Tag Archives: video

When Your Students Make YOU the Star of Their Halloween Story… with a Little Help from AI!

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Just imagine that you give your students a spooky Halloween writing task and you -their teacher – are the main star.  Have a look!

This is AI. Free and simple.  This little video is easy to make; Find a photo of yourself, choose a template , upload your photo and click Send. It only requires about 2 minutes, and the result is stunning. Just what we need to engage our students and make them think we are just geniuses at generating videos.

First, I will show you how to create the video clip and then, I will share how to use it in my class and with my students.

  1. Find a good photo of yourself to upload.
  2. The tool is PixVerse. It is Freemium and it gives 60 credits daily. With 60 credits, you can create two or maybe three video clips daily.
  3. Watch the video below to see how easy it is to create a video clip.Play around with other templates, it is a lot of fun.

 

Now, the writing task.

Activity: What Happens Next?

This is a traditional narrative writing activity where a short, dramatic video serves as the story’s “inciting incident.” Students will watch the clip and then write the rest of the story, focusing on plot development, descriptive language, and a clear resolution.

Learning Objective. Students will practice using past tenses (Past Simple, Past Continuous), sequence connectors, and descriptive vocabulary related to action and suspense.

Lesson Procedure

Step 1: Introduction & The Prompt (5 mins)

  • Tell your students: “We are going to watch the beginning of a Halloween horror story. As you’ll see, the main character is me, your teacher. Your mission is to write the rest of the story: what happens immediately after the clip ends, and how it all concludes.”
  • Play the video for the class. Play it a second time so they can absorb the details of the scene.

Step 2: Guided Brainstorming (10 mins)

  • Before students begin writing, project or write the following prompt questions on the board. Give them a few minutes to think and jot down some ideas. This will help structure their stories.

Guiding Questions:

    1. The Immediate Action: What happens in the five seconds after the video ends? Does she fight back? Does she scream for help? Is she dragged into the dark room?
    2. The Attacker: Who is under the Ghostface mask? Is it a student playing a prank, or is it someone truly dangerous? What is their motive?
    3. The Rising Action: How does she try to escape? Does she find a weapon (a book, a heavy pen)? Does someone else enter the scene (another teacher, the school janitor)?
    4. The Resolution: How does the story end? Does she get away and call the police? Does she manage to unmask the attacker, revealing a huge surprise? Or is it a tragic ending?

Step 3: Individual Writing Task (20-25 mins)

  • Instruct students to write a short story (around 200-250 words) that continues directly from where the video clip ends.
  • Remind them to use their brainstorming ideas to build a complete narrative with a beginning (the video), a middle (their rising action), and a clear end (their resolution).

Step 4: The Horror Gallery Walk & Peer Voting

Time Allotment: 15 minutes

Once they have finished, post their stories on the classroom walls to create a “Horror Gallery.” Students will stand up and move around the room to read the different creative endings their classmates have imagined. After reading them, they will vote for the story they liked the best.

Yes, don’t ask, we will need to collect their stories and give them feedback of their mistakes.

 

Prepping Students for Persuasive Role-Play: Remote Work vs. Office, and Reduced Working Week Debate

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If you’re like me, you’ve probably used role-play countless times to get students talking and thinking on their feet. But lately, I’ve found myself wanting to take it up a notch—giving students real-world topics that they’ll actually encounter outside the classroom. So, I created two role-play scenarios that bring today’s workplace debates right to our classroom: remote work vs. in-office and the reduced working week. These topics got my students diving into different perspectives and working hard to persuade each other.

ROLE-PLAY 1: Remote Work vs. In-Office Work Debate

MY PREP APPROACH

  1. Visuals.First things first—I kicked off the role-play by setting the scene with a quick, visual presentation. There’s nothing like a few eye-catching slides to spark interest. Don’t you agree?

Role-play: working remote vs in person de cristina.cabal

2. The Context. (also in the presentation above)

You and your next-door neighbor, who is also your best friend, have been working at the same company for five years. You carpool and split the costs, which has been convenient, especially with the high price of petrol.

Recently, the company has given employees the option to work from home, only requiring them to come into the office once a month.

3. Help is coming: Ideas. Here’s the PDF .I gave my students a handout laying out key points for each side. Students choose which position they want to argue, but I make sure we have an even split between pro-remote and pro-office advocates.. I encourage them to add their own points to this list to make their argument more personal and compelling.

CHOOSING ROLES AND PREPARING ARGUMENTS

Once they know their stance, students jot down three solid arguments that support their position

ROLE-PLAY AND PERSUASION TIME

Each student has 5 minutes to make their case, present their points, and then attempt to sway the other person.

 

ROLE-PLAY 2: The Reduced Working Week

This second role-play taps into another current trend: the reduced workweek. I wanted students to explore this not only from a productivity standpoint but also from a cultural and economic perspective. The debate centers around proposals to reduce the standard working week in Spain, traditionally from 40 hours to potentially 37.5 or even 32 hours, without reducing wages.

