Soldier Dance – Analysis of a Video
This video appeared on the news in Turkey and around the world on Tuesday evening. It’s a short clip of a troupe of Israeli soldiers performing a dance while on duty in the West Bank.
Israel has been a major focal point of much discussion recently in Turkey due to the attack on the primarily Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, during the Gaza Flotilla incident a couple weeks ago. This is on top of the major outcry that went up in Turkey a while back when Israel made some extremely violent and heavy-handed incursions into Gaza.
The comical nature of soldiers dancing on duty contrasts sharply with the context of the Occupation and recent events in which it was done.
Needless to say, it provides a great basis for a lesson.
I brought the video into both my upper-intermediate classes on Wednesday although it could easily be done with Intermediates as well.
Step 1 – Start the lesson by showing the clip. Before showing the clip, make sure to ask any students that have seen it already to remain silent about it.
Step 2 – After the clip is shown ask the students to write a reaction response to it about how they felt while watching it.
Step 3 - Now invite students to share their reactions to the video. Let the conversation run. The initial conversation took about an hour in both classes that I did it with and could have gone on longer.
At least one person will have seen the clip already and it will come out that it was performed by Israeli soldiers. If the conversation doesn’t move in this direction, you might want to open up a debate on how their opinions changed once they knew where the video came from and why that might be.
Step 4 - During the last five minutes of the lesson, have the students write at least three questions they would like answered about the video. Most of my students came up with pretty much the same questions, which were:
Were the soldiers real soldiers or actors?
Who made the video (i.e. was it actors, the soldiers, the military, an outside group)?
Who uploaded the video?
What was the message that’s trying to be sent?
Why was the call to prayer played in the beginning?
Step 5 - The second hour I ask the students to try to answer their own questions. To do this they are given access a short newspaper article from the Herald Sun and YNet.
The students do a good job of then debating the article amongst themselves and calling on you for help with any unknown words or questions they have about the texts.
Step 6 - Finally I play the clip made by American soldiers in April (Soldiers remaking music videos is a meme going back to at least 2006).
I also make them aware of a number of other videos that I let them watch on break if interested. (Note that almost all these videos can be found in better quality on YouTube, but, since Turkey doesn’t have access to it, I didn’t link them unless I couldn’t find it elsewhere.)
American Soldiers in Iraq – Electric Avenue (This one is the most well made, but it has a short seen of blind-folded Iraqis taken prisoner, which might not be something you want to show as it’s a bit sensitive).
American Navy – Pump It (One of the earliest from 2006) & Move Along (Incredibly well made)
American Soldiers – This is Why I’m Hot (YouTube, This one is %100 original as far as I can tell. Very well made in the UAE)
American Soldiers – Ridin Dirty (YouTube)
American Soldier – Vanilla Ice (YouTube)
Swiss Soldier – Michael Jackson (YouTube)
Australian Navy – I’m on a Boat (YouTube, very funny)
British SAS – This is the Way to Amarillo
There are a ton more on YouTube as well if you have a look.
Step 7 - After having read the material and seen some previous videos, I next have the class write up a report on the video that attempts to answer all the questions they came up with in the first hour. This could also be done as homework if you only have 2-hour classes.
Step 8+ - Finally I do some peer-editing, correction work, and final reflection.
All in all, this lesson turned out incredibly well and I was extremely pleased with the result. The debates were varied, lively, and thoughtful. Coming up with questions to be answered, finding the answers to those questions, and then reporting on the information was also a great way to collaborate, research and analyze information, and then synthesize said information from a variety of sources.
Finally, a note of caution, a lot of sensitive issues are raised with this topic relating to Israel and Palestine and, as I’m American, conversation also often spilled over into America’s relationship with Israel and the war in Iraq. Be prepared to discuss these issues.
Related Posts:
Keepin It Real – A Today’s Zaman commercial
Tags: Analysis, Soldiers, Video
Lesson Ideas | turklis1 | 
July 9, 2010 12:35 pm
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By Lena, July 14, 2010 @ 2:01 pm
Thanks a lot for this lesson idea! I teach in the military academy, so your post is very helpful to have both a serious debate and a veer from daily routine.
By turklis1, July 14, 2010 @ 3:18 pm
Hi Lena, I’m glad you found the post useful. Teaching in a military academy would definitely be interesting.