ELL STUDENTS CAN CREATE GREAT IMOVIES IN ENGLISH!

Last week Christa Wolfe brought her ELL students to the library to create iMovies about famous Spanish explorers of the Americas during the Renaissance. All of her students are new to the U.S. and to the study of English, but technology is one of the great levellers and it didn't take them long to create short effective movies in English.

They wrote their storyboards, found their photos, and practiced their English over and over. It was quite a challenge for them but the fun of working with the computers overcame the frustrations. They showed the same quick aptitude for buttons as every other student of their generation.

The great majority of these students are from Mexico and El Salvador. Their culture is one of natural sharing, so the students do not hesitate to help one another and share what they know. As soon as one student discovered something neat in the iMovie program, it wasn't long before everyone knew about it.