| Most educators today realize that teaching | | | | start the lesson with a short video clip. The |
| students how to read is not the sole | | | | best tool I've found for using video clips in |
| responsibility of the language arts teacher, | | | | the classroom is unitedstreaming. |
| yet many teachers still struggle to come up | | | | |
| with effective ways to actually improve | | | | The beauty of unitedstreaming is in its |
| reading comprehension in the classroom. | | | | simplicity. It took only a few minutes for me |
| | | | to find the perfect video clip on the middle |
| After all, the primary purpose of reading is | | | | passage from unitedstreaming's massive |
| comprehension. Unless you comprehend what you | | | | database and download it to my own computer. |
| read you might as well be reading a different | | | | |
| language. Unfortunately, for many students, | | | | Knowing the students had difficulty with the |
| reading in the content areas may actually | | | | reading by Gustavus Vassa the year before, my |
| seem like a different language. | | | | intent was to tap into and build on their |
| | | | prior knowledge before tackling the difficult |
| This is particularly true in social studies | | | | primary source reading. |
| classes when using primary sources that may | | | | |
| date back several hundred years. I can recall | | | | This time around I started by playing the |
| a lesson I did in my own 8th grade social | | | | video clip I had downloaded earlier. The |
| studies class in which I used a primary | | | | video clip was only about 5 minutes long, but |
| source written by Gustavus Vassa, an ex-slave | | | | the effect it had was undeniable. Not only, |
| who wrote about his experiences on board a | | | | did the video tap into and build upon prior |
| slave ship during the middle passage. | | | | knowledge, but it also sparked student |
| Unfortunately, for the students, the primary | | | | interest and motivated students to want to |
| source reading might as well have been | | | | learn more about the middle passage. |
| written in a different language, for while my | | | | |
| students read the passage, they certainly did | | | | Following the video clip, I had students |
| not comprehend its meaning. | | | | complete a short map exercise in which they |
| | | | identify products exchanged in the triangle |
| However, the Gustavus Vassa reading was, and | | | | trade (including slaves on the middle |
| still is, an excellent primary source to use | | | | passage). The map activity is much more |
| in the classroom. It was my job as a teacher | | | | relevant to the students now that they can |
| to figure out how. | | | | make the connection between the arrows that |
| | | | represent the slave trade on the map and the |
| What I needed to do to improve reading | | | | visual images of the harsh conditions onboard |
| comprehension was tap into students' prior | | | | the slave ships that was shown in the |
| knowledge about the "middle passage" and the | | | | unitedstreaming video. |
| horrors of the slave trade before reading the | | | | |
| first-hand account written by Gustavus Vassa. | | | | It is not until the video and the map work |
| That's right, understanding reading is based | | | | were completed that I first introduced the |
| on what you already bring to the table when | | | | reading by Gustavus Vassa. |
| you open a text, what you already know about | | | | |
| a particular topic, your prior knowledge. | | | | While the video most likely answered many of |
| | | | the questions students might have had about |
| There are many ways teachers can tap into | | | | the slave trade and the middle passage, it |
| students' prior knowledge such as Venn | | | | also raised many more. By the time we got to |
| diagrams, KWL charts, and various prediction | | | | the reading assignment, we not only |
| strategies. However, one of the most | | | | anticipated and addressed possible |
| effective strategies, if not the most | | | | comprehension concerns, but also motivated |
| effective, is to use video clips at the | | | | the students to want to read. |
| beginning of the lesson prior to the reading | | | | |
| assignment. By using video at the beginning | | | | The materials I used in this lesson from one |
| of the lesson (rather than at the end), the | | | | year to the next were nearly identical. The |
| teacher will tap into and build upon the | | | | only difference was adding the |
| students' prior knowledge thereby improving | | | | unitedstreaming video clip to the beginning |
| reading comprehension. Furthermore, using | | | | of the lesson. This one significant change, |
| video at the beginning of the lesson will | | | | transformed the lesson from being an |
| increase student motivation to learn. Believe | | | | ineffective lesson to a lesson that inspired |
| it or not, students will actually read | | | | student learning and improved reading |
| because they want to read. | | | | comprehension. |
| | | | |
| When the time came to teach about the "middle | | | | Today, I use unitedstreaming at least twice a |
| passage" the following year I knew exactly | | | | week in my own classroom to do just |
| how I would use the same reading passage, but | | | | that...increase student motivation and |
| with much greater success. I would simply | | | | improve reading comprehension. |