Hello, there!

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Belu Taylor. I'm 24 years old and I'm a student at Teacher's Training College at UTN. This is my fifth year studying there and I hope it finishes soon. 
Do not get me wrong, I love studying this course of studies but I would like it to be shorter or better organized. 

Also, I'm teaching in an English School called "Dawson's Institute". I've been teaching there since 2014. It has a very nice atmosphere and I've learned a lot from my students and my colleagues. Nowadays I'm teaching at two different levels. Primary school students and Secondary school students. 

The purpose of this blog is to make it part of my PLE. My teacher here is Paula Ledesma and her assistant is Marcela Villaverde

Hope you enjoy the journey!

Zimmer Twins: A lesson plan

Lesson plan using Zimmer Twins - Present and Past tenses!

Course: 6th grade - 11 years old

Duration: 90 minutes

Location: Private School

Objective: By the end of the class, groups of students will have created movies using the Simple Past and Simple Present or Present Continuous.

Recycled language/skills: Past Simple, Present Simple, Present Continuous / Writing a short paragraph

First, the teacher will divide the students into small groups of 4 and she will give each group a one-paragraph text that tells a story. Some of the stories are told in the present tense and others in the past tense. Students read the story together and solve a 'true or false' exercise based on each story.

After students have finished, the teacher asks some oral questions to check understanding of the stories. Also, she asks about the tenses that are present. Then, she tells the students that they are going to see a short movie. This movie is based on one of the stories they have read and they have to say which one at the end of the movie.

After watching the movie, students say which of the stories is shown in the movie.

The teacher tells them that she made the movie herself and that they are going to do the same; they are going to make a movie.

COMPUTER CLASSROOM

Students sit in groups and work with a computer. The teacher tells them they are going to create their own movie. The story will have to be based on the tense that was present in the story they have read.
If the story was in Simple Present and Present Continuous, they can make a movie based on 'One day in the life of....' and if the story was in Past Simple, they can make a movie based on 'What happened yesterday?' or 'What did.... do yesterday?'. The teacher will write this on the board so they have a guide.

The teacher writes on the board the link to www.zimmertwins.com and tells them to click on 'How to Make a Movie' and watch the short tutorial. Then, they have to click on 'Make from Scratch' and start.

While students are working, the teacher will be observing and helping if any needs it.

At the end of the class, students will show their movies and the rest of the students will have to decide which movie they liked the most (of course, they cannot choose their own movie)

Zimmer Twins: An animator creator kids will love!

Zimmer Twins is an online learning tool that helps children create amazing movies by using animation and will engage younger learners in language learning. 

“Zimmer Twins is a safe, engaging place for kids to exercise their imagination and create entertaining animated movies. Using an array of simple tools, kids can choose characters, backgrounds, facial expressions, and movements, and then type in words to create dialogue.”
Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/zimmer-twins

Who are the Zimmer Twins?

The website focuses on three main characters. Edgar and Eva, the 12-year-old twins and their adopted black cat named 13. 

How to use ZIMMER TWINS?

STEP 1

The first thing you need to do is to make an account on Zimmer Twins at School so you can save the movies your students create. Fill in the form required and you will receive an e-mail with the password for your account. 

You can choose the Free Membership to try it out which includes 1 teacher account and up to 5 student sub accounts. Students can only create 12 movies. There is also a paid membership.

STEP 2

After you logged in, you can start creating your own animated movie!

Click on ‘Make a Movie’ from the top green bar and then click on ‘Make from scratch’.

If your students have trouble making up a whole story, they can create an ending for a movie that already exists. 

STEP 3

It’s time to make a movie!

      1.First, choose an animation clip. There are four types: Action clips – Talk bubble clips – Close-up clips – Starter clips.

2. After you’ve selected a clip, you will see a preview of the clip, a sentence and the clip in the timeline. 

      STEP 4

It will look like this

     STEP 5

If you click on the words and phrases that are underlined, a list of options appears. You can change the character who performs the action, the background and the things they are holding.

    STEP 6

 By using the ‘talk bubble clips’ you can write whatever you want your characters to say. 

    STEP 7

When you finish the movie, remember to save it!

   STEP 8

After you clicked on the ‘Save movie’ button, you will have to write a title for the movie and a description. Your movie is ready to be watched!

For more details, here you will find a video tutorial from the Zimmer Twins webpage.

Here’s an example of a movie of my own.

Is this tool good for learning?

“The organization of the movie creation tool (characters, setting, facial expressions, action, sequencing, text styling) is a great way for students to learn how stories are built and what they need to consider when creating a story. While the choices are a bit limiting, this allows for more focus on story structure than fancy add-ons or distractions like sounds, music, and animations. Instructing the characters to perform specific actions or say specific words is empowering, and kids can use various word combinations to create their animated stories. They'll see the immediate results of their efforts when the pieces come together and the movie is complete. The Zimmer Twins at School is a creative place to play with words and practice storytelling.” Retrieved from https://www.commonsense.org/education/website/zimmer-twins-at-school

ADVANTAGES

• This tool encourages autonomous learning: Students are the ones who decide the way their movies are going to be like. They choose the clips and make the movie on their own.
• This tool is fun and motivating: Students will enjoy using this tool because it is easy to handle. They have a variety of clips from which they can choose the best for their movies. Also, Zimmer Twins encourages learners' imagination and creativity.
• It helps learners improve their writing skills.

DISADVANTAGES

• The free membership is limited: up to 5 students with sub accounts can only make a total of 12 movies. Students can make, save and delete movies but they cannot edit them - for that, you need a VIP membership.
• Movies cannot be downloaded: If you want to watch a movie a student or a group of students made, it has to be done through the webpage.
• This tool requires an internet connection.

SOURCES

Hertz, M. B. (2017, August 07). Zimmer Twins at School. Retrieved from https://www.commonsense.org/education/website/zimmer-twins-at-school

Coon, C. (2010, June 29). Zimmer Twins - Website Review. Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/zimmer-twins