Let it flow! How to develop students' imagination? Silent movies.

DAY FIVE

SILENT MOVIES

Today is the last day of our Christmas film marathon. In just a few days I showed you 5 films that could be used as a warm up, filler or closer during the lesson. Some of them carried deeper emotions and could be developed into a whole lesson plan. No matter which option you have chosen, it was supposed to encourage you to use different films together with various video watching techniques. They, of course, can be developed, modified and changed depending on the age and level of the group. But what about today? What film will be presented as the last one? Sit comfortably and wait.

Who said that we have to watch films with dubbing? Who said that we have to watch films with any words? Silent films were popular at the beginning of the XX century and they made people laugh. While watching so many short films over this week, I discovered that I didn't show you one technique that could be really creative for students and could help to develop their imagination.

SCRIPT WRITING

TECHNIQUE: SCRIPT WRITING

AGE: - any

LEVEL: elementary +

AIM: to develop students creativity and imagination

          to improve writing skills

FILM ADDRESS: https://youtu.be/QXRH9cSk2TM

LESSON PLAN

STAGE ONE

Divide your students into groups of 3-4. Tell them that they are going to watch a silent film carefully. They have to remember what it is about and imagine what the characters are talking about. 

STAGE TWO

Ask students to retell the story in the groups. They have to try to put all the facts together. Group discussion.

STAGE THREE

The aim of the activity is to write the script to the film. The groups have to decide what they want to write about, who is going to be The Snowman, who The Reindeer and who The Narrator. Revise Past Tenses that they can use while writing briefly. It helps when they imagine that they are telling it to a blind person so every detail is crucial - the weather, the feelings, the background etc. Of course, you can use any other silent cartoon:)

STAGE FOUR

Each group gets the link to the film and can have one mobile phone to watch the cartoon again and again in order to complete the task. Give them about 20 min. Then you play the film and they read the script. Althout it seems to be time consuming, it's a great fun.

This activity can be used at various levels and it is the biggest advantage of it. What's more, the film doesn't have to be English:) Students at higher levels will use more sophisticated vocabulary than those at lower levels. But both can show their creativity. Hope you enjoyed the tips and ideas.

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

Audi Holiday Campaign - one film, two techniques

DAY FOUR

ONLY BOYS ALLOWED

Finally, something for car lovers and groups consisting of boys mostly. I happen to have a few of them so I found it tempting to use this video during my Christmas lesson.

This time we are not going to talk about 'ohs and ahs' of X-mas time. Quite on the contrary, we are going to talk about the things we dislike.


VOCABULARY: 

• sound vocabulary: bell ringing, engine rev, car brakes screeching, choir singing, car sensor beeping (door open), car keys beeping, shopping cart/trolley rattle, reverse parking sensor beeping etc.

AGE:12+

LEVEL: pre-intermediate

AIM: 

• to talk about things that annoy us with the use of the following expressions:

-It really annoys me when........
-It's so annoying when.........
-It drives me mad when.....
-What I hate about Christmas is/are................

• to introduce sound vocabulary (sound only technique)
• to practice predicting - What is going to happen next? (freeze technique), to be going to

FILM LINK: https://youtu.be/mKpfxv2_WZI

 TECHNIQUE ONE - SOUND ONLY

The following film is perfect to present this technique. It contains plenty of sounds. You can use it with any other film that if full of various sounds.

STAGE ONE

Tell your students that they are going to hear the sounds from the film. While listening they have to remember the sounds, their order and guess what the story is about.

STAGE TWO

Students work in pairs and write down the sounds they have heard and discuss what the story was about.

When  they finish, write down some of the expressions on the board and introduce the ones they didn't know. See sound vocabulary above.

STAGE THREE

Discuss with the students what they think the story was about and if they agree with the other students. Then tell them that it was a commercial but they have to guess what kind of commercial it was. It's quite obvious but in some groups there are real car lovers so I would ask what make of car it was:) Remember - fun is necessary. If listening is a pleasure then deeper learning takes place.

STAGE FOUR

Ask the students if they would like to see the commercial. I think that the answer will be obvious. In one of my groups, the students put a bet on the make that would appear in the film:) Tell them also that while watching they have to find out what kind of problem connected with Christmas is presented.

