Video: Comprehension Activities

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Comprehension Activities

Here is a collection of activities which exploit video clips as a means of generating language production and comprehension skills.

Introduction

Rationale

Context

Language focus

Preparation

Procedures

Follow up

ACTING OUT

In this activity students perform a video clip they have watched.

BEYOND CHARACTER

In this activity students create peer viewing and listening tasks by watching a clip silently and then writing questions about things they would like to know about the people in the clip.

These questions can extend beyond what is portrayed in the actual clip, for example they could ask things like ‘Does X have a brother?’ or ‘Can Y play the piano?’ etc.

CAREER SEARCH

This activity is designed around the CareerPlayer site at http://www.careerplayer.com/ and is suitable for intermediate or higher level students and particularly suitable for business English students.

It’s based around a collection of videos of people answering questions about their work. Students will imagine they have one of the jobs and try to anticipate the answers to a collection of generic questions. They will then listen and find the true answers to the questions.

CELL PHONES IN CLASS

In this activity students will make evaluations and judgments about using cell phones in class. Students will be divided in two teams and each will have to find videos on YouTube which present opposing views on the topic, share them with other students and come up with an agreement on the topic.

CULTURE SPOT

In this activity students watch a video clip without the sound and look for cultural clues and information.

DESERT ISLAND MUSIC VIDEOS

In this activity students select music videos that they would like to take with them if they were stranded on a desert island. Students have to find the videos on YouTube, share them with other students and explain why they would take those specific videos and what significance they have for them.

GETTING INSIDE THE CHARACTER

In this activity students have to imagine they are one of the characters or people they see in a video clip. After watching the clip they have to re-tell what happened from the perspective of the character they chose.

HE SAID SHE SAID

In this activity students watch a video clip and then use reporting verbs to tell about what the people in the clip said.

HEAR THE WORDS

In this activity students do research into the pronunciation of different words and then watch and listen to a video to try to hear the words used.

PAST PRESENT FUTURE

In this activity students look at stills from a video clip and then use various tenses to describe what happened before and after the still.

PEER QUESTIONS

In this activity students create peer viewing and listening tasks by watching a clip silently and then writing questions about things they would like to know about people and events in the clip.

PICK A VIDEO

In this activity students choose a funny or interesting video which they can share with the class and tell them about.

SCRIPTING

In this activity students watch a video clip without the sound and try to imagine what the characters are saying to each other.

SOUND TO VISION

In this activity students watch some silent video clips and try to match them to the appropriate audio clip.

SOUND TO VISION SPLIT

In this activity students watch some silent video clips and try to match them to the appropriate audio clip. This is a variation on the previous Sound to vision activity, but in this version two groups of students see different clips and audios and then have to discuss them with a partner to match them to the corresponding video and audio clips.

SPOT THE VOCAB

This activity is a basic observation exercise for lower level learners. They simply have to watch a video and see if they can find a list of vocabulary items in it. They then make sentences about the video which include these words.

SUMMARY CORRECTION

In this activity students watch a video and compare what happens to a written summary. They have to find and correct the errors in the written summary.

WHO SAID IT

In this activity students have a collection of quotes from the script of a video clip and they have to watch the muted video and try to decide who said each one. They then check their answers by watching the clip with the sound on.

THE WITNESS

In this activity students try to imagine they are a witness at the scene of a some kind of crime. The students watch a video clip and then role play interviews with each other to find out what they saw.

WEBCAM DICTATION

In this activity students listen to a dictated text, write it down and then try to read it themselves.