December 11, 2011

Manifesto

This lesson is based on a short film The Holstee Manifesto: Lifecycle Video by Cooper Miller which is a call to action to live a life of creativity, passion, integrity and community. The film was commissioned by Hostee a design company founded on ethical principles. The lesson practises the imperative form, inspiring vocabulary, listening, reading and speaking.

Step 1

Write manifesto on the board, and ask your students what it means. After students have given their definitions give them this dictionary definition:

a written public statement declaring the intentions, motives, or views of   a government, group or individual

Ask your students if they can give any examples of manifestos.

Step 2

Tell your students they are going to watch a short film which explains a manifesto.

Pre-teach the following vocabulary:

to quit, to seize, to hug, to share, a bite

Ask students to answer the following questions:

What is the manifesto?

What values are mentioned in the manifesto?

Who wrote this manifesto?

After watching ask students to compare their answers in pairs and then get feedback from the whole class

Step 3

Tell your students that they are now going to listen and read the manifesto using a kinetic typography video, and they should check anything they didn’t understand while watching the film.

Ask your students the following questions:

What do you think of the manifesto?

What do you identify with personally?

What do you like about the manifesto?

Is there anything you don’t like?

Is it a good guide for life?

Is it too simplistic?

Step 4

Now show this image of the manifesto and ask students to read it.

Step 5

Explain to your students that this is The Holstee Manifesto written by Mike, Fabian and Dave when they set up Holstee an ethical design and clothing company. They sat down on the steps of Union Square in New York and wrote down exactly what they wanted from life and how to create a company that breathed that passion into the world everyday. The result became known as The Holstee Manifesto and has since been shared over 500,000 times and viewed over 60 million times online. The words of the manifesto resonate with many people throughout the world as a call to action to live a life full of creativity, passion and integrity.

Step 6

Tell your students you would like them to write their own manifestos to promote passionate, creative living. Put them into small  groups, and tell them to use The Holstee Manifesto as a model. They should use the imperative form and inspiring vocabulary and expressions. Give them 10 minutes to create drafts of their manifesto. After 10 minutes ask a spokesperson from each group to read out their manifesto. Ask students to comment on the manifestos.

Homework

Ask students to write their own personal manifesto which should be  a call to action to live a life of creativity, passion, integrity and community. Tell them they can use different colours and images in their manifestos.

I hope you enjoy the films and the lesson.

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December 8, 2011

My Favourite Animal

 

This lesson is based on a beautiful animated short film My Favourite Animal by Lara Lee , another short promotional film for the World Wildlife Fund The World is Where we Live. The lesson practises animal vocabulary, listening and speaking. It works particularly well with younger learners, but is also suitable for older learners.

Step 1 Warmer

As a warmer to introduce the theme of animals, tell your students they are going to do an animal A-Z. Ask one student to name an animal which begins with the letter A, then the next student has to name an animal beginning with the letter etc. until you’ve done the whole alphabet. Help students with more difficult letters.

Step 2

Ask your students what vocabulary they know related to different parts of animals. Elicit this vocabulary.

Pre-teach vocabulary which is the same for animals and humans. For example:

skin           leg          arms          head          face           ears          nose          mouth         eyes

Give some vocabulary which is used just for animals. For example:

fur          tail          mane          hoof          udder          fin          trunk          beak         wing         pouch

Step 3

Describe your favourite animal to your students using vocabulary in Step 2 but without naming the animal, they have to guess the animal. Put your students into pairs and tell them to describe their favourite animal without naming it.

Step 4

Tell your students they are going to listen to 3 children describing their favourite animals. Ask them to listen and write down the name of the animal and any words they understand which the child uses to describe the animal. Play the video with no images, so don’t turn the projector on. After listening ask your students to compare their answers.

Get feedback from your students. Students should mention some of the following information:

1. Nadia- a horse: a long nose, different colours, hoofs, mane, tail

2. Mia – a cow: black, white, brown, thin and round udders

3. Johnny- a kangaroo: does karate, hops, big ears, nose

Step 5

Now show the video to your students and ask them what they think of the children’s descriptions and the artist’s illustrations.

Step 6

Write  the following  question on the board:

If you could be an animal, which animal would you be?

Tell them to work in pairs and discuss the questions giving reasons for their choice.

Step 7

Ask your students the following question:

What have humans and animals got in common?

Put them in small groups and give them 5 minutes to discuss the question. After 5 minutes get feedback .

Step 8

Tell your students they are going to watch a short film which illustrates the similarity between humans and animals. Ask them to notice the connections between humans, animals and their environment in each of the clips.

