My level 3 Pop Culture class was a lot of fun. I got the opportunity to introduce my students, who were from six different countries, to American pop culture. This gives the students topics to talk about when assimilating into the American university. It helps the students to not be left out of conversations between future classmates. These topics are now familiar to the students. Also, it lets us practice and improve English skills in a fun manner.
The end of the session is a stressful time for many students. The final exams are stress inducing and the students forget that learning a new language is supposed to be fun. That’s why I decided on a class project for the final exam.
The students were assigned a year, some students had two, from the 2000’s. Then, they had to research the biggest music hits of the year in the USA. After reviewing the music, watching the videos, and reading lyrics, the students had to choose two songs each. These songs would help represent the pop culture of the 2000’s according to the class.
The students, after choosing songs, were then given directions for their final exam. Each student had to direct a 15 second video clip for each song that they chose. They would have to choose the setting, the plot, and the actors (from class) that would be in their videos. They had to describe how the video would be shot and what the final outcome would look like.
The students were graded on their writing, their speaking (giving directions), their listening (following directions), and their participation in each classmate video.
This project was a huge success. It was a hit. The students got the opportunity to use English in a way that they never had done before. We went around campus and filmed the project with two iPhone 6s Plus’. They were having fun with the language.
After my wife, who is the creative genius at Huff Media Services, spent about 20 hours editing the video footage, the students had a final project that they are very proud of. They went above and beyond in the creation of the project.
Here is the final cut of our Hits of the 2000’s Video Project.
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