Voicethread for assessing language over time

After recently reading the Step by Step Guide to Global Collaboration, I was reminded of a project my students and I participated in years ago.  My 4th grade Spanish class in Colorado connected with a 4th grade class in Costa Rica.  Kids were paired together to create stories together using our wiki. As a way to get to know our buddies, we created a VoiceThread and my students talked about the others kids each student's personal slide.

For example. Sammi's favorite animal is a Lion or Carly's favorite color is blue.

Lots of language practice while also building community.  We embedded the VT into our wiki and shared it with our amigos in Costa Rica.

DVE meets CDS (link to the VT if it doesn't load)

Fast forward a few years.  Students are in 6th grade. I decided to use the initial VT to assess students language.  I added a current picture of the student and asked students to comment on each student as they did back in 4th grade.  Student loved seeing their previous pictures and listening to their voice samples. This year, I'm doing it again as this group (8th grade) moves to the high school next fall.  VT, already a fantastic collaborative tool, is also fantastic to capture growth over time. What tools are you using to track student growth (especially oral communication) over time?