Dancing Teens

1. Ask the students to think of any films from the 1980s featuring teenagers dancing. Elicit a few titles.

2. Tell them that they are going to watch a video which explains why dancing in films was popular in the 1980s. The video is available on the BBC website and on BBC’s Facebook page (it’s a public post, so you don’t have to log in.) You can also find it on Twitter here.

3. Explain that for each time period (early 80s, mid 80s and late 80s) they will first have to answer one or two questions, they will look for a series of synonyms, and finally they will be writing the film titles mentioned in the video.

Dancing_Teens.pdfDownload

4. Play till 2:39, corresponding to the early 80s. Allow some time to answer the different sections. Play again.

5. Repeat the same procedure for the mid 80s (from 2:40 to 3:54) and late 80s (from 3:55 to 5:08).

6. Check the answers with the whole group.
VOCABULARY: Early 80s: 1. polished, 2. supported, 3. fad, 4. tanked, 5. mirrored, 6. blend or mash-up; Mid 80s: 1. ruled, 2. archetypal, 3. grown-up, 4. taking over, 5. defiance, 6. deemed; Late 80s: 1. diluted, 2. standstill, 3. heralding.

7. Have the students complete a summary using words from the vocabulary section (the synonyms they had found in the video) in the correct form.

Dancing_Teens.pdfDownload

KEY: 1. archetypal, 2. defiance, 3. backed, 4. ruled, 5. heralded, 6. blended, 7. fad, 8. had tanked, 9. were diluted, 10. standstill

8. Go over the film title sections and discuss any movies the students may have watched. Assign each film to pairs of students, and ask them to do some research about them. Provide the following as a guide:

– Film title:

– Genre:

– Release year:

– Director:

– Lead actors/actresses:

– Dance styles featured:

– Soundtrack:

– Plot summary:

– Notable Quotes (if any):

– Fun facts:

– Sample clips:

– Sources Used:

9. Have the students share their findings!

The seed vault

1. Ask the students to draw the scene you’re about to describe. Play this sound effect of a snow blizzard from BBC Sound Effects to help set the scene. Read the following:

I’ve been lost in the middle of this blizzard for almost half an hour. It’s difficult to see where I am, but I’ve just noticed a strange light square in the distance and I’m walking towards it. Could it be a house? Perhaps one of the houses in the town where I’m staying? I shouldn’t be too far away, after all.

As I get closer, I can see something similar to a tower made of concrete with a steel door and a tiny bridge in front of it. It seems to be carved into the side of the mountain! And then there’s the strange blueish light on a big square above the door.

I can’t help but feel a sense of mystery and intrigue. I’m now certain this is not a fancy hotel or someone’s house. I approach the door. It’s clear that it leads to something special. I take a deep breath, reach for the handle and turn it. The door creaks open, and I step inside.

2. Have the students share their pictures.

3. Display a picture of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and discuss any similarities and differences.

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

(Source: TIME)

4. Tell the students that they are going to watch a short video about this facility. As they watch it, the students first explain why the numbers in activity 1 are mentioned in the video.

The_Seed_Vault.pdfDownload

POSSIBLE ANSWERS:

1300 – the number of kilometres from Svalbard to the North Pole
200 – the number of years the seed vault has been planned to last
3 – the number of vault rooms
120 – the number of metres from the front door to the vault room that is in use
3,000,000 – the number of seeds that will be stored in the three vault rooms
500 – the number of seeds per sample there will be in the future
1700 – the number of gene banks around the world
9,000,000 – the amount of dollars it cost to build the Svalbard Global Seed Vault

5. The students work together to complete a short gapped text about the Global Seed Vault with one suitable word for each blank.

SUGGESTED ANSWERS: 1. seeds; 2. preserve; 3. tunnel; 4. bags; 5. boxes; 6. shelves

In their own words, the students explain why the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is important, and how it can help us in the future, using the information from the video. Share and discuss the students’ answers. You may even want to explore any possible problems or disadvantages this type of facility may have.

6. Ask the students to read the beginning of a story that takes place at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. As they read, have them identify the setting, the characters and the plot of the story.

The_Seed_Vault.pdfDownload

7. Finally, ask the students to finish the story! Why not invite them to visit BBC Sound Effects, look for the sound effects that best suit their story endings (you can even mix different effects by clicking “Mixer Mode”) and create the perfect atmosphere for an intriguing story sharing session?