The procedure is just the same as above

MY PREP APPROACH

  1. Visuals.

    Role-play: The reduced working week de cristina.cabal

  2. Context: (also in the slides above)

It’s lunch break at a mid-sized company in Madrid. You and your colleague are discussing the news about possible changes to the work week while having coffee in the break room.

        3. Some Extra Help. Text? No, this time help comes in he form of a video

So this one  comes from a short, engaging video made on InVideo, an AI tool that helps you create quick, professional-looking videos. In this case, I found a piece of news in ElPais in English and just pasted it on Invideo. This tool is such a gem because I can tailor the content exactly to what my students need. It’s also great for visual learners who absorb info faster through media.

CHOOSING ROLES AND PREPARING ARGUMENTS

Students watch the video and then pick a side. I ask them to prepare 3-5 key talking points. Here’s where I get them to think critically: How could a shorter workweek boost mental health? What about the potential strain on business operations?

I challenge them to think beyond themselves and consider how this change might impact families, communities, and industries at large.

ROLE-PLAY AND PERSUASION TIME

Each student makes their initial case, and then they respond to counterarguments. It’s a great way for them to see how they need to think on their feet!

EXTRA SPEAKING PRACTICE

To wrap up the class on a high note, a whole-class speaking activity can be a great way to keep the conversation going and let everyone share their thoughts. A few open-ended questions about work culture can get everyone talking and reflecting on what they’ve learned.

Speaking de cristina.cabal

You Don’t Have a Chroma Key. So what? How to Easily Change the Background of your Videos

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Have you heard of Canva? I am sure you have.  Canva is free but, did you know that as a teacher, you have access to all premium features?  If you haven’t applied yet, you can do it here.   We will need the premium account for what I am about to explain here.

The problem

You and your students love role-plays. It allows them to practise specific vocabulary, work collaboratively, improve their pronunciation and their social skills.  There are so many possibilities: job interviews, presenting the news, ordering food at a restaurant, buying a house, …etc.

They are working so hard and doing so well that you’d like to record their performances. But… the background for their videos is always the same… the walls of the classroom. And… you don’t have the money or the expertise to set up a green screen, the famous chroma key.

The solution

What if I told you that there is an easy way to change the background in their videos without placing a green screen behind the students, i.e., without having to set up a chroma key?

Here’s how to do it

  1. Let’s assume you have already recorded your students’ performances.
  2. Go to canva.com and click Create a Design. Choose Video.
  3. Choose a background or upload one.
  4. Upload your students’ video
  5. Remove the video background
  6. Done

Not clear enough? I have also recorded this step-by-step video (2:37)

  • 0:00-1:30: static background
  • 1:32: animated background

 

Thanks to Natalia from https://natalialzam.wordpress.com/   for her inspiration to create the First Dates background.

Science and Research: Vocabulary, Listening and Conversation Questions for C1 students

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Back to the grind with an engaging lesson on Science and Research.

  • Topic: Science
  • Level: C1
  • Skill and subskills: Vocabulary, Speaking, listening

Warm-up: Scientists and their discoveries and inventions

1. In pairs: In 1 minute, write as many scientists as you can think of together. Do you recall what they are known for?

2. Whole class. Display the exercise and do it as a whole class.  Students should rank the 3 most important discoveries or inventions in pairs, giving reasons for their choices.

Vocabulary. The words you need.
    • a major breakthrough in the fight against
    • to address the underlying cause of autism
    • to extract DNA from…
    • to undertake/carry out a survey
    • to test animals in labs
    • to do experiments on sheep
    • the experiment was flawed
    • to do /carry out research
    • the findings show/ the findings highlight the importance…
    • to pave the way for …
    • lack of funding / get funding
    • genetic disorders
    • genetic engineering
    • gene manipulation
    • to invest in space studies
    • cutting-edge technology
    • to benefit or to harm people
    • to be more prevalent than
    • to clone
    • to devise a way to …
    • to carry out examinations
    • to successfully transplant
    • scientific theories 
    • to provide conclusive evidence
    • to be sceptical (UK)/skeptical (US) about…
    • to have growing concerns about…
    • to go beyond the edge of ethics
    • a drugs trial
    • unethical research

Listening:Many Clinics Use Genetic Diagnosis to Choose Sex

Step 1. Pre-Listening:

Read the beginning of the news and ask students to discuss what the news is about

Prenatal genetic testing: A growing number of doctors are pushing the ethical limits of the procedure called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD.

Some say doctors are going beyond the edge of ethics. Some doctors analyze an embryo’s DNA so parents…

Step 2. Listening Comprension.

TRUE or FALSE?

  1. There is not a 100%  guarantee of success when choosing the sex of your baby.
  2. The American Society of Reproduction Medicine approves of this technique.
  3. The Indian couple is afraid of stigmatization.
  4. In Indian culture, having girls is less desirable than having boys.
  5. According to Dr Potter, the desired sex in most cases is male.

