In this lesson learners will develop their writing and vocabulary skills by writing a review of a film they have seen. They will first analyse a model film review and work on vocabulary in film reviews. After writing their own review, Then they will read each other’s reviews and have a class vote about which film looks most interesting.
A lesson plan on the topic of films for B1 level can be found here: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/teaching-resources/teaching-secondary/lesson-plans/intermediate-b1/film-festival-season
Lesson outcomes
All learners will:
- write a film review article
- practise using vocabulary to talk about films
- identify the main information needed in a film review
Materials
- Lesson plan
- Student worksheet
- Presentation
- Lead-in (5 minutes)
This activity will get the learners thinking about good and bad films they’ve seen.
Put learners into pairs or small groups. Show slide 2 or and ask them to think of three films they have both seen. One film should be ‘a five star film’ (that they loved), the other ‘a three star film’ (it was okay) and the other a one star film (that they don’t recommend).
Give learners time to think and discuss their choices. Some of this could be done in the learner’ L1/with access to dictionaries.
- If time, do some feedback, finding out the best and worst films. Note any key vocabulary on the board, learners may need it later for their review.
- Language in film reviews (15 minutes)
- This activity introduces learners to typical language they’ll find in a film review.
- Show slides 3-10 or give out the student worksheet and look at the first task.
- Learners do the vocabulary activity individually then compare with a partner.
- Check answers. To make sure learners really know the meanings, elicit a sentence for each word/phrase from the class and/or ask them how they would say this in their L1.
Ask learners if they would like to see this film.
Note: If you have internet access in class, show the trailer for the film ‘The theory of everything’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Salz7uGp72c
- What's in a film review? (15 minutes)
- This activity introduces learners to the genre of film reviews. It shows them the typical content they’ll find in a film review.
- Show slides 11-13 or use task 2 on the student worksheet, the questions.
- Learners answer the questions individually then compare answers with a partner.
- Elicit the answers from the class to check them.
- Encourage learners to notice how the review has been organised into 3 paragraphs. Ask learners what the function of each paragraph is (para 1: general information, 2 – opinion, 3 – recommendation).
- If time, ask learners if they read film reviews. If they say yes, ask them if there is anything else the review could include. Accept any reasonable answers.
- Writing (20 minutes)
- This activity is the main writing practice task.
- Show slides 14 then 15 or use task 3 on the student worksheet. Before writing, give learners some time to make notes.
- Learners write alone. Give access to a dictionary, and monitor to help when needed.
- After writing, ask learners to swap reviews with another learner. They should read and suggest any changes (grammar/vocabulary/any parts they don’t understand).
- After writing, display all the reviews on a classroom wall or, alternatively upload the reviews onto a shared document (E.g., Google Docs) and get learners to say which of the films they want to see, and why reviews they agree with (or not!)
- Reflection (5 minutes)
- Show slide 14 or write the following questions on the board:
- What did I do well today? What could I improve? How could I improve this?
- Give learners time to think, then ask then to share with a partner/the class.