Wonders of Street View: some activity ideas

Wonders of Street View is a website from Neal Agarwal that collects weird and wonderful things on Google Street View:

By clicking “Random” on the upper-right corner, you will be taken on a trip to unique places around the world, including some really strange situations about which our students will certainly have a lot to say!

You can read where each Street View is located (upper-right corner), and you can get the address of a specific view by clicking “Share” (bottom-right corner) and copying the address provided, or opening the link on Google Street View itself.

The website is perfect for a whole-group speaking lesson in which the students use all kinds of descriptive language, together with functional language such as agreeing and disagreeing, or asking for / giving opinion.

I’m also attaching a choice board with task ideas that the students can do using this fun resource, first independently or in pairs/groups, but which can then be used in the classroom to practise other skills. Notice that these are general ideas and they will need to be specified to meet your students’ needs. I’ve tried organising them according to the level of difficulty, with the easier tasks at the top and the more challenging ones at the bottom. And if you’re following a structural syllabus, it might give you some ideas for actitivies you can do depending on the language focus you’re working on!

Wonders_of_Street_View.pdfDownload

I will be happy to edit the choice board with any other ideas you may have, so feel free to share them!

A fashionable Halloween

Using Gemma Correll’s Ghost Fashions poster as inspiration, within a few days we will be exploring different fashion styles and using them to define unique Halloween characters which will hopefully result in some interesting (and not necessarily spooky!) narrative texts.

2. Explain to the students they are going to design a similar poster based on other Halloween characters. Create six teams and give one character to each of them: mummy, monster, witch, warlock, jack-o’-lantern and zombie.

1. Share the “Ghost Fashions” poster with the students. Clarify any unknown words or any questions the students may have. Have them choose their favourite fashions and discuss their choices as a whole group.

A_Fashionable_Halloween_1.pdfDownload

3. The students go over vocabulary related to different fashion styles using this site and this site, together with some picture dictionaries. The idea is for them to revise vocabulary related to fashion and learn new words as they look for inspiration for their own poster. The students choose 16 different fashion styles that they think will help to make their character the most unique.

4. The students take turns drawing their character according to the 16 chosen styles. As they do this, have them discuss briefly what they think each of the characters might be like.

5. Tell the students each team will get one character from each grid and that they will be planning a story with these six characters. Display the posters, have the teams explain the different fashion styles, and use a die to select the characters for each team.

6. Ask the teams to plan a story with the six main characters in mind. Encourage them to use the forest worksheet to plan six scenes and write down or sketch their plan.

A_Fashionable_Halloween_2.pdfDownload

7. The students write the story individually or in groups. Simultaneous or roundtable writing could be a good option here, too!

8. Have the students share and compare their stories. If time allows, I may use some of them with my younger students and have them sketch the stories on the forest worksheet as they listen to demonstrate comprehension.

I was thinking of sharing this activity once we’d finished, but then I thought I’d share it now in case some of you want to try it. If you do, it’d be great if you could share some of the posters created by your students!

Endless stories

The following lesson idea is based on an ‘infinite’ story by Vaskange. The mesmerising way in which he recounts his holidays, through art and feelings, and how these build on one another, seemed too appealing not to use in a lesson.

1. Set the scene by playing the video till 0:02 and asking: “What is this person doing?” Then play it till 0:06: “What is he drawing?”

2. Give out the jumbled sentences in the set of cameras. Tell the students these sentences belong to the rest of the video. The students first complete each sentence with the words provided, changing the form of the words when needed.

Endless_Stories.pdfDownload

3. The students watch the video and put the sentences from each camera in the right order by writing the number. (You may also ask them to guess the order before watching!)

Endless_Stories_ANSWER_KEY.pdfDownload

4. Check the students’ immediate personal reactions by discussing the video briefly: “How does the artist feel?”, “What can you tell about this person?” Write down any key words related to feelings and personality that may come up.

5. As a follow-up activity, have the students create a plan for a story that starts “I drew a new story to tell you about my holidays…” This could be an actual holiday they enjoyed, but it could also be imaginary or one they are planning to enjoy in the future (even a walk around Mars will do!) In all cases, encourage the students to plan their filmstrip by thinking of a number of relevant scenes each of which must be closely related to, at least, one feeling. Use the vocabulary shared and/or introduced in 4 to help you brainstorm vocabulary related to feelings, especially those related to happiness and surprise.

