Job Discussion Forums

[kev7161]

Why not create worksheets that go along with the movie?

1. What was the name of the lead female character?

2. What job did she have?

3. What was the unusual way she met the lead male character?

4. What was his name?

5. What country is he from?

That sort of thing. Later, you can compare answers and maybe, just maybe, that will lead to a more thorough discussion of the movie (perhaps you will have follow up oral questions prepared).

[no_exit]

My kids get to watch a film at the end of the semester as a treat. I've used some of the same films mentioned: Second Hand Lions, Narnia, Big Fish (they liked this one a lot), Monsoon Wedding (went down really well with college freshmen), O Brother Where Art Though, and American History X (only with adult students though, because it's quite graphic).

When I do films I often write up a worksheet about the film like Kev said. Ask them some questions to ensure that they were paying attention. I also write up a vocabulary list sometimes, and have them look up the definitions of the words for homework. Since my kids haven't got the ability yet to really watch the movies without Chinese subtitles, I work out ways to make sure they are paying attention to the language. For example, I told them they had to write down five quotes they heard in the movie and show them to me before they left class. I've also asked them to think up questions to ask their classmates while they are watching, so each student must prepare five questions for a discussion next time. You do kind of have to force/trick them into talking about the movie, but don't accept silence. I tell my kids that we won't have any more movies unless they participate in the discussion afterwards.

There are lots of activities you can do involving films and short fiction actually. They can make up biographies for the characters. You can ask them to imagine what happened after the film and present thier ideas in skits. Making up dialogues for silent films sounds like a good idea to me. I've seen the text you have to use, and I agree, it is no picnic, but if you work around it, I think you should be able to come up with some new ideas. Good luck!

[Calories]

Oh, you just need the second book. It's so bloody interesting it makes me want to puke.

[MrBeijingles]

[InTime]

Here's one of my lessons, recently posted on the Promoting Change thread. In contrast to asking students school-like opinion-/fact-based questions, I personally have seen much more lively action/interaction when the students are con-fronted with a problematic situation requiring resolution/negotiation.

[erinyes]

I have had some really good successes with my grade 1 students this year. Here are some ideas, I have PowerPoint presentations for most of them, I can send you if you want.

Mixing sports:
Watch this video of Cars playing soccar
http://www.spikedhumor.com/articles/18771/Top_Gear_reviews_the_Toyota_Aygo.html
Ask the students to make a new sport by mixing 2 together. They have to make rules for their new sport and tell us about it. Perhaps even demonstrate.

Truth and Lies:
Get the students to make groups of 3.
2 of them tell the truth, one lie - the class guesses who is lying.
It's good if you tell them some good stories for example.

Taboo:
http://www.eslcafe.com/idea/index.cgi?display:933035310-19730.txt

The Mars Game:
You are going to mars, and you are never coming back, what will you take? You already have food and air, so what will you need to make a new home etc.
Then after a few minutes, write their ideas on the board.
Try to take off, OH, too much stuff, we will have to remove some.
Now ask the students to explain why they don't need this or that.

Debate about �the most important� thing.
Write �What is important�
Brainstorm
Then get them into groups of 3 to fight it out.
Unlike a normal debate they can speak more than once � this makes it more interesting.
We gave this as homework to our students. We got some amazing debates.

[InTime]

RE:

[tgb]

Dont show them the whole movie and ask them how it will end. better to show one with some twists but lets them use their imaginations too.

James

[englishgibson]

Tgb, that’s a great idea, except that my college students have little "imagination"! It all depends on what your scope or the course expectations or goals are there. Then, maybe students in different parts of China may be slightly different.

I’ve had a rather rough ride with my college students in a Guanxi College recently. As you know the Chinese education system crunches the students with so many English words and all kinds of grammar without really paying attention to whether the students are getting anywhere with it or not.
Most of the time my college students try to “recite” their phrases they learn instead of that natural response with easier vocab. They often end up mispronouncing some tough English word there with me racking my brains what they really want to say. Then, do they have a good understanding of that word? NO!

Choosing the right topic is quite crucial in a classroom. My college students tell me that it is unusual to them to talk about their personal lives in the classroom and their teachers do not do that either. I say; "I am not their Chinese teacher". It often does not matter. They need to get "THEIR OWN CUP OF TEA" or else.

Cheers and beers

_____________________________________________________________
Teaching English in China is often like climbing Mount Everest ALONE.

[lostyrfriction]

lots of times we forget about the language aspect of teaching english. face it folks, we are creative as f**k when thinking up interesting activities, but maybe we get burnt out by the sheer number of activities we try to create and adapt in a year.

language based tasks are a little less creatively-demanding, but you can never practice them enough. plus, if you're teaching 90mins, they will eat up a lot of time.

for example, spend 30mins talking about/practicing weak verb forms. if you're speaking slowly, it'll take you at least 10 minutes to introduce this.

good luck

[Roger]

Makes really good sense, lostyrfriction! THis is the kind of activity our CHinese colleagues badly neglect throughout their classes from the first grade to where you take over! That's why our English speakers speak such horrible gobbledygook!