Videos for Learning

This week fourth grade students used the iTouches to view videos on immigration to America.  The students are learning about immigration and creating podcasts that present the experience from an immigrant’s point of view.  As I read through drafts of scripts it became apparent that in general students did not understand the everyday life of immigrants once they arrived in the United States.  

Knowing that many students are visual learners, I went searching for videos to help them grasp a deeper understanding of what life was like for an immigrant to America.  I found short, one to three minute, documentaries on YouTube on Irish, Italian, German, and Polish immigrants.  Most of the documentaries were done by WGTEPreviews and included images with first-hand accounts of immigrants sharing their experience.  The iTouches helped me individualize instruction and make effective use of class time since students only watched the videos for the country they were studying.

 

Students quickly grasped a deeper understanding of communities, clothing, homes, businesses, and personal relationships.  I knew the videos were effective when one student said, “Oh, now I get it!,” and immediately started added details to their script.