Endless_Stories_Follow_Up.pdfDownload

6. The students write the different scenes.

7. Can the students create an infinite story similar to Vaskange’s in digital form? (probably not the same technique – a digital storyboard will do, for instance.) Perhaps on paper, and then create a display with the different filmstrips? A brief oral presentation or a gallery walk? QR codes of the digital products with general comprehension questions or a whole-group plenary discussion? How about…?

Chicago’s best ice cream

I lived in Oak Park, Illinois, for 5 years, so I know what shovelling loads of snow and rushing to Petersen on the following day for some ice cream in hot humid weather feels like. In the following activity, elementary students write down Petersen’s Turtle Pie recipe after being introduced to several words related to food and cooking.

Feels like summer’s here!

1. Write the following letters on the board:

  e      r       c       i       a      m       e        c    

In pairs, the students come up with as many words as they can (e.g. “car”, “am”, “ice”, “care”, “are”, “Marc”, “rice”, “mic”.) Set a time limit. Write down the words they have found. Have any of them used all the letters to write the word “ice cream”?

2. Explain to the students they are going to watch a short report about an ice-cream shop called Petersen. Watch until 0:56 and have the students answer the questions in 1 (a. Oak Park, in Chicago, USA; b. since 1919.)

Chicago’s_Best_Ice_Cream.pdfDownload

3. Tell the students one of Petersen’s best-known desserts is called Turtle Pie. Have them read its ingredients in 2 and explain any unknown words. The students then match 5 words that will be used in the recipe with the corresponding pictures.

4. Watch the video until 2:18, where the different steps to make a Turtle Pie are explained.

5. Go over the cooking verbs in 3 and elicit their meaning. Ask the students to write down the recipe using the ingredients, the words in 2, and some of the cooking verbs in 3. Write the first step as a model and watch this part of the video again.

6. Watch the rest of the video and discuss: “What do you think of Petersen’s Turtle Pie?” “Would you like to try it?” “Why/Why not?”

7. Are the students now ready to write and share one of their favourite summer recipes?

A helmet has always been a good idea

1. Have the students work together and fill in the speech bubbles in the conversation below. When a word is provided (sail, ships, annoying, to ruin), ask them to use it:

a_helmet_has_always_been_a_good_idea.pdfDownload

2. The students share their stories with the rest of the class and discuss any differences. This is the perfect time to work on intonation!

3. Play the video and allow some time for personal reactions. Do the students think this is an effective campaign? Why/Why not?

4. The students write one of the following:

You have just watched a road safety campaign encouraging people to wear helmets. Write a report analysing the use of helmets where you live. Make sure you include a series of recommendations.

Would increasing bike lanes be a good idea where you live? Write a letter to a local newspaper explaining your point of view.

Should the minimum legal age for driving a car or a motorbike be increased? Discuss.

Write an essay analysing the different modes of transport where you live, such as walking, cycling, cars, motorbikes and public transportation. Make sure you include issues such as safety, pollution, noise or health.

Inside a painting

Jumping straight into a painting and immersing ourselves into the beauty of Van Gogh’s art is what Mathy147’s astonishing work allows us to do. Hosted on Kuula, which features all kinds of virtual tours, this imaginative 360º painting is actually a mixture of several paintings by the artist: “Café Terrace at Night”, “The Church at Auvers”, “Sunflowers”, “The Night Café” and “Starry Night”.

With an interactive painting like this, the starting point of any task we design needs to be inside the painting itself. The students first choose where in the painting they want to be by thinking of the following:
– Look at the painting. What can you see? How does it make you feel?
– You are going step inside the painting and become part of it. Where in the painting are you? What are you doing? Why are you there? How do you feel? What were you doing an hour ago? What are you going to do in an hour?

Once they have defined their viewpoints, the students should be ready to perform one of the following descriptive tasks:
1. Write a description of the painting from your point of view.
2. Hold a conversation with a partner describing the scene.
3. In groups of 3 or 4, write text messages describing what each of you can see from where you are standing.
4. Record some voice messages describing what you can see.

You may want to have the students use the following words to help them with their descriptions or to have them look for details they could have otherwise overlooked. The students cross out the words as they use them:

Inside_A_PaintingDownload

No matter the task they choose, the students should avoid saying where in the painting they are so that the rest of the class can guess when sharing their work, and therefore have another purpose to read or listen!

