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More than words – communication skills for the future

English Stars 3/6/19

Any good English program covers the fundamentals such as grammar and text types. But modern curricula also expect students to use more than just words to be effective communicators and thrive in a tech-saturated society.

Students need to learn digital and design skills that allow them to interpret and express ideas through media, including videos, slideshows, GIFs and even emojis.

But as a teacher, where do you even begin to create the resources needed to teach such skills? Think of the hours it would take to create exemplar videos, presentations, posters and more. Well, with English Stars all of this hard work has been done for you.

Take a peek at a couple of the English Stars modules that develop digital and design skills such as filming techniques and slideshow design. As a bonus you can use the featured teaching videos in your classroom straightaway!

5.4.8 News Video Techniques

In the Year 5 module ‘News Video Techniques’, students discover what makes a good (or bad) video by learning filming and editing techniques.

You begin the lesson by watching and discussing the ‘Bad News’ video.

After having a giggle and deconstructing the ‘Bad News’ video example, students then watch ‘Filming Techniques’ to see what a well-filmed video entails. By showing students both bad and good examples of videos, they can clearly see why filming and editing techniques are so important.

From here, you and your students work through the remaining teaching and learning resources including slideshows and reference sheets, before students film and edit their own news videos.

5.2.14 Design a Slideshow

In the Year 5 module ‘Design a Slideshow’, students learn five design principles and use this knowledge to create their own well-designed slideshow. Slideshows are a great asset to any presentation, so it’s important students know how to create one that helps them clearly communicate ideas.

You begin the lesson by showing both a bad and a good example of a designed slide that could appear within a presentation.

Next, students watch the engaging ‘Designing Visual Presentations’ video, which demonstrates how to apply the five design principles.

Then, students design a slideshow about the topic ‘Don’t waste water’. Equipped with the knowledge of how to apply design principles, they’ll be eager to dive right in.

The ‘News Video Techniques’ and ‘Design a Slideshow’ modules are just the tip of the iceberg of what English Stars has to offer! By incorporating illustrative examples and a variety of multimedia content in your English lessons, your students will learn the digital and design skills needed to become expert communicators in the digital age.

Psst! If you want to see English Stars resources firsthand, sign up for a free trial.

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