

YouTube, TeacherTube, and BrainPop, for example, provide brief instructional videos on different academic topics and subjects, such as how to do short division or how to write a letter. Typically under seven minutes, these can serve to reinforce what students have learned or are already learning. Child-friendly how-to or instructional videos are readily available on the internet.

The visuals and audio reinforce students’ reading, enhancing their understanding of the need for a civil rights movement.ĭeepening or solidifying students’ learning. Before they read, the teacher shows an excerpt from Ava DuVernay’s award-winning documentary 13th that highlights the segregation and restrictive conditions of the South in the post–Civil War period. Video clips can assist them in visualizing an event or a person, while setting the context historically, politically, socially, and emotionally.Īn example: An 11th-grade history class is reading an article about the civil rights movement and Jim Crow laws. Whether they’re reading a piece of fiction or nonfiction, students benefit from contextualizing the person, place, or thing they’re learning about. Students discuss what they saw in the video clip and write sentences using the new vocabulary.Įnriching a text or text excerpt. The teacher turns on a five-minute video clip that shows examples of hurricanes and tornadoes and how their aftermaths differ.

They’re working on a unit on weather, learning the words hurricane and tornado. states, we have a large number of English language learners (ELLs) in our schools. Images and videos support the learning of new content, concepts, and ideas.Īn example: In a level one English language development class, students are in the early stages of their journey acquiring English. We also know, from much research, that using visuals is key for those acquiring a new language. We know that students learn best when they take in information via multiple modalities-through reading, drawing, listening to the teacher’s oral explanations, and viewing visual media. Purposes for Using Videoīuilding background knowledge on a topic. It’s important to be mindful of how often and how much we use video-it’s important to have a clear purpose for using that film, documentary, or news clip. Video clips can be a great tool to assist students in gaining that deeper understanding of content. New teachers often struggle to find ways to amplify their curriculum. Education researcher Pauline Gibbons tells us, “Rather than trying to simplify information, amplifying the curriculum means finding as many ways as possible to make key information comprehensible.” Teachers are always striving to show more and tell less when introducing students to new information, concepts, and skills.