Step 9

Get feedback, and then watch the film again, but this time pausing to show each of the 11 clips. Ask students to describe each clip and discuss its meaning.

Alternatively, you could show them 8 screen captures in the PowerPoint presentation below.

Get feedback and ask what the message of the film is.

I hope you enjoy the films and the lesson.

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December 5, 2011

Vote for Film English in The Edublog Awards

I’ve been nominated for Best Individual Blog and Best Use of Audio, Video and Podcast in the 2011 Edublog Awards the most prestigious education blog awards on the internet. If you use the site and find the lessons and material useful, you might like to vote for me. You can vote in both categories once a day until 13th Decemeber.

You can vote by going to the  Vote Here page and choosing the 2 categories I’ve been nominated in:

Best Individual Blog

Just click on the Category drop-down Menu and choose this category, another drop-down menu will appear and just choose

Kieran Donaghy – Film English

Best Use of Audio, Video and Podcast

Again just click on the Category drop-down Menu and choose this category, another drop-down menu will appear and just choose

Film English

Thanks very much for your support.

 

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December 2, 2011

Procrastination and Happiness

This lesson is based on an award-winning short film by John Kelly called Procrastination which explores the universal problem of procrastination. The lesson practises listening and reading, and using the gerund. The lesson also looks at how  avoiding procrastination can make you happier.

Step 1

Write Procrastination on the board and ask your students if they know what it means. Give this definition:

Procrastination is avoiding doing something.

Show this Facebook procrastination log, and ask them if they think using Facebook is an example of procrastination.


Step 2

Ask students to say what Procrastination is for them using this structure:

Procrastination is checking my email account in the morning.

Put students into small groups and ask them to explain how they procrastinate.

After 5 minutes get feedback from the groups.

Step 3

Tell your students they are going to watch a short film called Procrastination in which a man explains how he procrastinates. Show them this image from the film and tell them that it represents ways in which the man puts things off. Put your students in pairs and ask them to speculate about what the activities may be.

Step 4

Show the film and ask students to check if any of the activities they do to put of doing something which they talked about Step 2. Also ask them to check what activities are presented by the image in Step 3.

Step 5

Ask students the following questions:

What advice would you give to a person to help them procrastinate less?

Put students in pairs and give them 5 minutes to come up with their Top 7 tips for beating procrastination using should and shouldn’t.

After 5 minutes get feedback from your students.

Step 6

Put your students in pairs and tell them them are both going to read half of an  7 Tips for Avoiding Procrastination. Give student A Tips 1-3 and Student B Tips 4-7. Give them 5 minutes to read their text and then get to explain their tips to their partner. Here are the texts in a Word document. Student A and Student B reading texts

You can read the 2 parts of the article in the Scribd document below.

Go can ask them to compare their tips with those in the article. Discuss the article with your students.

Step 7

Explain to your students that the article comes from a website called The Happiness Project which promotes a book of the same name in which Gretchen Rubin describes the year she spent test-driving studies and theories about how to be happier. In her book and on her website she shares her insights to help people create their own happiness project. One her insights is that avoiding procrastinations helps people become happier.

Write happiness is on the board, then complete it using the gerund, for example,

Happiness is being with people I love.

Happiness is having a lie-in at the weekend.

Happiness is listening to my favourite songs.

Happiness is helping another person.

Ask your students to write 10 true sentences about what happiness is for them.

Next they should explain what makes them happy to a partner.

Follow up

You might like to show them Things To Be Happy About a site which has 14,000 reasons to be happy

Homework

Give students the address of the The Happiness Project video page and ask them to watch some of the videos about how to become happier. In the following class they should report back on the videos they watched.

I hope you enjoy the lesson.

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November 25, 2011

Charades

This lesson is based on a short animation film called Charade directed by John Minnis which won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 1985 , and a hilarious clip from a BBC programme It also looks at how students can learn lyrics to help them improve their English through a fantastic site called Lyrics Training.

Step 1

Ask your students if they know what charades is. Explain to them that it is a game in which a person has the title of a film or book and then   have to explain what the title is using mime. Explain and mime the following rules:

  • To indicate a book title, put your hands together as if you are praying, then unfold them flat.
  • To indicate a film title, form an O with one hand to mime a lens while cranking the other hand as if you are operating an old-fashioned movie camera.
  • Hold up fingers to indicate the number of words in the title.
  • Hold up a number of fingers again to indicate which word you want your teammates to guess.
  • Hold fingers against your arm to indicate the number of syllables in a particular word.
  • Pinch your thumb and forefinger or open them up to indicate a short or long word.
  • Pull on your ear to indicate that the word being guessed sounds like another word.
  • Confirm that your partners have guessed a word correctly by tapping your index finger on your nose and pointing to the person or persons who made the correct guess.
  • Wipe your hand across your forehead to let your teammates know that they are getting hot (they are close to guessing the word).
  • Cross your arms and shiver to let them know that they are getting cold (they are nowhere near to guessing the word).

