teaching with tech presentation
DESCRIPTION
by Elena KostoglodovaTRANSCRIPT
25 Types of Fun VoiceThreads
for Foreign Language Classes
Elena Kostoglodova,
GSLL, CU-Boulder
This presentation is for those who
know how to create VoiceThreads and
are looking for fun ideas for using VT
in foreign language teaching. Here are
25 different ideas in one place!
Storytelling in pictures
Import a succession of images (f.e. the daily
schedule of a character, a dialog, a situation, a
tale, etc.).
Ask students to record their own stories based on
the visual prompts.
Variation: students invent the ending.
example from an English class
more about this voicethread
http://bluford.pbworks.com/w/page/23291996/
Three%20Little%20Pigs%20VoiceThread
Map games
Upload a map of the world or a region in the
target language into the Voicethread.
Start a chain game where you describe a location
in the target language and the student who posts
the first comment guesses that location and
describes a new one for the next student.
Variation: ask to describe the fastest/cheapest/etc.
way between points A and B, taking into account
some conditions/handicaps you impose.
example from an ESL class
more about this voicethread
http://voicethread.com/about/library/Lan
guage_learners_use_VoiceThread_to_pra
ctice_speaking/
Open-ended question
Upload a picture of an object that typically has
personalized content (a bag, a room, a fridge, etc.)
and ask an open-ended question about it, such as
“what’s in your bag/fridge/room right now?”
Variation: ask for particulars about a common
possession, such as a car.
example from a Spanish class
more about this voicethread
http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/bsdbs
d/2009/11/29/voicethread-in-spanish-
whats-in-your-room/
example from a blog
more about this voicethread
http://zoningoutagain.blogspot.com/2007/
11/whats-in-your-bag.html
Riddles
Create a voicethread in which you describe an
object in the target language orally (a food, a gift,
a clothing item, an animal, etc.) or in a
combination of voiceover/written description. Ask
students to guess what the object could be and
post their guesses as comments. Best riddles
would be those that allow multiple
interpretations.
example from a blog
more about this voicethread
http://wwwatanabe.blogspot.com/2011/03
/voicethread-your-riddles.html
example from Language Arts
more about this voicethread
http://coalhurstelementary.wikispaces.co
m/Fairy+Tale+Riddles
Video clip+questions
Upload a short video in the target language
and ask comprehension questions about the
events/dialog in the video. Have students
post comments in which they attempt to
answer these questions.
example from film analysis
more about this voicethread
http://coursedesign.uidaho.edu/feed/
Creative brainstorming
In this voicethread describe a challenging cultural
situation in the target language and ask students
to brainstorm for possible solutions and post their
comments.
example from a VoiceThread
more about this voicethread
http://voicethread.com/#q+bullying+solut
ions.b2503860.i13258246
Describe a picture
Post a picture of just about anything and ask
students to describe what they see in the target
language.
example from a blog
more about this voicethread
http://ticnoingles.blogspot.com/2010/07/v
oicethread-describe-leonardo-
dicaprio.html
Informational
presentation
In this type of voicethread, students share as
much information as they can find about a topic
of their choice, using both visuals and voiceover
in the target language. They can focus on a
relevant cultural ritual, an object or place from
the target-language country, etc.
example from a science class
more about this voicethread
http://www.digitalpedagog.org/?p=698
Creating an ad
Ask students to pick a product/service they find
appealing and to create an ad for it using both fun
visuals and the voiceover in the target language.
Have other students comment on whether they
would purchase the product or service based on
each ad and ask them to vote on a winner by
posting a comment about their top choice.
Tally the results. Post the winning ad on YouTube
and watch it go viral!
example from VoiceThread
more about this voicethread
http://voicethread.com/#q+student+adver
tisement.b1532118.i8077006
Collecting statistics
Create a voicethread that poses a question (what
do you usually eat for breakfast, where do you
live, what is your favorite film genre, etc.).
Have students post personal responses.
After everybody is done, have them go back and
post another comment, analyzing the resulting
statistics and expressing their opinion about the
findings (f.e. what film genres seem to be the most
popular, does that same statistic hold true in the
society at large, why these genres are popular,
etc.).
example from VoiceThread
more about this voicethread
http://voicethread.com/#q+statistics.b122
0318.i6582861
I Spy!
Pick a theme and upload a busy picture
containing many objects that fit this theme (foods,
clothing items, musical instruments, etc.).
Make a voiceover in which you describe in a
roundabout way a few of these objects.
Have students find the objects and describe their
location with respect to the other objects in the
picture.
example from VoiceThread
more about this voicethread
http://ed.voicethread.com/about/library/2
nd_graders_play_ISpy/
Comparison
Upload a couple of humorous pictures that could
be compared easily (open fridges belonging to two
different people, two cars of different models,
etc.). Ask students to compare them according to
the values that are important to them and explain
which one they would pick.
example from a Spanish web page
more about this voicethread
http://gillspanish.ed.voicethread.com/#q.
b175197.i933251
Opinion
Upload a video in which a native speaker of the
language expresses an opinion about something.
