Photo Stories in the Classroom

So how can we make learning vocabulary more fun and relatable for students in a foreign language classroom? One way is by having students make photo stories of their new vocabulary words.  For one, this makes learning the vocabulary much more authentic than simply being translated on a worksheet or by making flashcards.  Students can use their cell phone to go out and search for these vocabulary words in their home or in their town and snap pictures.  Suddenly, vocabulary becomes tangible.  Second, photo stories are a great way of keeping a virtual record of your learning which can be used for evaluation or future studying. I used the free trial on the site called Animoto to play around with photo stories and even create my own.

I went ahead and created an example Photo Story called, "Que hay en mi ciudad?" with pictures of building and stores found in my hometown, with their Spanish translation. You can check out the full Photo Story,with music, here.

What exactly would students be demonstrating by creating their own photo story, "Que hay en mi ciudad?" Well, with this specific example, students would be demonstrating that they know the vocabulary for different places by applying it to what they have in their home town.  A performance indicator would be: vocabulary at the novice level- The student produces a number of high frequency words and formulaic expressions; is able to use a limited variety of vocabulary on familiar topics (How extensive and applicable is the language learner's vocabulary?)

Use of Photo Stories: I think this is where teachers can get creative.  This type of photo story would be a great study tool for students, and if they have a "Virtual classroom" with a class blog or virtual study groups, students can view their classmates photo stories for further review, or even be required to comment on two of their classmates photo stories.  If photo stories are a routine part of class, different students can be selected to show their photo show in class throughout the academic year.

Assessment of Photo Stories:  For this specific example, students would be assessed on completion (did they take pictures of the required number of places in town?), and accuracy (did they use the correct vocabulary word? and correct spelling?).

My overall thoughts on photo stories? Well, they are easy and fun to make! I think I watched mine a couple of times over just because the music was so fun and catchy! I love that they can make learning relatable and personal for the students, it can be done right from their phones or computers, and can be easily shared with classmates. I give photo stories two thumbs up and will definitely be revisiting them when I am no longer a grad student, but a full fledged teacher!