Step 2

Tell your students they are going to watch a short film called Charades in which people play this game. One of the people doing charades does it well. However, the other people are not very good at guessing his film titles. The other person has a very different technique, and his teammates guess his titles immediately. The first person becomes increasingly frustrated.

Show your students the film with the sound off, and tell them they should guess which films are being represented. Also ask them which of the two people mimes better.

Step 3

Show the film again but this time with the sound on. Ask your students which of the two contestants is more successful.

Step 3

Tell your students they are going to play charades using film titles. You can download this word document with all the films and cut them up.

film charades cards

Put them into groups of 3 or 4. Using the rules in Step 1, each student should take a card and take turns in miming the film to the other students who have to guess the title of the film.

Step 4

Tell students you can also play Charades with the titles of songs. Give an example by miming the title of a well-known song. Give them cards the titles of the following song titles in the word document below.

song charades cards

Put them into groups of 3 or 4 and . Each student should take a card and take turn in miming the film to the other students who have to guess the title of the song.

Step 5

Tell students you can also play charades with the lyrics of songs, but that, obviously, this is much more difficult. Tell them they are going to watch a video of a man miming the lyrics to a well-known song. They are going to watch it with the sound off, and then have to try to guess the title of the song.

Step 6

Get feedback from your students. Ask them if they can guess any words or expressions. Show them the video with the sound on and ask for their reactions.

Step 7

Go to Lyrics Training where you have a video with the lyrics of Don’t Stop Me Now. One this site students learn English through song lyrics. Choose Beginner mode and play the video. The video automatically stops to allow students to complete the lyrics. Complete the lyrics in class.

Step 8

When you’ve got the completed lyrics show the Don’t Stop Me Now mime video again and see if students can understand it better.

Homework

Ask students to go to Lyrics Training and try to complete the lyrics in Intermediate and Advanced mode. In addition, ask them to search for a singer or band they like on the home page and complete the lyrics of one of their songs. I next class students should report back on the song they chose and any words or expressions they learned.

I hope you enjoy the lesson.

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November 19, 2011

Smoking

This lesson plan is based on a short film by Christian Filek called Occupied and the theme of smoking . It also encourages students to talk about how smoking is represented in films, television series and in advertising.

Step 1

Write Occupied on the board and ask students where they have seen this word. They may well know that it’s used to show that a public toilet is being used. Tell them they are going to watch a film called Occupied referring to a toilet on a plane. Ask them what they think will happen in the film.

Step 2

Show the film Occupied until 1.12, then pause and ask students what the woman is doing, and what they think will happen next. Restart and show the film until 1.41, and ask what is going to happen next. Show the rest of the film and ask students for their reaction to it. Do they feel it is in bad taste?

Step 3

Put your students into small groups and ask them to discuss the questions about smoking in the Scribd document below. You may like to pre-teach the vocabulary in bold in the questions.

Step 4

Get feedback from your students. Focus particularly on their answers to the last 2 questions:

How is smoking portrayed in films and television series?

Can you think of any famous film scenes in which people are smoking?

Step 5

Show this clip of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in To Have and Not Have in which Lauren Bacall smokes. Ask students what they think of it. Do they think that smoking is presented as a glamorous activity.

Step 6

Tell your students they are going to watch part of documentary about smoking in films. they should watch the film and answer the following questions in the Scribd document.

Follow up

Ask your students the following questions:

Where are cigarettes normally advertised?

What are cigarette ads like?

What images are associated with smoking and cigarettes in ads?

What type of lifestyle is associated with smoking and cigarettes in ads?

Show them the slides below which have the original ads for Marlboro and Camel cigarettes followed by spoof ads created by adbusters, an anti-consumerism organisation. Ask your students to discuss the ads.

I hope you enjoy the lesson.

 

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November 17, 2011

Nominations for 2011 Edublog Awards

Nominations for the 2011 Edublog awards are now open. The purpose of the Edublog awards is to promote and demonstrate the educational values of educational blogs.  If you use this site and find the resources useful you could go to the Edublog page and nominate it.

Here are my nominations:

Good luck to all the nominees.

 

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November 11, 2011

Word As Image

This lesson is based on a short film to promote Word As Image, a book by graphic artist Ji Lee who is Facebook creative director. In his book and the short film Lee creates images out of words, using only the letters contained within the word itself. He melds texts image, image and meaning into an instantly recognisable concept which may make words easier for students to learn.

