Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Jack Webb Schools Barack Obama on Healthcare


Jack Webb Schools Barack Obama on Healthcare

This composite video of the late Jack Webb from his renowned "Dragnet" TV series came to my attention recently. Also featured is the late Harry Morgan as his partner. This show was a favorite of mine in years past.

This video editing technique ties in well with an exercise I conduct in which English language learners "interview" a famous person. Preferably the famous person is deceased (but sometimes not and learners frequently choose people like Jesus Christ or one of his 12 apostles, Adolph Hitler, Mahatma Ghandi, Abraham Lincoln, President John F. Kennedy, Julius Caesar, the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate - who interviewed Jesus Christ is also a burgeoning favorite, as are Marcus Garvey, Bob Marley, John Lennon, Princess Diana, Celia Cruz and a growing host of others for their interviews. Using video clips of famous people and some video editing software, one can easily "simulate" an "interview" or "conversation" between any two people, living or deceased. In my classroom-based activity, one English language learner acts as an interviewer while the other takes the role of a famous personality. Both can ask each other questions on their life, points of view, etc. and give the best, most accurate response possible in character.

You'll get the idea from watching this video of three people talking who don't actually know each other.

Youtube original video site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4r6YCUtxfs

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That's a great post and I loved the video. Did you actually ask the students to create such videos as homework as well?