This lesson is based on a beautiful 2D animated film by Ryan J Woodward and a song by The Weepies called And the World Spins Madly On. Students talk about dancing, watch a short film, complete song lyrics, and write a narrative.

Language level: Intermediate (B1) – Upper Intermediate (B2.1)

Learner type: Teens and adults

Time: 60 minutes

Activity: Watching short film, completing song lyrics, speaking and writing a narrative

Topic: Dancing and emotions

Language: Types of dance, adjectives to describe emotions and narrative tenses

Materials: Short film and song lyrics

Downloable materials: thought of you lesson instructions     thought of you lyrics

 

Step 1

Write dance on the board and ask your students to come up with as many types of dances as they can in 3 minutes. Next write up all the different types of dances on the board and practise pronunciation.

 

Step 2

Put your students into pairs and ask them to discuss the following questions:

1. Why do people dance?

2. What type of dance do you like most? Why?

3. How do you feel when you dance?

 

Step 3

Tell students they are going to watch a short animated film in which they will see a couple dancing. Explain that they are going to watch the film with no sound. As they watch the film they should think about the following questions:

 

1. What emotions do you feel watching the film?

2. What emotions do you think the man and woman feel during the story?

3.  What story does the film tell?

Get feedback from students on the questions

 

 

Step 4

Ask your students what music they imagine would accompany the film.

 

Step 5

Now show the film with the sound; ask students if they imagined this type of music and if the music helps them understand the story.

 

Step 6

Show students the Tagxedo tag cloud which has been created with words from the lyrics of the song and go through the vocabulary.

 

 

Step 7

Show the film again, and ask students to complete the lyrics in the document using words from the tag cloud. After students have watched the film again and completed the lyrics check answers using the second page of the document.

 

 

 

Step 8

Ask students how they feel the lyrics relate to the film and if they think the song goes well with the film.

 

Homework

Ask students to write a narrative based on the story of the film.

 

I hope you enjoy the film and the lesson.