The Nightmare Before Grockit

This past Monday we looked at Grockit Answers and Socrative in class, and we were asked to create an activity using one of them.  I chose to use Grockit to create questions that show up during a video of the song "This is Halloween" from the film The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).  Here's a link to that activity: http://goo.gl/oJMps


Source: fanpop.com

I chose this song because last semester, my co-teachers and I used it as a listening activity on Halloween for our practicum class. At that time, we provided the students with the lyrics (with some words missing) and we watched the video twice, but that alone did not provide for much of an activity.

Because I did not have access to advanced English language learners (ELLs) and a computer lab, I was not able to test the activity this time, but I imagine combining Grockit with a handout that provides the lyrics.  Though I feel advanced learners do not necessarily need (or should be given) a transcript for listening activities, the first time using this song illustrated that the way the characters sing can be tricky for ELLs, even advanced ones.

In regards to the Grockit Answers part of the activity, the following questions appear during the video:

1. What do you think the images on the trees represent?

2. Name three creatures you have seen so far.

3. What do you think will happen after this?

Since Grockit allows everyone to see one another's answers, I chose to make the questions more open-ended so that students would hopefully be at least a little original in their answers. Moreover, I wanted to see what students would say to Question 3.  I think after this activity, it would be easy to transition into a discussion about Halloween and other cultural matters in the United States. In this way, technology serves as a catalyst of sorts for a larger, culturally relevant discussion.