Blogging 4

SESSION 4

Source: TechWyse.com

NOTE TO STUDENTS

Students from the below groups will receive PIN numbers via email weekly to access activities on my iDoceo Connect platform and submit their exercises for correction.

200, 202E, 209S, 215, 220B, 268, 269, 276

The solutions to exercises will be published when the above groups have submitted them.

STRUCTURE

- Contents:

Project Skills: Planning a successful post series on your blog

Blog series quiz
Which item for a series?

Vlogs

Introducing a vlog
Synonyms and vocabulary
Introduction
Which vlog?
Closing comments
Intonation

Tips
Project check

DECIDE ON YOUR TOPIC!!

- Email your teacher to say who you are working with, the title and topic of your blog.

- If you do not have a team, email your teacher and s/he will find you one.

PROJECT SKILLS

to read the blog post by Tracie Nall.

Planning a successful post series on your blog

A. Blog series quiz.

Now decide whether the following statements statements about the text are True or False

1. Each post in a series must be over 1,000 words.

2. There needs to be a link between the posts in a series.

3. Only tutorials make sense as a series.

4. Posts that are recurrent on a blog will be better if they are seen as constituting a series.

5. It is better to not decide in advance when you want to end a series. That way, you don’t have to stop a feature that you really enjoy writing just because you said it would run until a specific date.

6. For tutorials and narratives, it is better to leave a week in between each post in the series.

7. It is a good idea to have a post announcing a series is about to start before it does.

8. Every post in a series should include a brief review of the previous post in the series.

9. You should not tell your readers what to expect in the next post so you can build suspense.

10. Make sure that your readers can easily navigate between posts in the series.

Check answers

B. Which of the following items would lend themselves well to being a series?

1. Unrelated, random stories.

2. FAQs

3. Stories about your last big trip through Europe.

4. Your reaction to a news story that just broke.

5. A short tutorial on how to configure your screensaver.

6. Weekly reviews of newly-released albums.

7. Your About page.

Check answers

II. VLOGS

A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog, is a form of blog for which the medium is video, and is a form of web television. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one take or cut into multiple parts. Vlog category is popular on the video-sharing platform YouTube.

Full article in Wikipedia.org

Objectives

understand content formats that can be reused in a vlog post
identify and reuse language and communication techniques to help get the message across.
Apply to the project

Focus

Vlog structures and formats, objectives
Verbal tools (vocabulary and language structures)
Non-verbal tools (Intonation and connection with body language)

Before watching

Read the title:

5 Vlogs templates to get you started

What do you anticipate the video to be about? Are there any elements that you expect to find in the video?

From the title and the following sentences, try to guess the meaning of the word “template”:

"Good news, I found a lot of CV templates online, it’s going to save me a lot of time when preparing my job application!"
"The first store they had opened was used as a template when they started opening others to expand the franchise across the country."

Select the TWO synonyms of the word "template" from the list below

excerpt - extract - format - list - summary - formula - introduction - timeline

Synonym #1:

Synomym #2:

Check answers

Other vocabulary

1. A (1) can be a fishing (1) Fishing hook or, in a pop song, the easy to remember part that immediately (1) "s" the listener.

2.The (2) can be the return on an investment, or, in a story, the final outcome, the conclusion.

3. The person who watches a video is a (3) , and on streaming services, people making videos are often called (4) .

Check answers

First viewing

Now watch the video for the first time, trying not to pause too often, and try to get a sense of the main ideas and overall/superficial structure.

Only take a few notes (just keywords in each category) to have an idea of the main ideas. Focus on the most important ideas rather than details.

Introduction

What 3 important things does the creator of the video do at the very beginning?

Listen and write:

Check answers

IN-CLASS

Do this exercise on your own, and then discuss your answers with your nearest classmate.

DISTANCE LEARNING

Send your guesses to your teacher, using the dedicated iDoceo Connect platform (only for groups specified above).

NOTEPAD

Second viewing

Now watch again and pause when needed to make more understandable (and a bit more detailed) notes on the information and language used to give that information.

The 5 types:

1. Mission vlog

What is it?

Hook:

Adventure:

Payoff:

Vocabulary:

Check answers

2. Intrigue

What is it?

Hook:

Adventure:

Payoff:

Vocabulary:

Check answers

3. Magic in the mundane

What is it?

Hook:

Adventure:

Payoff:

Vocabulary:

Check answers

4. Challenge vlog

What is it?

Hook:

Adventure:

Payoff:

Vocabulary:

Check answers

5. Vulnerable vlog

What is it?

Hook:

Adventure:

Payoff:

Vocabulary:

Check answers

Closing comments

Closing comments:

Fill in the blanks

If you went to my channel and (1) my videos, you'd be (2) to find something (other than tutorials) that doesn’t (3) one of those five categories. (4) ! [= “you can do this” - Used to encourage someone, especially if they’re not very confident]

Check answers

Non-verbal communication: stress, reduction, intonation

Intonation:

Speaking English is not rocket science. The secret to an excellent pronunciation is repeating and repeating until you sound good. Practice in front of a mirror, record your voice on your phone/tablet/computer and listen to your performance.

Listen and repeat, then try to identify the two most important syllables in the sentence:

a. 0'22" “The hook on this is something needs to be gotten”

b. 0'38" “There’s an immediate sense of curiosity...”

c. 1'00" “The payoff...is...didja get it?”

Check answers

Try to connect the intonation to the meaning: why are these syllables stressed more than the rest? Consider old versus new information, importance...

The first one in each sentence:
The second one in each sentence:

Note that other elements of the sentence, especially if they are close to the stressed syllables, tend to be reduced (did you -> didja...). Listen and pay attention to reduced syllables: what type of words tends to be reduced?

1’08 “...for the viewer of the video” In this case, compared to the beginning, the last part of the sentence is pronounced lower in pitch (and with vocal fry) and volume, with a flatter intonation (flat, low pitch, falling at the end), faster, with less articulation/more reduction...

Practice tip:

Listen and repeat sentences, specifically trying to imitate stress and intonation.

Application to project preparation

Group project preparation:

Discuss how a vlog aspect could make your blog more interesting/varied
Find ideas for one vlog entry per group member (decide what type...)
Prepare a very short segment and practice delivering that segment orally with the right structure (depending on the type), vocabulary and intonation, body language...
You can present to your classmates, or record on your phone and actually use it for your blog (although the blog is mostly a written project).