Saturday, May 29

Battle for Terra: Compound Nouns with Some, Any, No, Every

As you know, I could spend days watching animated movies. This is a 3D movie with a great message for kids. I think adults understand the movie better than children, though. I used this segment to practice compound nouns with some, any, no, every in a contextulized way. Hope you like it.


A. Watch the movie segment and describe what you saw to a partner.







B. Now do the following exercise. Circle the correct alternative.



1. Humans exhausted every natural resource. There was anything / nothing / something left .


2. Colonies were established on the neighboring planets, Venus and Mars. Two centuries later, war was declared and something / anything / everything was destroyed.



3. There was something / nothing / anything the survivors could do. Travel to another galaxy and find another planet everywhere / somewhere / nowhere in another system.





4. The human asked Mala to do anything/ something / nothing for him. To repair his spaceship.





5. They eventually shook hands, a demonstration that anybody / somebody / everybody can be friends even if they don't have something / anything / nothing in common.





6. Mala is a Terrean. She is not human but there is something / nothing / anything about her that resembles a human being. She has two eyes and one mouth, for example.





7. According to the segment, there is life nowhere / somewhere / anywhere in other galaxies.





8. What's your opinion? Is there life somewhere / nowhere / anywhere in outer space?





WORKSHEET




Answer key:




1 Nothing

2 Everything

3 Something / somewhere

4 Something

5 Everybody / anything

6 Something

7 Somewhere

8. Anywhere

Saturday, May 22

Ratatouille: Determiners A, An, Some





Ratatouille is a great animated movie. This scene is perfect for beginners. The language is very easy and the scene is funny. It is ideal to practice the use of determiners - a, an, some - and the students may write a recipe, if their level allows.


The final worksheet was developed by my reader, Alexandra Duarte from Portugal. She inserted this activity of mine into her own class plan and shared it with us. Thanks, Alexandra, for sharing and developing such great activities.





Alexandra Duarte has been an EFL teacher for about 20 years, most of them at MartinhoƁrias Secondary School in Soure / Portugal. For the last 3 years she has been involved in adult teaching.

http://www.clubeinglesoure.blogspot.com/


A. You can see these items during the movie segment. Match the vocabulary and the words. Add a/ an/ some before the nouns.



Ex: A tomato








1. Tomato

2. Carrots

3. Omelet

4. Eggs

5. Spaghetti

6. Wine

7. Onion

8. Egg

9. Cucumber

10. Soup

B. Now watch the movie segment and write the instructions to make the soup, using some of the words from the previous exercise. First, decide which verbs correspond to the pictures below:

1. Slice

2. Pour

3. Stir

4. Break



Recipe:
First, pick up ________________.
Then stir the _________ in a bowl.
Next, put __________ into a pan.

After that, pour ____________ into a glass.

Next, slice ________________.

Then break ________________.

Don't forget to slice ____________.

Put everything in the pan to make ___________.
Answer Key:

B.
1. a tomato
2. some eggs
3. some spaghetti
4. some wine
5. an onion
6. an egg
7. some cucumbers / a cucumber
8. some soup




WORKSHEET - 1





The next worksheet was developed by my reader Alexandra Duarte, a reader from Portugal. She inserted this activity of mine into her own class plan and shared it with us. Thanks, Alexandra, for sharing and developing such great activities.



WORKSHEET - Alexandra Duarte.

Alexandra Duarte has been an EFL teacher for about 20 years, most of them at MartinhoƁrias Secondary School in Soure / Portugal. For the last 3 years she has been involved in adult teaching.


Saturday, May 15

Avatar: (The) Other (s), Another

This is an overwhelming movie. The visual effects are spectacular and it has a great plot. I used this scene to have students practice a grammar point many course books neglect addressing, the use of (the) other (s) and another. It is a great scene and the students love it.



An Ikran is a predator who lives in mountainous territory on Pandora. Na'vi warriors, Pandora's humanoids, attempt to bond with an Ikran, a dangerous and required ritual of their people.


A Na'vi riding an Ikran


A. Watch the movie segment and complete the blanks with OTHER, THE OTHER, OTHERS, THE OTHERS, or ANOTHER.







1. Two Na'Vis walked on the edge of a cliff to reach the sanctuary of Ikrans. The first one was Jake Sully. ____________ one was Neyitiri.



2. In the sanctuary, there were many ikrans. Some of them were resting on the mountain. ________ were flying around, and _________ were hatching eggs.



3. Jake Sully tried to lasso the first ikran, but it flew away. Then he chose ________ ikran to lasso.



4. When he finally chose his ikran, _____ ikrans did not interfere with their fight. Some flew away, ________ just observed their fight.