Source and transcript: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6654619&t=1641299618264

Step 3. Now, on the board, write the question: “ Is it ethical to choose the sex of your baby?” and ask students to, individually, list some reasons to defend their position. Put them in pairs to discuss their opinions and then do a whole-class debate.

Note: You will also find this question (slightly modified) in the exercise below.

Speaking: Activating vocabulary

Display the first question and have students, as a whole class, come up with the word that best fits in the gap.

    • To activate the vocabulary above,  ask students to choose 3 words or expressions from the list. Write them on the board and encourage students to use this vocabulary when answering the question in pairs. Repeat procedure for question Number 2.

Further practice: Word building here (Serena’s blog)

Free No Sign-Up Micro Tools for the Busy Teacher

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This is a post I’ve been wanting to write for a long time. Some people collect coins or postcards and I… I collect digital tools. 🙄  Well, I also like watching tutorials. OMG! Come to think of it, do I qualify as a freak? The irony is that though I use tools to curate and organize my findings: Pinterest, Sites, Wakelet, Pearltress… you name it, the shoemaker’s son always goes barefoot.

And, much to my chagrin, it appears that I have been adding tools to this list in a fairly haphazard manner with the result that I have so many of them that I’ve opted to include just a few and may create a Part 2 if you find this post useful.

What is mind-blowing  about them is that:

  • They are free
  • They are online
  • You don’t need to register

I have tried to organize them into categories and add a bit of everything. For better or for worse, some of them are multifunctional and don’t fall into just one category.

                                     IMAGES
  • Removing a person/object from a picture. You need Cleanup Pictures: Upload the photo, choose the brush size, paint the area you want to remove and download your new photo. In some cases, you might need to paint the area twice. The 0:20 video below shows how to do it.

 

  • Removing the background of an image. Go to Remove.bg. As easy as choosing the photo and uploading it. You don’t even have to click any buttons.
  • You can find Cool 3D icons  for your projects On Free3DIcon, and images on CloudDevs
  • To create a Breaking News Image, go to Classtools.net
  • StorySet is an amazing site for your projects.  Choose an illustration and now…
  • delete elements
  • change the colour of the illustration
  • animate one or all the elements in the illustration
  • download it as a GIF or MP4
                                    VIDEO 🎥
  • TypeStudio is just awesome. It is a new approach to editing a video, text-based. That means you edit your video by just editing the transcribed text. You can also add subtitles automatically, turn the video into a blog article and everything runs online in your browser. How to go about it:
  • upload the video
  • the screen will be split into two parts. On the left, you will see the transcript for the video and on the right, your video.
  • Now, you will be able to edit the transcript by deleting a word or words from the video. It is like magic! Imagine the possibilities for language learning.
  • Removing or changing the background from a video clip. Go to Unscreen.com. The 0:40 video below shows how to do it.

  • Facebook is blocked in your school? Then, you need Snapsave. Just copy the link of a video that you wish to download, then paste the link in SnapSave and select the video quality that you want to download.
  • Automatically or manually adding subtitles to a video, go to Veed. Veed is a free editing video tool with lots of possibilities.

  • Downloading a Youtube Video, go to YT5s 
  • Downloading the audio from a Youtube Video, go to YT5s and paste the link. Downside: it has some annoying ads and you will probably need to close some pop-ups and probably a window. Other than that 😉  it works fine
  • Free downloadable video clips, sound effects and images for your projects on MixKit
                               DOCUMENTS

  • Extracting text from online images, PDFs or Websites, you need CopyFish, a Chrome extension. The 0:52  video below shows how to do it.

                              MULTI-PURPOSE
  • Tiny Wow is a wow of a tool.  It works with PDFs, videos, images and URls. Remember you don’t have to register. Files are deleted after 15 minutes.

  • Converting a myriad of media files from one format to another, go to Onlineconverter is just what you need to convert
  • audio
  • ebooks
  • images
  • files
  • etc…
                                     READING
  • Speechify This is a Chrome extension that when installed reads any text. Great to practise pronunciation and boost reading fluency.
  • Text to downloadable speech? Yes! Go to Speak. Voice clips are up to 300 characters but if you register (free), you get clips of up to 1,000.
  • Don’t know what to read next? Go to Whichbook and choose your next book based, for example, on your mood.
                               MISCELLANEOUS
  • If you have forgotten your password on a specific site, you might find it here https://passwords.google.com/
  • If you want to know if a file or a  website is free of viruses, go to VirusTotal 
  • Alternative to: this site finds the best free alternatives for paid or free apps or programs. As easy as typing the app you need to find an alternative to.
  • Changing the cursor. I know. Just for fun! To change your cursor, you need to add the free Chrome extension, Custom Cursor
  • QR Codes. My favourite is QRCode Monkey because it allows you to customize your QR by adding a logo or changing the colour or the design.

 

If you have found some of these tools useful, share this post it with someone who might need it!

Happy and Healthy New Year!

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