Explore a Powerful ESL Project

This week when I met with a talented colleague, Deanna Otten, to collaborate and design a lesson for her ESL students, we hit the jackpot! 

Deanna shared a video project she was working on in which students created iMovies on an iPad to narrate stories and share experiences they had over winter break. As you will see, each of the students did a fantastic job of writing, illustrating and narrating their short stories, and Deanna put the work together to create a delightful iMovie. We both agreed that the next step would be publishing.

Benefits of Publishing & Sharing 

There are many benefits to publishing and sharing student work. The most obvious benefit is that learning can be extended beyond the classroom walls as work is easily shared with friends and relatives across the globe. Sharing with an audience serves as a motivational tool which is likely to cause students to put greater effort into their work and push themselves a little harder. With the right tools, published work can even be used to collect feedback!

Ways to Extend Learning and Engagement

After Deanna published the iMovie on YouTube, I was excited to pull it into ThingLink Video to add interactivity through the use of a variety of embeddable tools. As you watch the video, click on the tags to experience the benefits of seamless integration with tools that provide interactivity and increase engagement. Here are the tools used with each of the stories:

• PlayDate - Answer Garden
• Galapagos Islands - Google Maps
• Pete's Fresh Market - Padlet
• Indiana - Google Docs, Form and Sheets

Explore & Interact with this Video

by Ms. Deanna Otten and her ESL Students