An idea for St. Valentine’s Day

I love using short movies in class because:

·         They’re not time consuming.

·         They may be viewed several times.

·         The related activities can be done in the same lesson.

The movie I’ll present here is called “Signs” and it was directed by Patrick Hughes. It’s for 17+ years of age and stronger A2 CEFR level students or up: http://youtu.be/uy0HNWto0UY

Before watching ideas:

• Brainstorm the pros and cons of city life and village life
• Speak about the crazy things people do when they fall in love.
• Talk about chatting-up: How does one start a conversation with someone they don’t know, but like? What are the funniest first lines they’ve heard?

While watching tasks for students:

• The movie is clearly divided into parts. The teacher can pause it and ask the students to guess what happens next or what the characters should do. (good revision for may/might/could/should + infinitive)
• Write down the adjectives to describe how the personality and emotional states of the main characters develop.
• Write down adverbs to describe how the characters do things.

After watching:

• A mini saga (story of exactly 50 words), but from different standpoints – the omniscient narrator (weak students), Stacey, Jason (mid level students), Jason’s fridge/co-workers, Stacey’s best friend, Jason’s mum (stronger students). The students need to stretch their minds to surpass the limits each of the standpoints faces.

Hope you like it,

Love to all,

Dora