In my current role as an itinerant ESL teacher with the Toronto District School Board, I work with multiple students in classrooms ranging from Grades 1–8 across six different schools. I have found the use of identity texts combined with digital media projects a very powerful combination for eliciting a high degree of student engagement. This article describes several ideas for projects that can be implemented in classrooms from the middle grade levels right through to use with adult learners.

Why Identity Texts?

The use of identity texts in classrooms with ELLs is documented as an effective method of providing learners with a sense of belonging, comfort, and importance in their new learning environment. According to Cummins et al. (2005),

these products, which can be written, spoken, visual, musical, dramatic, or multimodal combinations, are positive statements that students make about themselves.

Identity texts differ from more standard school assignments in both the process and the product. The assignment is cognitively challenging, but students can choose their topics. They decide how they will carry out the project and are encouraged to use the full repertoire of their talents in doing so. (p. 40)

Justification for the Inspiration

The visual medium has long been used as a powerful method for delivering information. Hur and Suh (as cited in Santos Green, 2013) believe that “when students create a digital story, their roles change from passive information receivers to active knowledge developers” (p. 27). In Canada, as in many other countries, there is television programming that is based not only on entertainment, but on promoting and educating the population through satire and dramatic portrayals. Outlined below are ideas for creating classroom projects inspired by Canadian television that incorporates identity texts using multimodal digital media. The projects described (Rants, Canada Reads, Historical Minutes, and Cityline) are recommended for use with students from Grade 7 through to adult classes.

Use of Technology

In my own practice, I use iPads or laptops loaded with Apple’s iMovie software, but Windows MovieMaker or other programs will work as well. It is also possible to audio record projects and create a podcast or audio file recording, or blend audio and visual stills with a slideshow program such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple’s Keynote. Turculet and Tulbure (2015) claim “the rubrics of 21st century learning are: collaboration, knowledge construction, self-regulation; real –world problem-solving and innovation; the use of ICT for learning; skilled communication” (p. 347). The combination of identity texts and digital projects outlined in this article address these points.

Practical Ideas for Classroom Use

Rants: Tell Us How You Really Feel

The Canadian political satirist Rick Mercer has perfected the use of rants to express his opinion. In a regular segment on his satirical news program, The Mercer Report, Mercer uses low camera angles, fast paced speech, and well-written, thought-provoking dialogue set against the urban backdrop of graffiti alley in Toronto to provide his viewers with food for thought on topics ranging from current affairs to social media issues. While most of Mercer’s rants are inspired by the political goings-on in Canada, it is the format and mood of the presentation that is worth watching for inspiration.

When analyzing Mercer’s rants, there are some key features to note: the use of complex sentences, the tone and speed of his voice, the mood, the use of a witty or punctuated ending. The rants are not simply ramblings; there is clearly research into a topic, the opinion is reinforced with facts, and the counter-argument is refuted.

In several Grade 7 and 8 classes in my schools, we showed students selected Mercer rants from YouTube (see links below for examples), and used the rant format as a springboard for rich language and media literacy lessons. In one classroom, students were asked to identify one pet peeve and write about it. The students were given a target length of 100 words, which translated to a 30-second video project. For those students whose English was not yet developed, they recorded their ideas in their first language and then a text translation was imposed over the video presentation.

In our class, we used iPads to record the video footage and edit within the same program right on the device. By strictly limiting the length of the presentation, the students were obligated to choose their words very carefully, focusing on effectiveness. Initially, the students wrote their ideas and then either had to add information, or learn to be succinct. This is a very linguistically sophisticated exercise, and the writing lessons leading to the finished text required learning about synonyms and editing.

The use of rant as a vehicle for expression can cause problems if there are not some ground rules and discussion about boundaries with the students beforehand. Things to consider are: What topics would not be appropriate? What is the difference between using humour to provoke thought and using humour to offend, target, and shame? By keeping abreast of the progress of these projects, the teacher can ensure that the presentations are not going off course. A word of caution: Before embarking on this project with any class, please be certain to carefully review any Rick Mercer Rant segments that you may wish to show your class to ensure the content is appropriate for your group.

The following Rick Mercer rants on YouTube are less controversial than some of his others, and they are suitable for most audiences:

• “Snow Day”
• “Escalators and Elevators”
  
  

Canada Reads: Book Debate and Book Trailers

Canada Reads is an annual book competition hosted by the Canadian national television network, the CBC. There is a presenter (a celebrated Canadian author) and five well-known Canadians who each advocate for a book that is nominated for the competition, and this is broadcast over five episodes. Each week, one book is eliminated by the panel through debate, until one book wins. This type of competition can inspire various classroom activities.

Students can champion their own favourite story or book through a video production, similar in style to the example provided in the link following the description. The type of promotion used by Canada Reads can be modified to eliminate the competitive aspect and focus on celebrating the work instead. Story is a concept that exists in every language and culture. Students can create a short book trailer or advertisement for the book. Further modifications and variations could include using dual language to express opinions and ideas.

