Every weekend, a practical idea or thought about teaching with video, image and story
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Jamie Keddie
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📆 Conference dates and exclusive online events ▶ Teacher development videos 🧠 Random thoughts and silly stories 🎓 Updates on LessonStream courses and resources
In this blog post, we explore a classic technique for engaging students with a video narrative.
Audio first
When it comes to engaging students with a video, there’s nothing quite like an audio-first approach.
If you have never tried this before, listen to the video below and ask yourself:
What...
Welcome to the LessonStream Post – fresh ideas for teaching with image, video and story. Sign up here to never miss an issue.
In this post, I share an idea central to visual literacy.
August 1945
Eighty years ago this month, crowds filled New York’s Times Square to celebrate the end of the Seco...
In this post, I share a classroom activity based on a short viral video – one that helps students practise storytelling in a simple, structured way.
An informal experiment
Let’s start with a mini task. Look at the cartoon strip below and consider this:
As a teacher or materials designer, how wou...
In this post, I suggest a simple tweak to a familiar video activity – one that shifts the focus from controlled grammar practice to a real-life task.
Back to the screen
Many years ago, when I did my Cert-TESOL course in Barcelona, we had a session on teaching with video.
The technique I remember ...
Some people believe that storytelling is a gift – that some are born with it while others are not. But speaking from experience, I can tell you that nothing could be further from the truth. In this post, I share my story of how I came to storytelling through video.
In January 2007, I received an...
Some people believe that storytelling is a gift – that some are born with it while others are not. But speaking from experience, I can tell you that nothing could be further from the truth. In this second of three posts, I share my story of how I learned storytelling. For part I, click here.
Whe...
Some people believe that storytelling is a gift – that some are born with it while others are not. But speaking from experience, I can tell you that nothing could be further from the truth. In this first of three posts, I would like to share my story of how I learned storytelling.
In 1994, after...
Welcome to the LessonStream Post – fresh teaching ideas for video, image and story – straight to your inbox. Click here to sign up and get a free copy of my ebook (Seven Ways to Curiosify Your Students).
To be human is to tell stories. Whether you're sharing one in a conversation, job interview,...
Hello teachers,
Welcome to this week's LessonStream Post which goes out every Sunday most Sundays!
Today, I would like to talk about a special ingredient that I love to include in all LessonStream lesson plans. That ingredient is curiosity – the desire to know or see.
Curiosity is a human trait t...
Hello teachers and welcome to this week's LessonStream Post.
Next weekend, I'll be attending IATEFL Slovenia. So please come and say hello if you are there.
I will be giving a talk titled 'The teacher as a Storyteller' and it is one that I gave two weeks ago at a conference in Belgrade (hello Ser...
Every Sunday, a practical idea or thought about teaching with video, image and story – straight to your inbox. It's all free and you can sign up below.
Stories are to humans as water is to fish. We are constantly surrounded by them without necessarily being aware of it. But what is a story and w...
Every Sunday, a practical idea or thought about teaching with video, image and story – straight to your inbox. Sign up below.
A Musical Mnemonic
I have always loved mnemonics. One of the first I remember as a child helped me spell the word ‘because’:
🐘 Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small E...
