Korean Job Discussion Forums

thatwhitegirl · Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Location: ROK

I am wondering if any of you wonderful EFL teachers ever use movies in class? Particulary in public high-schools (and middle-school as well)...

I have used movies...but for elementary school kids...so I stuck to cartoons.

We (husband and I) are on our way to Korea to teach public high-school, and want to gather resources before we arrive. Since we are in China, we can buy extraordinarily cheap DVDs.

So, if you do, which movies have been the most effective and captured their interest the most?

passport220 · Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Location: Gyeongsangbuk-do province

I tried �Stand By Me� in a middle school camp setting. It went over with only mediocre success. Full length feature films are too long to be useful for me. I could pick out parts but it just seems to work better to short films with different activities. Wallace and Gromit go over well http://www.oup.com/elt/catalogue/isbn/9600?cc=gb
Most recently I used �Hedgehog in the Fog� http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog_in_the_Fog and it went well.

I download everything I need via the internet bit torrent.

ddeubel · Joined: 20 Jul 2005

I have a complete lesson plan, takes multiple lessons to do with all the activities interwoven (as Passport said, a full movie takes a loooooong time if used as a teaching "material". ) Big - Tom Hanks and I think it would be very appropriate with H.S. students.

Look in the SETI folder on my webpage. I can't get a reference right now.

Mr. Bean works very well -- with the students producing a lot of the language, describing what he is doing, had done , is going to do etc....

DD

thatwhitegirl · Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Location: ROK

Thanks passport and ddeubel...

Yeah, feature length movies would make for a VERY long series of lessons...

I like Wallace and Grommit! So great...I think that would be good for class.

ddeubel, I looked up your website, but it might be blocked by The Great Firewall of China...I'll try again later.

Thanks.

ddeubel · Joined: 20 Jul 2005

You can find it directly here.....

http://www.esnips.com/doc/4a0d5a55-c529-4530-b857-b40a3cc430a9/BIG--Tom-Hanks

Part of this, I modified from a lesson I bought from EBTS www.english-behind-the-scenes.com Pretty good stuff and a few freebies too. Good service and they answered my questions quickly....

DD

dmbfan · Joined: 09 Mar 2006

I tried doing the same thing, only with Wylie Coyote cartoons..short and sweet. I thought was a good way to teach past/present tenses.

But, I got in trouble for actually teaching something.

dmbfan

thatwhitegirl · Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Location: ROK

So using cartoons is acceptable by high-schoolers? I've always liked cartoons, and think they are fun at any age.

I think I can actually buy 'seasons' of cartoons here....like Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry...cheap enough. I've never tried downloading movies here...I should though.

Nice and short episodes, limited English which maybe would allow them to create their own dialogues.

Thanks for the link to your site ddeubel! Esnips is cool! I just discovered it yesterday. Still trying to figure out how to use it. I'll reciprocate when I get it sorted.

thatwhitegirl · Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Location: ROK

dmbfan · Joined: 09 Mar 2006

Seriously........some of ya'll don't believe me....but....

They Korean __(insert curse word here)_________'s used that as ammunition to try and make me feel bad.

dmbfan

Jizzo T. Clown · Joined: 27 Mar 2006 Location: at my wit's end

I was considering using some sort of short video clip. These students' level is just so low, I can only see them falling asleep the moment the video begins. A movie would just be out of the question.

Maybe if used with the sound turned down to teach the present progressive or some other tense with very basic verbs...but even then I can see them zoning out. Tech school, eh...

bosintang · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 11:56 pm Post subject:

Jizzo T. Clown · Joined: 27 Mar 2006 Location: at my wit's end

bosintang--

I received a LOT of good advice from this board! Perhaps the most valuable being to forge a good relationship with my coteachers. We go out of our way to help each other, which makes life here easier.

One thing that took me by surprise is that, even though the students are divided into "levels" (first and second year), neither is higher than the other. I was a little disillusioned by their complete lack of motivation to learn English, but that's why I'm here--to improve as a teacher (as well as bank some coin).

Overall the job isn't too bad--lots of time off from teaching, etc.

back to the topic...

I was thinking about using Disney clips in class, since cognitively, my students seem to be at the level of 10 year-olds; or at the very least a music video from a song they've been pre-taught...just a thought.

passport220 · Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Location: Gyeongsangbuk-do province

All three grades of my middle school students love Wallace and Gromit. I really think the characters are universal and would work for high school students. I think the pre / post viewing material is key to making it an effective lesson for any age.

There is a series of ESL Teacher�s Guides published by Oxford University Press to use with the Wallace and Gromit films. I have not seen any of the books first hand but have seen (an used) two pages that I got during my TESOL class. I also found 8 sample pages from the books online.

Here are two samples I have handy links for:
http://usera.imagecave.com/passport220/wg.bmp.jpg
http://www.oupjapan.co.jp/teachers/samples/media/9780194592451_grandsb_p26.pdf

I keep hitting on Wallace and Gromit in this tread because of these guide books. I use the material from the guide books as a model to use with any short film I decide to use.

I don�t uses the sample pages straight away but just to give me an idea on an activity. I may copy the format and structure of something I like but change the vocabulary and level of difficulty. Screen shots are easy to copy onto a handout that you can take from the film. Some screen shots are also available on the official W & G website (sorry don�t have the link handy).

�Cracking Contraptions� is a good one to use because it is 10 short clips. Each 2 � minuets long. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_and_gromit#Cracking_Contraptions

I agree with what ddeubel about Mr. Bean. The Bean Man is well liked by students (he is well liked all over Asia from what I have seen).

Pixar Films! I love em! And have used most of them (�One Man Band� is the best!). I have used them for 1st year middle school students all the way up to my adult teachers class. Same idea as Wallace and Gromit, just prepare the pre / post viewing material to suit your needs.
http://www.pixar.com/shorts/index.html

In all of the short films I use the characters are not language dependent to entertain (yes I said entertain!) - most don�t speak at all (Pixar films / Mr. Bean). I use them just as an attention grabbing hook and then feed it into a useful, educational activity referencing to the fun parts of the films just too keep the kids into the activity.

yingwenlaoshi · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: ... location, location!

Seems to me that that would just be a friggin' waste of time. Something short is better. Movies are at least 90 minutes long. How is that productive? And why would anyone want to watch short clips here and there of a whole movie?

Plus they're only going to act like jerks while the movie is playing. I guess it would be nice once or twice a year. Can't really rely on them to watch them or watch them seriously at home and come back and talk about them unless it's an adult class. And even then.

I'd say, "Forget about it".

ddeubel · Joined: 20 Jul 2005