Teaching Videos

Grade: 6 - 8 Creative & Essay Writing

How I would use this in my classroom: I think this video shows some great steps to creative and essay writing. I would use this when first introducing this type of writing in class to help motivate the writing process.

How the students would benefit from the video: Manoj does a good job of highlighting the important parts of creative writing. I really like how he defines creative writing as anything from poetry to article writing. He gives easy but important steps to show the best way to write. The steps are choosing a subject, researching the subject, planning the essay and writing the essay. These are seemingly easy steps but for some students writing doesn't come so naturally. When they see these steps, it can make the idea of creative writing easier. It gives them a guide to starting the piece they are writing about.

Grade: Middle School/High School - Persuasive Writing

How I would use this in my classroom: I would show this video right after I tell the students about the persuasive writing assignment to help them become motivated with a topic.

How the students will benefit from this video: What I really love about this video is that it teaches the students about what persuasive writing is while staying relevant to their interests. It uses recent movies, celebrities and music. This video will make the students excited to start thinking of topics. It is also great because it shows the different types of persuasive writing and that evidence is essential when writing a paper of this kind. After showing this video, I would have the students get into small groups and brainstorm different topics using the video as a guide. 

Grade: 6 - 8 Vocabulary 

How I would use this in my classroom: I would show students the video of this game while teaching new vocabulary and then I would have them do it themselves. It is especially helpful when teaching new words for standardized testing.

How the students will benefit from this video: The video gives a tutorial on how the vocab game is played. It is a great way to get them to learn analogies and new words. The fact that it turns vocab into a game will get kids motivated to get the answers right. They will want to "win" the game and have the most answers correct. Working in groups is also great. The students can use their strengths to help each other. The teachers brings up a great point about movement during class. At this level of schooling, students are used to sitting and watching lectures, which can get very dull, that is why incorporating different move around games, such as this one, can really aid in learning.