Montero, Bice-Zaugg, Marsh, and Cummins (2013) state, “schools are primary sites of cognitive imperialism, particularly when teachers’ mainstream cultural customs impinge on students’ distinct traditions” (p. 76). Through identity text projects, students can take ownership of their choices and feel pride in their own history. Students can use their first language to express their opinions and have simultaneous translation overlaid on the video. This also provides an opportunity for students of the same linguistic group to collaborate. There are also opportunities here to showcase literature from other languages and allow students to use their oral language skills to explain the story in English to the rest of the class.

Cityline: A Variety of Experts in the Classroom

The Cityline program from Toronto, a daytime talk show, runs weekdays. It features segments on cooking, gardening, home decor, fashion, family, and health, among other topics.

In every classroom, the students offer a wealth of knowledge and expertise in a myriad of topics that could be showcased on a mock television program. Start by dividing the class into groups according to their interests, and assign segments on which to collaborate. Each segment could be filmed and edited together to form a mock television program.

Students would need some parameters, such as length of time for the filmed segment and role assignments (writers, presenters, props and set design, cameraperson). Following time restrictions, the students would have to determine a script. This is an opportunity for rich authentic language use through negotiating text, succinctly phrasing the intended message. This is a lengthy process that would require dedicated classes over several weeks to complete.

Begin by viewing an episode of Cityline (or a similar show that airs in your area) with the class to determine the segments and get a sense of segment timing, transitions, roles, mood, setting, and language complexity. After debriefing these components, brainstorm possible topics that the class could present and list them. Determine enough topics that you could divide the class into small groups (I recommend no more than four students per group; more than this often leads to too many voices and not enough consensus, as well as insufficient work to be done, resulting in students being off task). By using group work, there is an opportunity for students to tailor their roles to suit their interests and strengths.

After writing their segment scripts, the students will determine who the presenters will be and who will be behind the scenes filming or even holding cue cards. They will have to discuss props to make their segment more interesting, keeping in mind that props can be pretend (for example, in a cooking segment, they can use plastic replicas). If using iPads and iMovie, the students can edit their projects and send the finished files through email or iPhoto sharing to the instructor. The instructor can collect all the segments and embed them into a new iMovie file through drag and dropping the files into a master project file. This is a fun class project, one that is best worked on independently, then viewed as a whole at the end.

Historical Minutes From HistoriCa!: A Twist on the Autobiography/Biography

Historical Minutes are a series of short videos produced about moments in Canadian history. They are presented in an interesting way centred on the people involved and aim to provide an overview of a topic in 60 seconds. An identity text twist on this idea could involve students pretending that they themselves are the subject of a Heritage Minute. This could be done as a biographical/autobiographical assignment. For students not comfortable in the spotlight, the subject could be someone they are interested in researching.

This is an opportunity to bring in knowledge from cultures outside of the curriculum, more representative perhaps of the students themselves. The idea is to develop a story about the featured person. Using story as a method of teaching makes it more relatable as a format, and according to Santos Green (2013), “the commonality of storytelling as a cultural social component established it as a longstanding technique for secondary language acquisition” (p.25).

Conclusion

The use of digital technology as a tool for learning in a very authentic way is necessary for success in today’s schools. Prensky, (as cited in Turculet and Tulbure, 2015), believes this is an age where students are digital natives, born in an era of widespread digital technology (p. 352). Turculet and Tulbure (2015) point out that this is in contrast to many teachers who are digital immigrants, transitioning into this age from one that seems so long ago and resistant to the changes: “the classroom filled with digitally literate students being led by linear-thinking, technologically stymied instructors” (p. 352). Trying these identity text ideas in the classroom supports both student engagement and learning approaches for the students of today, and can also result in an interjection of fun into the process.

References

Cummins, J., Bismilla, V., Chow, P., Cohen, S., Giampapa F., Leoni, L., . . . Sastri, P. (2005). Affirming identity in multilingual classrooms. Educational Leadership, 63(1), 38–43.

Montero, M. K., Bice-Zaugg, C., Marsh, A., & Cummins, J. (2013). Activist literacies: Validating Aboriginality through visual and literary identity texts. Journal of Language and Literacy Education, 9(1), 73–94.

Santos Green, L. (2013). Language learning through a lens: The case for digital storytelling in the second language classroom. School Libraries Worldwide, 19(2), 23–36.

Turculet, A., & Tulbure, C. (2015, April 23–24). Digital literacy challenge in the context of contemporary education (p. 346–353). The 11th Annual Scientific Conference: eLearning and Software for Education, Bucharest.

Angela Sioumpas is an itinerant ESL teacher with the Toronto District School Board in Toronto, Canada. She works in six different schools to support ELLs in Grades 1–8, and those ELLs’ teachers to understand issues and modifications for their students. Angela also teaches an online course, “Diversity in Adult Learning,” for the University of Calgary, Department of Continuing Education.