In the next few articles, I’m going to explore the topic of teaching English with videos, and show you how videos can be used in the classroom.
Some of my favorite sites for ESL/EFL videos
The first is called Lessonshare (www.lessonshare.org). It’s a website created by Jamie Keddie and containing many brilliant lessons involving video clips like Clumsy Best Man and Elevator Pitch. I’ve used many of the lessons on his site with my classes and have never failed to get a positive response.
Two clever lesson formats he presents on his site are:
What Happens Next? Here, students watch the first part of a video and then guess what will happen next.
Next, they do Videotelling which is when the teacher explains some of the story in a video, eliciting answers from students as the video moves along.
Teaching English with Videos -More website suggestions
Another great site is Film English (www.film-english.com). This site has English learning lessons that involve award winning short films.
However, a large number of lessons are more suitable for upper-intermediate or advanced students. If your class is at a lower level, you might opt for a video without dialogue, such as Father and Daughter.
BBC
BBC/British Council has a number of fantastic series of videos for learning English.
Students can learn common English idioms with a series of hilarious videos from “The Teacher”. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/theteacher/)
Also, students can pick up some practical conversation in these cute skits titled “How To”. (http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/how-to)
If your students enjoy sports or reality TV, they might want to play The English Game. (http://premierskills.britishcouncil.org/)
SOZO
SOZO Exchange has some quick and clever videos focusing on pronunciation and intonation. Check out Can you tell the difference? (http://sozoexchange.com/quizzes/)
Also, try How you say it matters. (http://sozoexchange.com/how-you-say-it-matters/)
In addition, Claudio Azevedo has two websites featuring film clips and accompanying lessons.
The first, Movie Segments to Assess Grammar Goals. (http://moviesegmentstoassessgrammargoals.blogspot.tw/) links short film clips to grammar points.
The second, Movie Segments for Warm-Ups and Follow-Ups.(http://warmupsfollowups.blogspot.tw/) uses movie clips to generate conversation on an intriguingly diverse range of topics.
Lyrics Training
Finally, if your class loves music, you might want to introduce them to Lyrics Training. www.lyricstraining.com) On this website, students watch a video and do a cloze exercise. (fill in the missing words)
The video will not continue to the next segment until the student enters the correct word. Best of all, the site features videos from popular artists.
In the next article, I will give some general guidelines for using videos in class and finding videos your students might enjoy watching.
Hall Houstonteaches at National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Science. His articles have been published in periodicals such as It’s for Teachers, Modern English Teacher and English Teaching Professional. He has written 5 books includingBrainstormingandCreative Output, both available on Amazon.
