Integrating Video into The Writing as Critical Thinking Process

John Unger junger@ggc.ed

Vicki Scullionvscullio@ggc.edu

Find handouts, this Power Point, and other literacy activities at

transitional-literacy.org/wordpress/

What we’ll do today in the Workshop• Look at the Goals and Video Samples• Brief explanation of specific features of the

activity that is aligned toward specific theories about language acquisition and the mind.

• Divide into groups and finish partial visual posters and prompt one member of the group to go through the presentation process.

• Go through a Quantitative Rubric; Qualitative Rubric Option

• Talk about positioning the video as a tool for writing

• Questions; Remarks

Figures of “synapse” above are fromhttp://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih2/addiction/guide/lesson2-1.htm

Figure to the Left of the Central Nervous System is from:Kindersley, Darley (1994) Ultimate Visual Dictionary. DK Publishing: NY (p. 238)

Language/Literacy-Signification/Mediation involve our whole body and sociocultural/historical being; the whole notion that humans are somehow separateand apart from the world is rejected

The Overall Goals

• Prompt student to work across different textual spaces and modalities

• Integrate an Oral/Video Phase into the Writing Process

• Prompt More Revision• Prompt Metacognition, particularly ideas about

how transition words and phrases connect ideas• Prompt Recognition of how Literacy involves the

whole body

Creating the Video• Create a model for students to view; get

permission to create a model for students to view (or use any of the models that I post)

• Emphasize to students that they need to point at words, phrases, and sentences on their video.

• Emphasize to students to stand out of the frame

• Many possibilities can be created for different levels of language; applications to different content areas

Directions for creating a visual for oral prewriting drill The Purpose of this activity is to strongly prompt you through the brainstorming process and predict what your essay will be about. On the visual you are creating, you need to do the following steps with the most recently selected writing topic. This information must be on your visual, but you can place it there anywhere you want; try to use short “chunks”; quotes are very useful as supporting detail, but don’t overuse them: Write the Essay Prompt at the top of the Document: Work from the body up fill out the Supporting Details to the Topic Statements; that is, work on the Supporting Details before the Hook and Thesis A Hook:______________________________________________ A Thesis:___________________________________________________________________ 1. Topic Paragraph One:____________________________________________________ Supporting Detail One:______________________________________________________ Supporting Detail Two:______________________________________________________ Supporting Detail Three______________________________________________________ 2. Topic Paragraph Two: Supporting Detail One: Supporting Detail Two: Supporting Detail Three: 3. Topic Paragraph Three: Supporting Detail One: Supporting Detail Two: Supporting Detail Three: Directions for the Video: For the Video, please emphasize your hands and your pointing at your visual, so the camera person should emphasize the hands and the lettering on the video when they zero in for a shot; try and keep your face out of the video; emphasize the pointing and the language. 1. Introduce yourself; use a pseudonym (a fake name; mine is rabbit) 2. Express a Hook related to your topic (a question; a quote; a statistic; a unique scenario; a unique observation. 3. Say “Today I’m going to present the overall topic of ________________________ 4. My first body paragraph presents the subtopic of _________________________________ 5. An important supporting detail in this paragraph related to the thesis is_____________________ It is related to the thesis because_______________________________________________ 6. My second body paragraph presents a subtopic of____________________________________ 7. An important supporting detail related to the thesis is ________________________________It is related to the thesis because__________________________________ 8. My third body paragraph presents the subtopic of __________________________________It is related to the thesis because__________________________________________________ The thesis is: READ THE THESIS The Hook is: READ THE HOOK

Case A Question and Graphic

10 Categories-Each Category is rated 1 to 5, 45 points Total Comments ScoreVoice Projection-Could the voice be heard loud and clear?Pace-Speed of Presentation-Was the presentation too fast or slow?Eye contact: Makes natural and varied eye contact with audience-if video does not include the face-the full five points is given for grading point consistencyLanguage -overall Grammar-Connecting Words-Transitions-Phrases-Clauses-Did the speaker smoothly connect phrases-clauses-put prepositions in the right place-use transitions to point the audience to meaningOverall Pronuciation-Vowels-Consonants-Endings of Words-Fully pronounced sounds?-How did the words sound? Were all parts of the words clear? Could word endings be heard? How much of the entire presentation could be understood?Rhythm-Syllable Stress-Varied Intonation Was the rhythm natural-too stiff-too unvaried and boring-too influenced by a languuage other than English-too influenced means if the Rhythm-Syllable Stress from the Speakers first langauge strongly interferes with the communication of meaning? Did the stress influence comprehension negatively? Did the rhythm interfere with stress? Upward tone on questions? Downward tone on statements?

Effective Pointing of the Visual-Did the speaker point in a collaborative manner-dynamic pointing, often? Effective Color Scheme of the Visual; Effective use of Area on the Visual-Were the colors dark enough to be seen? Anything done with color to highlight one piece of information over another? Was the entire area of the visual used effectively? Too much blank space?Effective Arrangement of Langauage on the Visual-Did the Visual have too much or not enough information? Was it arranged to highlight important content? Did the arrangement support or distract from meaning?Total

Some Student Options; This Post Video Activity Can be Adjusted for Specific Learning Objectives and language Levels

Ask students watch the video and do the following before they write the first draft:

1. Pick one moment in the video where you think you “highlighted” or emphasized one specific piece of information or another, one word over another, something over everything else.

2. Do you think your Thesis Statement was effective? If so, what, specifically, was effective about it, if not, what would you do differently to make it more effective?

3. Which words did you use to direct your audience to different parts of the information on your visual aid?

Pick one moment that you used your hand to point at your visual aid while speaking. Briefly describe that moment; then answer the question below about the transition word and the pointing:

4. Was there a transition word accompanying this pointing gesture? What transition word would have been a good substitute for the moment you pointed at your visual?

5. Will you change your Thesis Statement when you write up the next draft of your explanatory paragraph?

6. Could each of the most important Supporting Details be clearly related to your Thesis Statement?

Discussion of Theoretical Background

Possibilities and Difficulties• Tomasello (1999;2003): Shared Attentional

Scenes• The Importance of the Act of Pointing• Palinscar and Brown (1986) Reciprocal Teaching• Mirror Neurons and Imitation• Metacogntion• Language as Embodied Activity