Words and Images
OVERVIEW
"Words and Images" is a template for a workshop involving writing and video production to be conducted over four class periods, ideal for grade 2-4 ESO students, or grade 1-2 Bachillerato students. The workshop is ideal for an English or Literature class, particularly if the teacher has an interest in cinema or video production, but can be adapted for any class involving Art, Video Production, Media or Technology. The workshop is centered around the idea of translation, in this case from the written word to the moving image.
Students are given a writing prompt, decided by the teacher to coincide with topics covered in class or areas of interest for the students, and then write, in English, either a five sentence piece of prose or a five line poem. They then conceive of and shoot five shots, using their smart phones or whatever type of camera they have access to, each corresponding to one sentence of prose or one line of poetry, depending on what they've written. The idea is to "translate", represent or convey the feeling of each sentence or line into a moving image. Each shot should be longer than 10 seconds and shorter than one minute. Students will then edit together their five shots in order corresponding to the written text, using free video editing software such as Adobe Premiere Rush or DaVinci Resolve, either on their phones or class computers, and upload the videos to Mircosoft Teams or similar platform, or a class YouTube or Vimeo page. Students will read their texts aloud, present their final videos and engage in brief feedback and discussion with their peers, aided by the LA and teacher.
The workshop is intended to be completed over four class sessions, and assumes familiarity with or strong interest in video production or cinema on the part of both the LA and teacher. During the first session, the project is presented and explained, relevant short films are shown (examples are located on the Materials page), and a brief lesson on different types of shots and camera movements is given by the LA (a presentation can be found on the Materials page). At the end of the first session, the teacher gives the students the writing prompt so they can start thinking. In the second session, students write their texts, taking advantage of the presence of the LA for help with grammar, vocabulary and structure, and their teacher to brainstorm and discuss ideas with. Between the second and third session, students are responsible for completing their five shots. During the third session, students edit their videos on their phones or class computers. During the fourth lesson, the students read their texts, present their videos, and engage in discussion.
The workshop intends to help students think and write in English in a structured manner, engage abstract thinking by posing the challenge of translating meaning or feeling from the written word into images, teach basic cinematographic concepts, techniques and tools which they likely already have access to, and strengthen their reading and speaking skills through reading their work aloud and engaging in feedback and discussion.
ROLE OF LANGUAGE ASSISTANT AND TEACHER
The teacher should be in charge of steering the writing prompt to coincide with topics of the class or special interests of the students. The role of the language assistant should be in presenting and explaining the project, choosing and showing the students examples of relevant work, assistance with writing, presenting and discussing in English, and presenting and providing assistance with cinematographic techniques and concepts. I'm designing this from the perspective of a filmmaker with experience teaching film. If this were to be carried out by another LA, at the minimum an interest in filmmaking and some knowledge of its technical aspects is preferable. Same goes for the teacher.
The teacher and LA can complement each other by setting out and discussing the balance of responsibility from the beginning. As I've designed it, it's assumed the teacher is more in charge of the topic of the prompt and evaluation of the final project, and the language assistant is more in charge of teaching and providing guidance on the cinematographic factors and helping with writing and speaking in English. However, if a teacher has a certain level of knowledge in video production or a keen interest, this balance between the teacher and LA may be shifted.
EVALUATION
Evaluation, as usual, is more the domain of the teacher than the LA, but as I envision it, evaluation should be centered on enthusiasm and willingness to think creatively and abstractly, earnestness in student's writing, and taking seriously the task of translating the lines of text to images. Since this is a project based in writing, evaluation should also focus on proper grammar and the structure of their texts. As an LA thus far, one weak spot I've noticed in several students is difficulty understanding the structure of sentences and paragraphs. Lengthy run-on sentences, using commas to separate thoughts which really should be separate sentences, are very common. One goal of this project is to teach structure in writing, to encourage students to think in small, manageable sentences or lines and building a paragraph or poem from these smaller parts, and again repeating this structure in their videos. Thus, grammar with an emphasis on structure should be a large part of the evaluative criteria. This assignment should not evaluate the students' technical prowess or finesse in video production. A positive evaluation in that regard should merely demonstrate adherence to the guidelines of the project to create five different shots for each sentence or line, and a certain level of care and effort in achieving them.
Students will know they have achieved the learning objectives as part of the feedback process when they present their work to the class, and according to the final evaluation and grade assigned by the teacher. The LA and teacher should respond to the diverse learning styles and levels of achievement among the students by first establishing a comfortable and friendly atmosphere that accepts confusion and mistakes as part of any challenging creative pursuit and allows for all students, no matter their level of ability or engagement, to take pause and ask questions if they have doubts. The LA plays a crucial role in making sure the students understand the assignment and are engaged by walking around and giving individualized attention during class time that involves writing and editing, and by regularly pausing to gauge comprehension while lecturing. If students struggle during periods of feedback and discussion, the LA and teacher may intervene by providing a prompt to stimulate or steer the discussion.