Step 1

Show your students this image.

Step 2

Tell your students they are going to watch a short film in which images are created out of words, using only the letters contained within the word itself.

 

 

After watching the film they should try to remember as many of the words as they can. Show them the film again to check their answers.

The words are idea, horizon, elevator, gravity, comedy, drama, capitalism, oil, the last supper, vampire, robbery, inflation, stock market, vertigo, voyeur, silicone, ill, balloons, tsunami, spiderman, zipper, clock, pirate, exit, magic, fast food, diet, moon, parallel, tunnel, Marilyn, rabbit, homosexuals, heterosexuals, condom, superstitious, Dali, Van Gogh and eclipse.

Step 3

Now tell your students that they are going to read a story which includes some of the words which they have seen in the film. They should read the story and then in pairs complete the missing words using words from the film. Tell them that some of the words are repeated. Get feedback and then show them the complete story on the second page of the Scribd document.

Step 4

Put your students in small groups and ask them to write a narrative using the words in the film in 10 minutes. Next ask your students to join another pair and explain their stories.

Homework

Ask your students to complete their stories using as many of the words as they can.

I hope you enjoy the lesson.

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November 4, 2011

The Adventures of a Cardboard Box

This lesson plan is based on a short film called The Adventures of a Cardboard Box in which a small boy finds myriad of uses for a cardboard box and the theme of critical thinking (reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do) and divergent thinking (thinking to generate many different ideas about a topic in a short period of time).

Step 1

As a warmer show the photo of a paper clip below and ask your students to come up with as many uses of a paper clip as they can in 3 minutes.

Let them work individually and then after 3 minutes they should pair up and compare their answers. Get feedback from the whole class.

Step 2

Show your students this photo of a cardboard box.

Ask them to work in pairs and to come up with as many uses of a cardboard box that a child might think of as they can in 3 minutes. After 3 minutes they should work in small groups and compare their answers. Get feedback from the whole class and ask students which are the most creative and inventive uses.

Step 3

Tell your students they are going to watch a short film called The Adventures of a Cardboard Box in which a young boy befriends a cardboard box and comes up with a lot of uses for it. Students should watch the film, note down the different uses of the cardboard box and compare them with their own answers.

Step 4

Write divergent thinking on the board and ask students what it means. Ask them if they think the little boy in the film was a good divergent thinker. Can they think of other examples of divergent thinking?

Step 4

Write critical thinking on the board and ask students what it means. Tell your students they are going to see an example of critical thinking involving another young boy. Show them the video below until 14 seconds and then pause. Ask them the following questions:

What’s the boy doing?

How does he feel?

What does he want

What can he do to get what he wants?

Your students will probably realise that he wants a brother or sister to play football with. Ask your students what he could do to get what he wants. Tell them to work in pairs and to come up with ways he can persuade his parents to have another child. Get feedback from your students.

Show the rest of the video and ask what they think of the young boy’s actions.

I hope you enjoy the lesson.

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October 28, 2011

Human Rights

This lesson is based on an award-winning spot for Amnesty International by Carlos Lascano, the themes of human rights and street art.

Step 1

Show your students this photo of a red carnation and ask them to say what springs to mind when they see it. Ask them if there is any message behind this street art.

Step 2

Write Amnesty International on the board and ask your students what they know about this organisation. Someone will probably know that it is an organisation which defends human rights throughout the world. Ask your students to define a human right and to give concrete examples of human rights and abuses of human rights .

Step 3

Tell your students they are going to watch a short video which explains The Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was adopted by the United Nations in 1948. They should watch the video and check if their answers in Step 2 were correct.

Step 4

Tell your students that they are going to watch a short which celebrates the 50th anniversary of Amnesty International in the United States Of America. They should try to spot which human rights abuses are shown in the film.

Step 5

The director Carlos Lascano was inspired by street artists Blu and Banksy when he created his short film. Put your students in pairs and show them the photos of street art by Blu and Banksy, ask them to describe and analyse them and identify the human rights or global issue illustrated.

Follow up

After having watched the videos ask your students which words they would now use to describe human rights. Put them in small groups and ask them to come up with 30 words. Get feedback from all the groups and then show them this short video in which celebrities use 30 words  to describe human rights. Students should note down the words and then compare them to their own words.

Now show them this short film commissioned for Amnesty International and introduced by Morgan Freeman called The Power of Words and ask them this question:

According to the film what can words do?

Get feedback from your students, and then ask them what the message of the film is.

I hope you enjoy the lesson.

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