Ask students to comment on whether they agree
or disagree with the speaker and why.
Variation: upload a picture that is emblematic of
a certain phenomenon and ask students to express
their opinion about it.
example from a blog
more about this voicethread
http://blogs.ukoln.ac.uk/cultural-
heritage/category/guest-blog/page/2/
example from VoiceThread’s site
more about this voicethread
http://voicethread.com/?#q.b62276.i3224
57
Choices
Upload pictures of objects/places and ask students
to select those that are relevant for their purpose.
For example, on a picture of different foods, ask
them to pick a few for a recipe they want to make
and explain how to make a dish out of them. Or
pick among the possible things to take along on a
honeymoon and explain why they’d want to take
these particular things.
example from VoiceThread
more about this voicethread
http://voicethread.com/#q+favorite+objec
ts.b1489180.i7847150
Cooking
Have students select a food they would like to
make that’s popular in the target language
country. Ask them to document the process by
taking pictures. They would then upload their
slide show into VoiceThread and narrate the
cooking process to create a digital recipe.
example from a weblog
more about this voicethread
http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2007/12
/31/sausage-balls-the-culinary-delight-of-
the-holiday-season/
Vocabulary review
Upload a slide show of pictures that correspond to
vocabulary items from a given category. Make a
voiceover, pronouncing every word in the target
language and asking a few questions at the end
that would prompt students to incorporate some
of the new words into their answers.
Ask students to listen to all the vocabulary items
and then post a short comment answering the
questions.
example from a blog
more about this voicethread
http://gr7cngsc131.edublogs.org/2012/01/
13/ecology-vocabulary-voicethread/
Cartoon caption contest
Upload a wordless cartoon that could be open to
multiple interpretations.
Ask students to post humorous captions to the
cartoon in the target language.
example from VoiceThread
more about this voicethread
http://voicethread.com/#q+russia+voiceth
read.b50850.i265905
Tell the story from different
points of view
Upload a slideshow of images that tell a story. Ask
students to narrate the story from the point of
view of different characters.
example from VoiceThread
more about this voicethread
http://voicethread.com/#q+point+of+view
.b20768.i117909
Yet another detail
Upload a busy picture. Accompany it with a short
narration in the target language of what you see in
the picture.
Have each student post a description of a new
detail in the picture that hasn’t been noticed by
anyone else.
example from VoiceThread
more about this voicethread
http://voicethread.com/#q+picture+detail
s.b324361.i1751304
Grammar tutorial
Outsource grammar explanations to home study.
Pick any grammar point and make a tutorial
about it, trying to use as many catchy visual and
oral mnemonic devices as you can.
Ask each student to post an oral or a written
comment with their own example illustrating the
grammar point.
example from a VoiceThread
more about this voicethread
http://voicethread.com/#q+spanish+gram
mar.b556342.i2973673
example from VoiceThread
more about this voicethread
http://voicethread.com/#q+song.b338440.
i1792593
Cultural differences
Post a picture/a short video of a gauche response
to a culturally relevant situation. Ask each student
to talk about one more cultural difference
between her/his culture and the target language
culture.
example from a VoiceThread
more about this voicethread
http://voicethread.com/#q+create+an+ad.
b485664.i2586331
What would you do?
Upload a picture/short video of a
morally/culturally ambiguous situation. Ask
students to imagine themselves in the shoes of the
protagonists and comment about what they would
do in the circumstances.
example from VoiceThread
more about this voicethread
http://voicethread.com/#q+what+would+
you+do.b119674.i617902
Current events
Upload a short YouTube video that recently went
viral in the target language country and ask
students to comment on the current
events/political situation that prompted it.
example from VoiceThread
more about this voicethread
http://voicethread.com/#q+election.b1700
23.i906226
Regional dialects (advanced)
Upload a short video where a native speaker has a
distinct regional accent and ask students to
research accents in the target language online and
then mark the region where this accent is
prevalent on the map on the last slide and explain
their choice.
example from a VoiceThread
more about this voicethread
http://voicethread.com/#q+accent.b72378
7
example from a VoiceThread
more about this voicethread
http://voicethread.com/#q+accent.b13943
36.i7386244
Songs
Ask students to upload/create a slide show for a
song of their choice. Have students record their
own vocal performance of the song to accompany
their slide show.
After all clips are posted, ask students to pick top
three songs they liked and leave comments on
what they found most appealing. Tally the results
and give fun prizes to the winners!
example from a blog
more about this voicethread
http://themediaspot.org/blog/gss_summer
_productions_music_video_movie_trailer
s_and_voicethread