“The Great Gatsby”

1. Play the following: 

Have students write down 10 words they can think of while listening to this piece of music. Ask them to share a few words with their partner or team. 

Explain that jazz became very popular in the 1920s, influencing dances, fashion and culture.

2. Tell the students they are going to watch a party scene set in the 1920s where this type of music would be played. Play the clip with no sound so that the students can focus on the atmosphere. As they watch, the students tick any words from their previous list that they can see in the clip and add any other words that may help to describe the atmosphere. The students share their ideas. 

3. Explain to the students they are going to read a few extracts from a book set in the 1920s in the USA. Think-Pair-Share: the students write a question for the answers provided, first individually, then checking with their partner, and finally with the whole group. Notice that there are several answers provided for most questions, but the students should only focus on writing a question that can answer any of the options at this time.

the_great_gatsbyDownload

4. Ask the students to look at the front and back covers of the book and to read the information. Which questions can they definitely answer? Which ones can they guess? Now they should be able to choose the correct answer to the questions with more than one option. Encourage the students to share any additional questions they may have about the story.

5. The students read the first extract and decide whether the sentences are true or false. If false, have them provide the right information using evidence from the text.

the_great_gatsbyDownload

6. The students focus on 6 words and expressions from the text. They first match the words and expressions with their meanings. Then they read the text again and explain why each of these words or expressions are used in the story.

the_great_gatsbyDownload

7. Play the following: 

Before watching the clip, read the following questions with the students: 

• What’s the name of the man at the beginning of the clip?
• Where does he live? 
• What or who is he looking for? 
• What is this man’s role in the story? 

Discuss the answers.

8. Have the students read the second extract belonging to the end of the novel and ask them to answer the questions. Allow enough time for students to answer the questions individually first, since most of them will ask them to provide their own personal reaction to the text. The students share their answers with the rest of the group. Is the information gap we have created distinctive enough to get the students to read the novel or watch the film?

9. Writing: Does money bring happiness? The students write a for and against essay on this topic. To help them with the planning stage, ask them to discuss a few statements with their partners first.

the_great_gatsbyDownload

Music Borders: some lesson ideas

Music Borders maps number 1 songs in over 3,000 places around the world. The sheer experience of visiting different continents and countries and listening to whatever is popular at the moment has obvious cross-curricular and interdisciplinary implications per se — probably not something we usually do, and I’m sure this largely depends on where in the world you live. So what if we used this quirky, enriching adventure as the basis for an English lesson and try to make learning the most memorable at the same time?

At its very simplest, the site can offer a great context to present or revise comparative and superlative structures. The group of students will first choose two different continents and countries and listen to the songs. As they listen, the students can complete this fact sheet about each song:

Song title:
Singer/Band:
Country:
Continent:
Language:
Description:

With the song titles on the board, you can now present or review comparative structures using a number of high-frequency adjectives such as the following (but also any other adjectives the students may have come up with in the description of the song!):

loud
catchy
interesting
good
original
strange
happy
sad
beautiful
slow
bad
unusual
unique
boring
repetitive

And if you have students choose one or two more songs, you are now ready to practise superlative structures!

I work in a secondary school with a strong CLIL programme, and analysing similarities and differences is a common type of text the students are expected to produce across different subjects in the earlier years. As a pre-writing activity, the students can choose between two or three songs, complete the fact sheets, and fill in the sentence frames below with a few ideas. The goal here is for students to simply brainstorm a number of similarities and differences using several types of sentences that may prove useful later on at the writing stage. The students will then share their ideas orally with the rest of the group, and finally select the similarities and differences they will be focusing on in their own four-paragraph piece of writing.

SIMILARITIES

Both __ and __ have __.

__ and __ are alike because __.

A similarity between __ and __ is __.

Their common characteristics include __.

They also __ as well as __.

Words and phrases that introduce additional points may be used: ‘Furthermore…’, ‘Also…’, ‘In addition…’, ‘Another similarity is…’ , “Likewise…”, “By the same token…”, etc.

DIFFERENCES

___ and ___ are different because ___

___, but ___

One major difference between and ___ is ___

On the other hand, one way they differ is ___

Words and phrases that introduce contrasting points may be used: ‘However…’, ‘On the other hand…’, ‘In contrast…’, “Nevertheless..:”, “Conversely…”, “Although…”, etc.

Combine with Describing windows around the world to supplement this fascinating journey!