USING ONLINE VIDEO NEWS

CLIPS TO IMPROVE LISTENING &

SPEAKINGBrazilian English Teachers Program

The Language Connection of St. John’s University

Presenter: Sue Peterson

WORK WITH A PARTNER.DISCUSS THE QUESTION.WRITE DOWN YOUR ANSWERS.

1. What were the 5 most important news stories of the past year?

2. How do you teach news stories?

3. Have you ever used news clips in your teaching? If yes, how?

4. How do you deal with the vocabulary in news stories?

TODAY’S PRESENTATION

Using News Stories

Research

Problems with Teaching the News

Solution

Activity for Teaching News Stories

Questions & Answers

WHY USE NEWS STORIES?• Provide current information

• Contain rich content and cultural information

• Allow for students to practice all language skills

PROBLEMS USING THE NEWS Fluency – not having the words

Background knowledge

CHALLENGE VOCABULARY ACQUISITION Words, words, words…

VOCABULARY ACQUISITION

•Need repeated contact with new vocabulary for retentionContact Contact Contact Contact Contact

•Need recycling of the words

words

words

words

words

words

VOCABULARY ACQUISITION

Need time to digest the words

BEST WAYS TO TEACH VOCABULARYN. Schmitt (2008)

• Engagement with vocabulary

• Explicit teaching

• Incidental learning

VOCABULARY – THE 3 R’S Repeated contact

Recycling

Retention

CHALLENGE - BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE• Processing new information

• Identifying organizational pattern

• Synthesizing information

• Thinking critically

ONLINE VIDEO NEWS CLIPS Episodic stories have a beginning,

middle, and end…

Episodic stories give students time to let the content “sink in”

Episodic news provides repeated exposure to key vocabulary and expressions

A WEBSITE EVERY TEACHER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT…

http://www.cnn.com/studentnews

• Support Materials for Teachers & Students

• Click and Play Videos

• Printables

• Easy Prep

• 3 R’s

MATERIALS CNN Student News (

http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/)

Handout 1 - Printable transcript (http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/)

Handout 2 - Printable questions (http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/)

CREATING ACTIVITIES FOR ONLINE VIDEO CLIPS - PREPARATION

View video news clip

Extract key vocabulary and create vocabulary chartPrint and underline comprehension questions

Item 1- Gun Control

Item 2 – Sugar Item 3 – Universal Flu Vaccine

Item 4 – Sports Attendance

Item 5 – Lance Armstrong

Task force – group of people who try to solve a problem

Get the ball rolling – begin something

Background check- security check of past history of a person

To bear arms- to own a gun

Heat up-a topic or subject becomes causes debate

Obesity – a condition in which excess weight and fat are unhealthy

To blame- to hold responsible for something; to cause something to happen

Point the finger- blame

Put out – place

Point out – emphasize, make noticeable

Pandemic-everywhere, widespread

Keep up – maintain the same level; not get behind

To nail it – to do something very well, succeed

Combat – fight

Blow up – make larger

Strain – a type or variety of

Boost – increase

Buck – a deer

Buck – a dollar

Buy one-get one free – if you buy one item, another item that is the same is free

Money back guarantee – if you are not satisfied with a product, you will receive a refund

Harsh – severe

Teach a lesson – learn from an experience in which a person does something wrong

To forgive – to excuse someone for doing something wrong

Steroids or Performance Enhancing Drugs– a drug that increases physical abilityA shame – unfortunateTo lie – to not tell the truthEnd up – the end or final resultLook up to - admire

Sample Vocabulary Chart

PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES

CREATING ACTIVITIES FOR ONLINE VIDEO CLIPS – PRE-VIEWING

Present vocabulary chart to students

Give brief synopsis of each news item

Students read underlined questions

Students view News Clip and take notes

POST-VIEWINGComprehension Check

POST-VIEWING – COMPREHENSION CHECK

Students use notes to answer underlined questions. Then, with a partner, have them compare their answers.

Ask students what vocabulary from the board they heard in the video clip.

Ask students to choose one news item and use key vocabulary, to retell the story to their partner.

Ask various students to retell or summarize each news item

POST-VIEWING - DISCUSSION

POST-VIEWING - DISCUSSION Students answer the remaining

discussion questions on the handout (the questions that are not underlined).

The questions that are not underlined ask students to evaluate or give their opinion about the news topics.

Encourage students to use the vocabulary from the chart to express their opinions.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Thank you for attending this workshop. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.Sue Petersonpetersos@stjohns.edu