STAGE FIVE

Class discussion. Introduce the expressions connected with dislikes (see above) and ask your students to tell what they dislike about Christmas. 

TECHNIQUE TWO - FREEZE

You can use a completely different technique with your students which is called FREEZE or connect both of them. If they film is involving and there is some action, you can keep your students in suspense and freeze the scene from time to time asking - What is going to happen now? The pace of this film is quite fast so it would be perfect to apply. In case of this commercial, I would definitely freeze after 1:33min. Ask about the ending:)

Remember that all those techniques can be used with various films. Hope you will enjoy it. If yes, you can share your experience in the comments. Tommorow the last film in a five-day Christmas film marathon.

Now It Feels Like Christmas: David Jones 2017 - one film, two techniques

DAY THREE

Now it feels like Christmas...

Our Christmas film marathon IS STILL ON...

AGE: 12 +

LEVEL: elementary +

CLASS DISCUSSION

What makes Christmas so special? Why do we like it? What makes it special for you? Is it somebody, your favourite relative or something like a Christmas dish that you can't wait to eat?

Those and many other similar questions can be asked at the very beginning of the lesson. Students talk about their personal feelings and their likes and dislikes. 

Then you can move on to the topic of presents: Have they bought them yet? Who was the most difficult one to buy presents? Why? Do you buy presents on your own or together with other family memebers? What would you like to get and why? You will come back to the topic of presents at the end of the lesson.

FILM LINK: https://youtu.be/BRY27U2-fOM

TECHNIQUE ONE

AIM: to practise story telling

MOUTH TO MOUTH

The film I want to show you today tells a story of a Gingerbread Man. He really wanted to see the world so one day he packed his suitcase, looked around his small room and set off. While travelling, he visited and admired a lot of interesting tourists sights suchs as London, Paris, The Alps and he even reached New York. He sometimes felt lonely but never forgot about his family. That is why, he always bought some souvernirs for them. Suddenly, while he was visiting one of his last destinations he was attacked by a terrible monster - a dog. His life was almost coming to an end, when some man found him and helped him to recover. Later, he sent him back to his family.

BUT NOW.... what could you do with this story? Modify it, change it, make it funny, make it scary - just exaggerate!!!! 

They don't really know who the story is about. Imagine that it's a story of a single man who never left his small poor village and has always been dreaming of seeing the world. Describe how he looked like and what he packed, tell all the details but stop every now and then to let students finish. They somehow create the story with you. In every group the story can look completely different. You say and then they say - mouth to mouth.

For example:

One day a single man callled.......(students' answer) who had enough of living in his........ (students' answers) decided to .........(students' answers)....

But remember that it's you who puts them on the right track and stimulates their imagination. At the end, ask your students if they would like to see a film about this poor boy who travelled around the world. Can you imagine their faces? It's a Gingerbread Man! I really like having fun on my lesson, as well:)

TECHNIQUE TWO

AIM: to practise telling stories

           to practise Present Continuous (What is happening now?)

           to build cooperation/team work

JIGSAW VIEWING

One of my favourite video watching technique is jigsaw viewing. For those unfamiliar with this term, I will explain it in a moment. I just want to add that it involves a lot of fun and engagement from the students' side. There are also some modifications of this technique that I want to present below.

Take any video with some action in it (today it is the story of a Gingerbread Man). Divide your students into two groups A and B. Group A sits facing the screen of a TV or a projection. The second group sits with their back to the screen. Play the first part of the film. While students are watching they have to tell their partners what is happening in the film. Then they change the seats and do the same. Then you can ask them a few questions just to be sure they remembered the film. The pair who remembered more facts wins!

Some kind of  modification can also be a fun. Again divide your class into two teams. One team leaves the classroom and waits. The secons team stays in and watches a film. They they change. The aim is to know the whole story. So get the students in pairs and ask them to tell each other what they know about the story. You can prepare a few questions to ckeck. No matter which option you will choose they will have fun for sure.

After those activities you can come back to the questions asked at the beginning. Were the presents the most important in the film? What was more important? Why? And what if you didn't get anything this Christmas? How would you feel?

Hope you enjoyed the lesson plan and your students will love the lesson with video.

Rememeber that those techniques can be applied to any films, even when Christmas is over:)

H&M - A magical holiday - one film, two techniques

DAY TWO

Fairy tales? Who of us doesn't like them? We all used to have our favourite ones. So here is another Christmas film with two great techniques to use. 

