Saturday, February 14

100 Feet - 1st Conditional


This segment is about a woman who killed her violent husband and is now in house arrest. The segment shows police officers telling her about how her ankle bracelet works and its misuse consequences. For this blog, I'm writing the matches in the correct order, but you should mix the second column up when you prepare the exercise sheet for your students.

Ask your students to do the matching exercise before they watch the segment:


Before viewing:


Disscuss the following questions with a partner:


1 - What are the advantages and disadvantages of house arrest?
2 - Do you agree with this procedure of the law? Why (not)?
3 - Is it an effective way to rehabilitate prisoners? Why (not)?



Match the condition and the consequence of the following actions.



Conditions:

1 - She passes the 100 perimeter space.
2 - The alarm continues for more than 3 minutes.
3 - She breaks the house arrest rules.
4 - She has any violation.
5 - She attempts to remove the electronic ankle bracelet or tamper with the base unit.
6 - They get a blackout or something.


Consequences:


( 1 ) The alarm activates.
( ) A signal is automatically sent and a car is seen immediately.
( ) She goes back to jail.
( ) It automatically adds 10 years to her sentence.
( ) An alarm automatically alerts the police.
( ) The base unit still works.


Now watch the segment and decide whether your guesses were correct.


Now rewrite the couple of sentences, using the 1st conditional:
Ex:
1 - If she passes the 100 feet perimeter, the alarm will activate.









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Friday, February 6

Flashbacks of a Fool: Paired Conjunctions - Both... And, Neither... Nor, Either... or, Not only... but (also)...











This is a fantastic scene that shows the first date of these two teenagers, Joe and Ruth, who lived the 80's to its extreme and loved David Bowie and Bryan Ferry's Roxy Music.





Watch the movie segment and write < + > if the activity or item is true according to the segment and < - > if it is not.





1. Ruth and Joe would like to drink (red wine < + > white wine < + >)



Ruth and Joe would like to drink either red or white wine.



2. (Ruth < > Joe < >) are wearing make up.

................................. wearing make up.





3. (Joe < > Ruth < >) laid on the carpet.



.................................... laid on the carpet.





4. (Joe< > Ruth < >) liked William Burroughs's books.



................................... liked William Burroughs's books. ( )







5. Ruth likes listening to (David Bowie < > Bryan Ferry < >).



Ruth thinks it is great to listen to ..........................................







6. (Ruth < > and Joe < >) imitated Bryan Ferry's (< > singing < > dancing)



Not only... imitated Bryan Ferry's .........................



Answer Key:

2. Both Joe and Ruth are / not only Joe but (also) Ruth…

3. Both Joe and Ruth / not only Joe but (also) Ruth …

4. Neither Joe nor Ruth…

5. Either David Bowie or Roxy Music.

6. not only Ruth but Joe... / both singing and dancing.



How to prepare your own video activity:

- Select a scene in which two or more people are performing several actrivities.

- Choose activities both or neither one perform.

- Have students write sentences with the target language.





















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Sunday, January 25

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: 3rd Conditional

This is a great movie with a lot of food for thought. This scene is narrated by Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) and it makes the understanding of the message easier. I suggest you have the students write the sentences before they view the segment because they can check their answers when they actually see it. The narrator says all the correct answers in the end of the segment. This is best for younsters and adults.



Before viewing:


A. Discuss the following questions with a partner:


1 - Do you believe in fate? Are things pre-determined to happen? Or is it all just coincidence? Explain.

2 - Do you think we have a specific day to die? Justify it.

3 - Have you ever seen/been in an accident? Describe what happened. How could the accident have been prevented from happening?


"Had any of these things happened differently, the end of Daisy’s afternoon would have been another one"


1. Daisy’s shoelace broke

2. The delivery truck moved moments earlier

3. The package wasn’t wrapped

4. The girl broke up with her boyfriend

5. The man forgot to set the alarm

6. The taxi driver stopped for a cup of coffee

7. The woman didn’t remember her coat



B. Write the sentences above with past unreal conditionals.




Ex. 1. If her shoelaces hadn’t broken,
2. If the delivery truck hadn't moved moments earlier,




Daisy and her friend would have crossed (cross) the street
and the taxi would have driven (drive) by.




C. Watch the segment and check your answers.











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Sunday, January 18

Legally Blonde: Verb Patterns - Verb + Gerund or Infinitive





This is one of the best scenes from comic movies I have seen. I like how farfetched, but appealing it is. For this blog, I wrote the correct verb in green just for your information. Make sure you pre-teach court vocabulary (judge, attorney, lawyer, court, defendant, prosecutor, witness, etc).


Watch the video segment and circle the best verb for each sentence, according to the information presented in the segment. Then decide which form (gerund / infinitive / obj + gerunds or infinitive) of the words in parentheses is best.


1) The attorney refused/ wanted/ planned _____________ (accept) being replaced on the case by a Law student.

