points to include:
- What is the interest?
- How did the interest come about?
- How much time do you spend doing it?
- Why do you enjoy it?
- A demonstration of the interest, if possible?
Welcome to our city / region / country (Collaborative task)
Students create a 2-3 minute video with a partner or group showing visitors a place they would like to take them in their city, region or country.
Points to include:
- Why is this place is worth visiting?
- Background history
- Access
- Opening hours / best season to visit
Advertisement
Students create a 1-2 minute promotional video about a product they use, or an invented product.
Points to include:
- Picture of the product if invented, or the product itself
- Description of the product
- Why is it useful?
- Where can it be bought?
- Price
Pronunciation video correction
The best way to know how you do something without a doubt is to be able to see yourself doing it!
Get your students to record each other for 30 seconds to 1 minute with the video function of their smart phones so they can see and hear for themselves how they come across when they speak English.
Students can spend 5 minutes to write down 6-8 questions that they would like to ask their partner. This can be a free activity or lexis, grammar determined by the teacher.
Students then interview each one at a time while simultaneously recording their partner using their smart phones.
During the play back, students are encouraged to think about their pronunciation and their voice projection. They decide whether they speak clearly or if there is something that could be improved.
Another variation would be for the teacher to give the students a text containing sounds that are difficult for their learners, in order for the learners to see how they are pronouncing the sounds and if they could do it differently.
If the class is large, pairs could be grouped in fours for the playback stage to compare and contrast pronunciation with more peers.
If you try this activity, let me know how it goes in the comments!