Practicing English through Expressing Passions with Blogs and Vlogs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For this project, I worked with students in fourth year of ESO. The topic for this project is expressing personal passions through the creation of blogs and vlogs. This is a topic that I have personal experience in because I regularly create both blogs and vlogs. A blog is an online writing in a casual or conversational style. Similarly, a vlog is a video with speaking in a casual or conversational style. These can be about a number of subjects. For example, many blogs and vlogs are about the subject of traveling. In this case, the students are allowed to choose their individual passions to be the subjects of their blogs/vlogs. Thus, the objective of this project is that students are able to express their passions using a casual/conversational style of English in a blog or vlog that contains a cover photo, title, introduction, at least three main points, and a conclusion.

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This project uses a number of original materials, which include slideshow presentations, examples of blogs and vlogs, and a fillable digital worksheet for students to insert their cover photos, titles, and introductions as they began their blogs and vlogs. Click here to view all teaching materials used. This is a project that took place over several weeks while students also worked on their blogs and vlogs between classes. The first two classes were used to introduce blogs and vlogs using my personal experience and examples in the form of presentations. These classes were also used to help students decide on their topics and begin to come up with their titles, cover photos, and introductions. In addition, students were encouraged to search for bloggers and vloggers in their topic areas outside of class to use for inspiration; they were given the opportunity to share their findings in class. The lead teacher created a space in the virtual classroom for students to submit their topics, titles, cover photos, introductions, and thoughts on the blogs/vlogs that they found online for inspiration in their topic fields. This was all submitted through a digital worksheet. The third class was used to help students create outlines for blogs and scripts for vlogs; these are for organization before creating their final pieces. In this class, I explained good format for creating an outline/script and then allowed students to begin to create theirs while the teacher and I walked around the classroom, helping students individually.  

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As the language assistant, my role is to lead the project as well as lead the actual class times. Additionally, my role is to guide students through the steps of the project and facilitate their thinking process as they come up with ideas. The teacher's role is to support, encourage, and give advice as the project progresses. The teacher also set up the virtual classroom for students to submit their work online. She gave students feedback on their submissions. Furthermore, the teacher is able to give specific insight about students' abilities since she spends time with them regularly while I am with them only on a biweekly basis as the language assistant. The teacher and I complement each other in that we collectively fill every necessary role for the project. We communicate about the project outside of the classroom so that we are well prepared and in agreement on how everything is proceeding. 

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The evaluation will be informal through spoken feedback in class. Students will also receive a positive completion grade from the teacher for submitting their finished blogs or vlogs. Finally, students will have the opportunity to give a brief presentation of their work in class. By receiving positive feedback and upon seeing their completed work, students will know that they have achieved the learning objectives. 

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To accommodate for diverse learning styles, teaching is achieved with a variety of tools, such as written tasks, visual aids, speaking (verbal explanations), and even one-on-one instruction. In addition, students are given the option to create either a blog (writing) or vlog 

(video/speaking). To accommodate for various English levels, the project will proceed at a slower pace for the groups with lower proficiencies. Furthermore, this project allows students to utilize their own passions and participate in their own learning; these increase overall motivation.

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To see examples of students' completed blogs and vlogs, click here.