2) The defendant decided/ imagined/ claimed __________ (fire) her attorney on trial day.

3) Elle hates/loves/ avoids ___________ (wear) extravagnat clothes .

4) The judge finally refused/ denied/ resolved ___________ (proceed) with the trial.

5) Elle's friends couldn't help / pretended / finished __________ (talk) about the court room in front of everyone.

6) The judge told/ asked/ begged ___________ (the ladies - take) a seat.

7) The witness explained/ urged / swore ______________ (tell ) the truth.

8) The witness claimed / showed / intended _________ (be) in the shower during the murder.

9) The witness denied / insisted/ warned __________ (hear) the gunshot.

10) The judge forbid/ prohibited/ let ______________ (Elle - make ) her final point.

11) The witness admitted / proved/ avoided ___________ (kill) her father by mistake.

12) Finally, the judge prohibited / allowed / pretended _________ (the witness - go) free.

How to develop your own video activity:

- Select a scene in which several people have to defend their arguments - like a trial, for example.

- Prepare sentences with the characters' argumentation, offering the choices of different verbs so you can check listening comprehension too.

- The students choose the correct verb and decide if the following verb is in the infinitive or gerund form.







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Saturday, January 10

The Game Plan: Simple Present

This segment is the beginning of the movie and you can assess the simple present tense in a contextualized manner. The movie is great and very easy for beginners.


Think about a typical morning of yours. Check all the activities that are true for you after you wake up in the morning. After that, ask your partner questions about him/her and check the ones which are true for him/her.


( )You ( ) Your friend ( ) Kingman wear slippers

( ) You ( ) Your Friend ( ) Kingman turn on the TV

( ) You ( ) Your Friend ( ) Kingman have vegetables for breakfast

( ) You ( ) Your Friend ( ) Kingman make fruit juice

( ) You ( ) Your Friend ( ) Kingman read the newspaper

( ) You ( ) Your Friend ( ) Kingman work out

( ) You ( ) Your Friend ( ) Kingman wear a uniform

( ) You ( ) Your Friend ( ) Kingman put on some makeup

( ) You ( ) Your Friend ( ) Kingman wear a helmet

( ) You ( ) Your Friend ( ) Kingman play with the dog

( ) You ( ) Your Friend ( ) Kingman play sports

( ) You ( ) Your Friend ( ) Kingman listen to music


Now watch the movie segment and check the ones which are true for Kingman.


Finally, write sentences about kingman, saying what he does and what he doesn't do in the morning.

Ex: Kingman wears slippers.
Kingman doesn't listen to music.

How to prepare your own video activity:
Select a scene in which the characters’ routines are evident
Choose and prepare a list with a few of the activities the characters perform
Ask the students to check the items whose activities they perform
Students ask a partner questions about the same activities
Students watch the segment and now check what the characters in the movie perform
Students write sentences about the characters in the movie, using the simple present tense




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Sunday, December 14

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.



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Wednesday, December 3

WALL-E: Future Will


This movie is one of the best ever. It is creative and critical at the same time. This scene shows people in a future that is so automatized that the inhabitants of the colony don't have to make any effort to get what they need, so everyone is extremely fat! Both adults and kids will enjoy the segment.


Before watching the movie segment:

Discuss the following questions with a partner:


1) What's your opinion about living in a time in which all your activities were performed by robots and machines?

2) Would you like to to have machines do all of your physical activities for you?
3) What would the consequences be if people didn't have to exercise at all during the whole day?

4) Would life be better or worse if you had robots to do everything for you? Explain it.

5) Do you think life in 2642 will be better or worse? Justify your answer.

Now watch the movie segment and write down how different life will be in the future, according to the movie, WALL-E. Write at least 10 sentences describing what people and machines will do in the future and how people's lives will be like, according to the movie. Observe the items below and write sentences about them.


FLOATING ARMCHAIRS - COMMUNICATION - ROBOTS - SCHOOL - MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION - LUNCH TIME - BEAUTY PARLORS - CLOTHES - LEISURE TIME

Ex: People will move around in floating armchairs.
Follow-up questions:

1) Do you think people will be happier in the future, according to the movie?
2) Will the future like it was presented in the movie a possible reality? Why (not)?
3) How do you think life will be like in 2642?


Kinesthetic Game:

Group Work: Make a list of activities of things people will do in the year 2100, but that they don’t (can’t) do nowadays. Write at least 10 sentences. Be creative!

Now act out what you wrote down, whereas the other groups write down sentences, saying what the people you mimed will do in 2100.

Finally, the groups read what they came up with out loud, and you check who got closest to what had originally acted out.


How to develop your own video activity:
Assessing: Will

- Choose a segment in which the future is shown in a way that it is completely different from the present world.
- Prepare brainstorming discussion questions to activate schemata.
- Play the segment and have sts predict the future using "will".
- You may provide the students with key words to observe during the segment.







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