For educators looking for new ways to introduce ideas to students, videos can be a great way to spark interest.
Catlin Tucker, an English teacher in Windsor, Calif, curated her top video picks for an English classroom, which help explain complex ideas in different ways.
- This TED-Ed video, The Art of the Metaphor, narrated by Jane Hirshfield explains the difficult concept of metaphors, and figurative language in general. These intangible concepts are easier to understand through the art in this video.
- Produced by Keven Brookhouser, the Writing Felonies series of videos help explain basic English concepts (such as Passive Voice, Its and It's, and Pronoun Disagreements).
- Flocabulary features a rap video called Five Elements (of a short story) that breaks down the ideas of plot, character, conflict, theme and setting. Catchy tune!
- Onomatopoeia is cute, simple and set to music with some great visuals.