Dinner for Schmucks: Present Continuous

The opening scene of this movie is memorable and perfect for beginners to practice the present continuous tense. The instructions of the game are simple, but you had better model it, instead of giving the instructions in written form.





Game:

I. Divide the class into groups of 3 students. Watch the movie segment and take notes of all the leisure activities the mice are doing in that afternoon.





II. Get together with your group and write down as many sentences as you can, saying what the mice are doing. You have 10 minutes to do it.





III. Read all your sentences to the class. Every sentence with both correct grammar and information, according to the segment, scores 1 point. The winner is the group that scores most points.


IV. You may watch the segment again to check whether the leisure activities are correct.


OR

I. Cut the sentences into slips and place them in a box.

II. students take turns to pick up a sentence and mime it to their own group. The group has 15 seconds to guess the correct sentence and score a point.

V. Talk to a partner:


1. Which activities you saw in the segment do you like to do in your leisure time?

2. Which ones don't you like to do?



WORKSHEET


MOVIE SEGMENT - DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS

Falling Down: Present Continuous

This is a classic movie with a very current issue. Living in big cities seems to be getting harder and harder. I took advantage of this scene to practice the present continuous tense.

A. Talk to a partner:


1 - Do you face traffic jams to go to school or work?

2 - What do you do to kill time?

3 - Is it dangerous to be locked inside your car during a traffic jam? Explain.

4 - Do you prefer to live in a big city or in a small town? Why?



B. Before watching the scene, check the items you do when you are stuck in a traffic jam.


( ) 1. Throw objects at passers-by.

( ) 2. Talk on the phone

( ) 3. Listen to the radio.

( ) 4. Put on some lipstick.

( ) 5. Honk the horn.

( ) 6. Play games.

( ) 7. Leave the car and walk home.

( ) 8. Sleep in the car.

( ) 9. Read a book.

( ) 10. Do my homework.



C. Now write sentences saying who is performing the activities above during the traffic jam.


Ex: 1. Some children are throwing objects at the passers-by.

2......................................................................................

3......................................................................................

4......................................................................................

5.....................................................................................

6.....................................................................................

7.....................................................................................

8.....................................................................................

9.....................................................................................

10...................................................................................






WORKSHEET

How to make your own video activity:

- Select a scene in which several characters are performing different activities at the same time

- Make sure the activities are still in process.

- List activities the characters are performing and other ones that other people would probably be doing as well if they were there.

- Ask sts to tell each other what they usually do when they are in such situation.

- Have students watch the segment and write sentences saying what the characters are actually doing in the segment.

Monsters, Inc.: Present Continuous x Present Simple

This is a great movie and activity. This activity was published on Sabrina de Vita's blog, a very inspiring and resourceful site. Sabrina kindly sent me this activity to share with my readers and I'm proud to publish it here. The activity is great and so is the movie segment. This great activity will certainly foster your visiting her site. Sabrina is a consciencious educator and she also likes sharing, just like I do. All the activities and text below were developed by her. Here is what she says about herself on her blog.

I’m from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I’m an English teacher. I have studied at the teacher training college Joaquin V Gonzalez-At the moment, I’m working in the primary and secondary school: Saint Exupery. With BE the Real Thing we specialised in teaching ESP (Legal and Medical English) and Business English. We also give online classes.

Thanks a lot, Sabrina. Can't wait for more!

I will share with you one lesson plan I have prepared to revise the use of Present Simple and Present Continuous. It is based on this scene from the movie Monsters Inc.

And here go the activities:

1) Complete the sentences with the appropriate tense ( Present Simple and Present Continuous)

a) Every day, Sulley _______________ (drive) to work. However, today they ____________ (walk)

b) Right now, Mike _______________ (talk) to Sulley’s mum on the phone.

c) Afterwards, they often ______________ (watch) tv, but today they __________ (also / star) on a tv commercial.

d) Sulley and Mike _____________ (not exercise) together. Sulley ______ (do) his routine and Mike __________ (guide) him.

e) Then, Sulley always ______________ (brush) his teeth.

f) Sulley usually ____________ (get up) at 6:00 but today he ____________ (still/ sleep) at 6:05.

2) Watch the film and put the sentences in the correct order.

3) Write 5 sentences about what the monsters Sulley and Mike encounter on their way to work are doing at the moment.

4) Did you like the scene? Why (not)?

Hope you like it and find it useful. If you have used it, please share your experience with us. If you have more ideas to work with this particular film or with movies in general, don’t hesitate to share your views.

Sabrina

Robots: Present Continuous

This segment is great for children. Play it from the beginning up to 3'22. Ask your students to watch the segment with attention and decide what the robots are doing during the scene. Tell the students that the list below contains the activities that robots perform everyday. Ask them to check the ones they can see the robots doing during that specific morning.

( ) They play in the streets.

( ) The ice cream vendor sells ice cream.

( ) They drive cars.

( ) They play soccer.

( ) They work inside the stores.

( ) They swim in the pool.

( ) They feed the chicken.

( ) They listen to classical music.

( ) They take care of the traffic.

( ) They smoke cigarette on the street bench.

( ) They mow the lawn.

( ) They make babies.

( ) Baby robots cry.

( ) They eat in restaurants.

( ) Humans play with the robots

( ) Police robots control the traffic.

Now ask your students to rewrite the sentences above using the present continuous, affirmative or negative statements, according to the information presented. Students have to say what they are (not) doing during that morning.

Ex:
1 - Some robots are playing in the streets.
2 - An ice cream vendor is selling ice cream.

Kinesthetic Game:

Take pictures of your students performing the actions the robots are doing in the segment (or any other action they want). They can’t see each other while you are taking their pictures. Prepare a slideshow with the pictures (you may use an I-Pad to do it). Finally, show the slides and the students have to write sentences saying what their peers are doing:

Ex:

Mariana is driving a car.

Jonas is selling ice cream.

The students who identify most actions and write most correct sentences are the winner.

WORKSHEET