Showing a good video in a language class can immensely improve a typical lesson but the search can take a ton of time. This is where I spend the majority of my planning time because once I find a good one, it is the foundation for the entire lesson. I have 5 video searching tips to make it a little easier for you and…
But wait! Let’s change this up a little. I want to add that this is how I show my STUDENTS to find great videos. The person doing all the work is doing all the learning. – Thomas S.
As soon as I can, I teach my students how to find relevant videos. They do this in class for stations and at home for homework. Megan has also done a sign up sheet in her upper level classes where they find a video to present as the video of the day (warm-up) and add a follow-up activity for class. Keep in mind the YouTube world has inappropriate videos, so I suggest putting it on safemode for them or getting parental permission.
What makes a good video:
emotional appeal (funny, emotional, etc.)
current (remember when your students were born)
shows authentic language and/or culture (word-less videos can be just as powerful)
A few examples…
Here’s what YouTube pulled when I searched “zapatos anuncio” (shoe commercial). In Spanish there are different ways to say “commercial” and I get different results (usually from different countries). I watched the T-Mobile Puerto Rico one, then I went to their YouTube channel and found other videos that I can use for a different topic. Subscribe!
Then I tried “zapatos quince” (shoes quinceañera celebration). This pulled some sweet home videos. I really liked the “Cambio de Zapatos” one.
Lastly I searched “zara zapatos” (shoes Zara – a popular brand). The last video was long, but I can see how I could use a piece of that to check if they understand someone’s opinion about shoes. This would inspire some of my students to go make their own fashion vlog in Spanish, aka homework idea!
Thinking of this from a student perspective, I definitely know the word for “shoes” now after all that searching! Also I learned several new words (and accents) by context and just good old curiosity (and a dictionary). “Pillar”… that was a new one to me that I learned from the “Fauna Fanta” commercial. I will never forget it now!
Additional Notes
- I would put the infographic in Spanish for my students to reinforce that they should search in the target language. The icons help them to understand those new technical words. This is just for videos, but I do something similar to show them how to search twitter and the web.
- YouTube is my go-to video place, but you can also find good ones on company websites (peopleenespanol, univision, Zara) and from other teachers (#langchat on Twitter, Pinterest, our Chispas page).
- Have a place to collect the videos like Pinterest, YouTube playlists, copy the link, Edmodo, class website, etc. Many times I find good videos for another topic while browsing for one and I need a way to save it for later.
We hope you have enjoyed our YouTube video post series! It’s definitely something we are passionate about because we see how it impacts our students. If you missed any of the past ones, I linked them below.
YouTube: Why it should be part of EVERY lesson
#1 Identify Aspects of Culture
#3 Open It Up
It is important to use relevant (recent) videos that resonate with the kids, and it is awesome to have students involved in class and feel a bit of ownership in it by letting them find videos to use in class. That makes me wonder though, do you re-invent lessons every year when a student brings a new video? Or do you keep the same lesson and just swap out a similar video from year to year?
I have 6 preps (Spanish 1-4, Junior High Spanish, & an English class) and I can’t even begin to imagine finding enough time to make a new lesson every time I find a better video or the kids bring a new one in!
Thank you for sharing all your ideas, inspiration & wisdom!
6 preps! Hats off to you! Our district had a rule that 4 was the max allowed and that’s tough. I find that new videos usually connect to a lesson that I’m already doing. Many times I swap out an old video for a newer one. When students find a new one, I let them do their own learning from it and I don’t use theirs with the whole class. I’ll add this, many times I can use the same video in several different preps by adjusting what they do with it afterwards. Many videos can work for a few topics. Also I aligned my curriculum where I was teaching the same topic to every prep, just altering it to match their proficiency level. This saved me a ton of time searching for authres, prepping and planning for my 4 preps. Do you do this Vicky?
I am working on it, but it’s a slow process for me. Unfortunately, there are too many days I have to choose between being ready for tomorrow and improving the bigger picture. I am my department/district, so it’s just me to overhaul our curriculum. I am proud of how much I’ve improved the program since I’ve been here, but I know I still have a LONG way to go! Much of my reforming is thanks to you and Megan on this site. I am so thankful you share with the rest of us. I can’t imagine how long it would take me to reinvent the wheel without your generosity!
I totally get that! I call them GE plans… Good Enough. I tried for one “great” lesson a week when I started. http://www.creativelanguageclass.com/planning/good-to-great-in-3-steps/ Sounds like you’ve made amazing strides to be VERY proud of. You deserve a piece of amazing pie (or insert another treat). 🙂
Hi,
There’s reference to an Infographic for students searching TL videos. Is the Infographic in the “mercado”?
Thanks,
Evelyn
It’s not in the Mercado. My original one is not as pretty, but similar to the one in the post, just in Spanish.
Thanks for the tips, ladies! Very helpful info!
I would make one addition and that is do a google search before hand. Websites have a lot of information that can give you ideas of what to look for. For example I have been talking to my students about different things to do in Mexico City but I´ve never been there. I found a website that has about a thousand places to go with small paragraph explanations. Once I had some places to focus on, I did a youtube search for all of the places and found so many unique videos, including one of Eugenio Derbez on a roller coaster at six flags Mexico. I love the idea of having students finding these videos. I’m in the process of coming up with something my students can share on a daily basis and this might be at least part of my answer.
Good suggestion! A little “google research” goes a long way. Much better than the card catalogs I used back in the day.