5. While Jake Sully was trying to control his chosen ikran, Neyitiri supported him. __________ warrior did the same thing, but _______ Na'Vis just observed him.



6. Jake Sully finally managed to fly his ikran. Neyitiri flew ________ one.



7. There were four Na'Vis in the scene. Jake Sully, Neyeriti and two _______ warriors. Neyetiri and two of of the Na'Vis were happy about his success, but ________ one wasn't happy at all, because he was jealous of Jake's accomplishment.


WORKSHEET


Answer key:

1. the other

2. others /(the) others

3. another

4. the other /others

5. another / the other

6 another

7. other / the other

Wednesday, May 5

Surrogates: Passive Voice with Future Tenses

The original idea of the movie plot is amazing. I liked the movie from the very beginning, which is intriguing and perfect for this activity I planned in order to teach passive voice with future tenses, the grammar point I'm teaching my Thomas Prime 8 students this week.




A. Watch the movie segment. The segment takes place in the year 2024 and talks about what will happen from today until 2024. The movie starts 14 years ago, 2010. Take a look at the timeline of the scientific developments that took place in the next 14 years and rewrite the sentences you saw in the segment in the passive voice.

B. Rewrite the sentences from the movie in the passive voice.


2011


1. In 2011, monkeys will operate mechanical arms with nothing but their thoughts.


In 2011, _______________________ with nothing but their thoughts.


2. Physically disabled people are going to operate fully synthetic bodies.


__________________________________.


2014


3. We are going to see this more and more.


__________________________________ more and more.


4. We will witness an event of evolutionary significance.


___________________________________.


2018


5. Over 98% of the world population will use a surrogate in all facets of their daily lives.


___________________________________ in all facets of their daily lives.


6. We are going to see crime rates record lows.


__________________________________.


2021


7. By 2024, a minority will have opposed surrogates.


By 2024, ____________________________.


8. Many people will have seen this as the invasion of the inhuman.


____________________________ as the invasion of the inhuman.


9. They will have established surrogacy-free zones in major cities around the country.


__________________________________ in major cities around the country.


2024


10. People had predicted that surrogates would solve all their problems.


People had predicted that ______________________.


11. They had believed that one day the future was going to bring nothing but happiness.


They had believed that one day _______________________.



B. Discuss the following questions in pairs.


1. What's your opinion about the segment. Do you think it will actually happen in the future?

2. Do you think that surrogates are a good idea? Explain it.

3. Would you like to have a surrogate for you and your family? Why (not)?

4. If you would, what would you use it for?

5. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having surrogates among us?



WORKSHEET


Anwer key:


1. mechanical arms will be operated by monkeys


2. fully synthetic bodies are going to be operated by physically disabled people.


3. this is going to be seen


4. an event of evolutionary significance will be witnessed


5. a surrogate will be used by 98% of the world population


6. crime rates record lows are going to be seen


7. surrogates will have been opposed by a minority


8. this will have been seen


9. surrogacy-free zones will have been established


10. all their problems would be solved by surrogates


11. nothing but happiness was going to be brought by the future

Saturday, May 1

Monsters Vs Aliens: Superlatives

I love animated films, I have said this dozens of times. This one is not different. I love the characters and the story. Because there are 5 monsters being described in this scene, I used it to practice superlative form of adjectives.





A. Make a list of 6 different adjectives you consider to be interesting for a monster

Ex: Strong, ugly, etc


B. Listen to all of the students' list of adjectives and write them all on the board. In pairs, select 8 adjectives you consider to be the most interesting ones for a monster.



C. Watch the movie segment and match the characters and their characteristics:



1. Ginormica


2. B.O.B. (Bicarbonate Ostylezene Benzoate):


3. Dr. Cockroach


4. The Missing Link


5. Insectosaurus



( ) Due to her exposure with the meteorite's radiation, she is very strong and tall and has a resistance to energy attacks.

( ) He was an insect transformed by nuclear radiation into a monster with the ability to shoot silk out of his nose.

( ) A 20,000-year-old fish-ape animal, who was found frozen.

( ) A brilliant scientist who, in an experiment to have the abilities of a cockroach, became a giant cockroach's head and some personality characteristics of the cockroach, but gained the ability to climb up walls and great resistance to physical damage.

( ) An indestructible gelatinous mass created from a tomato. His greatest strength is his ability to eat any substance and to be indestructible.

Answers: 1,5,4,3,2


D. Now write sentences comparing all the monsters, using the adjectives you have selected in exercise B.



Ex:

Ginormica is the strongest monster.



WORKSHEET