LESSON PLAN

AGE: 12+

LEVEL: PRE-INTERMEDIATE +

FILM ADDRESS: https://youtu.be/QBf0Ymroge0

VOCABULARY: plung into, paraller universe, evil, nasty, stright away, formidable, wisdom, fihure out, give scolding, damned, summoned

TECHNIQUE ONE

AIM: to practise Past Simple/Past Continuous (stories)
          to develop students' creativity
          to teach team working 

I absolutely adore using SCREENSHOTS in the classroom. So here is the time to show how to do it effectively. Watch the film and choose scenes to make screenshots. Max 6. Divide the class, depending on the size, into two/three groups. Place the screenshots in front of each of the group and ask the students to use them in the story they will create. Students decide in which order they are going to use them. Then each group tells their story. The most creative and original story wins.

    

TECHNIQUE TWO

AIM: to practise retelling the stories (memory task)

           to watch for general information/detail
           
When we think about a film, we usually think about a vision. We less often use sound only. But in case of this film, I would like to encourage you to use SOUND BEFORE VISION technique. Divide your class into two/three groups. Give each of the groups 6 screenshots. Tell them that they are going to listen to a story and their task is to put the pictures in the correct order. After the listening activity, play the film again and tell them that now they are going to watch the film with vision now and have to check if they were correct. Later ask random students to retell the story.

Both techniques can be easily applied to any films that you want to play during Christmas season. And tomorrow another film and two techniques to use.

Hope you enjoyed the activity. Comment and share

BBC One Christmas 2017 - one film, two techniques

DAY ONE

Christmas cartoon marathon!

Are you ready for Christmas? Did you buy all the presents? Did you decorate the house? Our heads are full of the things to do before the big day comes......

Also, in the class Christmas it is a hot period and we sometimes need fresh ideas. That is why, today I'm starting a big countdown to Christmas and I would like to remind you of a few video watching techniques, as well. For the next few days I would like to present you a few fresh cartoon and the ways in which you can use them. Are you ready?

Let me start with a cartoon created by BBC. This two-minute video can be a great warm-up activity.

LESSON PLAN

LEVEL: ELEMENTARY +

AGE: 7-12 

FILM ADDRESS: https://youtu.be/8PstSiTCk74

TIME: 5 MIN

TECHNIQUE ONE

AIM: to watch for details
           to practise memory

I love to call this activity MEMORY MASTER. Just watch the cartoon and prepare about 10 general questions referring to the film. For example:

1. What colour is the girl's jacket? (yellow)
2. What is the name of the competition? (Christmas Talent Show)
3. What colour are the girl's headphones? (green)
4. What is the father ironing? (a checked shirt)
5. Is it snowing when they are outside? (No, it isn't.)
6. What is mum doing? (nothing, there is no mum in the video) etc.

Of course, the questions can be in Past tenses, depending on the group level.
To make it a bit more fun, I always use a great phone application BUZZER. It's a button to press. Just devide a class into two groups and select one representative from each of them. Give them buzzers and the one who knows the answer first, presses. Fun is guaranteed!

TECHNIQUE TWO

AIM: to practise PAST SIMPLE & PAST CONTINUOUS 
          to practise PRESENT SIMPLE & PRESENT CONTINUOUS
          to watch for details

The second option is connected with GRAMMAR PRACTICE. When I saw the film for the first time, I had a great idea. I was just finishing grammar with my students: Past Simple and Past Continuous and thought that it can be a great practice. Write on the board a sentence:

What was the father doing while the girl was dancing?

The students open thier notebooks and write down as many activties as they see while watching. Then students produce correct sentences:

e.g. While the girls was dancing, her father was talking on the phone. etc

With less advanced students you can practise Present Continuous Tense:

Just write down a list of activities that apppear in the film. For example:

• Do the wahing up
• Buy a Christmas tree
• Do the ironing
• Repair the car
• Do the shopping
• Decorate the Christmas tree
• Take a photo
• Talk on the phone

Studnents watch and write numbers next to the activity they see and then produce sentences:

e.g. The father is doing the washing up. etc

Hope your students will enjoy the activities. Tomorrow the next film!