You tube

Yeah success,

Out writing samples were a success across the board last term. I would put it down to 2 reasons.
1. integration in meaningful topic - We had been studying disasters (in line with Christchurch and Japan earthquakes) We had had guest search and rescue speakers, Researched and written persuasive articles about which disasters were the worst kind, and read disaster recounts.
2. You tube - we watched first hand filmings of those disasters (sounds a little morbid but greatly motivated my year 5/6 boys).
After a morning watching our chosen disaster we headed back to class and wrote a first person narrative recount of our time in a disaster. THe only planning being what was i doing before the disaster, during the disaster and after the disaster.

In a class of many struggling writers for whom motivation and success in writing is low I was very pleased with some of the outcomes. Many stories mimicked exactly what they had seen in particular video details.

How else can video motivate and create excitement about storytelling?