Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Captain Marlow]

i've been asked to put together a movie class to be taught once a week at my academy... it would be for middleschoolers... any ideas on what types of things i could teach them? i don't want the class to be just watching movies... although, that would make my job easy

[Kikomom]

'Lights, camera, action'... How'd they do that stuff?

[ursus_rex]

Make them do a movie report... similar to a book report. Outline setting, characters, plot and do an analysis. I do this during our special summer/winter sessions... if you do a part of the movie each day, have them do a summary of each part you covered. Do the other report elements as you go along.

[jadarite]

Sounds neat, wish my school did that.

[Hanson]

One teacher I know paused a movie at different times for students to predict what would happen next. Then, he'd play it and the students would see if they were right or not.

Also, you could stop the movie at the 3/4 mark and get the students to write out an ending in groups. Or, you could get the students to give an alternate ending after having seen the whole movie.

[nomad-ish]

[blurgalurgalurga]

You can download scripts, too, for the more famous movies.

[n�fara]

If you wanted to get into some of the technical aspects of movies, you could teach them things like:

"Long Shot"
"Medium Shot"
"Close Up"
"Dolly Shot"
"Zoom"

etc.


Once they understand the basic types of shots, you show them a scene from a movie (a scene being a division of a movie in which the location and time is fixed. ie, change location or time = new scene)

They watch the scene once to get a feel for it, and then go through it slower picking out all the different shots that are used, numbering and labeling them and describing what they see.

For example:

1. Medium Shot: A man is sitting alone in an empty restaurant.
2. Close Up: The man has a gold ring clutched in his hands.
3. Medium Shot: The man drops the gold ring in his wineglass.
4. Long Shot: The man gets up and leaves the restaurant. The restaurant lights turn off.


This might not sound intensely exciting, but it gets students thinking about how movie visuals are put together. Later on, if you are able or interested in having students write and record their own short film, this exercise will help them create something that has more visual appeal than the standard static camera single shot fare.

Gets them thinking, anyhow!

[makemischief]

the movie technique works well too:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_Skills_Movie_Technique

[Captain Marlow]

thanx for all the replies! i especially like the idea of having the kids film their own movie (or even re-film a famous movie but with them as the actors)... the group writing sounds like it could really work too, and could be fun for them... thanks again for all the ideas...

[Captain Marlow]

also, does anyone have any good suggestions on particular movies that i can show? they should be age appropriate (middleschool), interesting for both girls and boys, and rich in possible lesson building content... do you think anime would work? maybe docs about crazy/weird things that they would get a kick out of? i dunno, any suggestions?

[Ya-ta Boy]

I just typed in 'esl teaching with movies' and got a ton of links with worksheets and ideas.

[buster brown]

Two easy activities (to put togeter) using Notting Hill:

1. Job names: When he's walking through the market, students have cards or a list of jobs...when they see that person, the first one to call it out, raise the card, etc. gets a point. If students miss some of the jobs, you can play the sequence a couple of times, or replay and freeze frame.

2. Accent recognition: I can't remember the exact scene, but there are quite a few English dialects in the movie and it's a good chance to compare them if the students are advanced enough.

If you're really stumped for ideas, buy the book Using Authentic Video in the Language Classroom. It's part of the Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers series. There are tons of suggested activities for different goals, but you've got to do the prepwork in making the handouts, etc.

[Hanson]

"Johnny English" is fun and silly and many students have not seen it.

[postfundie]

for adults watching movies on the weekend I like these books which you can purchase at Youngpoon

www.screenenglish.co.kr

This would be to reinforce their understanding of what the words that they heard. Making quizes out of the vocab may not be fun but at least they've both seen the word used in it's context and then see it written. Good luck sorry that I don't like group classes.