Go Animate!

Go animate  is a great resource for the modern day language teacher.  As an ESL student teacher for beginner and intermediate level HS students, one of the challenges I have had is getting some of the students to speak.  I know that they can do it, but they are often so shy, making it near impossible to hear them.  Through writing I have learned a lot about them, and they are truly some of the most interesting human beings that I have met.  One way that we can lower their affective filters and encourage participation, is through activities that are engaging and interactive, but at the same time don't put them right out on the spot in front of their classmates.  Using Go Animate, a site where students can make their own  talking comic strips, and even record their own voices, students can experiment and play with the language, in a fun environment where they feel free to take risks.   As far as using the tool for teaching, prompts can be given to students to accompany given pictures, students can be told to focus on specific language structures/tenses, or even to focus on certain learned vocabulary.  This type of activity would be perfect for those days just before a long weekend or vacation when keeping students' interest is a real battle. As far as assessment goes, students could comment and evaluate other students' work, and it could also be graded by the instructor. As far as differentiation goes, the more advanced students could be made to record their own voices for the cartoons to practice speaking, while the less advanced could type out what they wanted the characters to say, making it more of a writing task. For a sample Go Animate video that I made, be sure to click on the link in the first line of this post titled "Go Animate."