Lesson Plan for Teachers
Review course lesson 5
This lesson aims to prepare students for writing a review of a movie.
Task 1: Movie survey
Purpose: To activate students’ background knowledge regarding movies.
Background: This lesson focuses on movie language. In this survey students share their experiences with movies.
Procedure:
-
In groups of 4 (or more) students share their answers to the question in Task 1 handout.
Feedback: Ask students if there were any interesting findings from the task sheet.
Material: Lesson 5 Task 1 handout
Timing: 15 minutes
Before starting the following tasks, elicit from the students what aspects of a movie might be included in a movie review. If the following topics aren’t offered by the students, elicit the following elements of a movie review:
-
the genre
-
characters
-
actors
-
a plot summary
-
recommendations
These are the focus for the tasks in this lesson.
Task 2: Movie genres
Purpose: To discuss match movie with their genres.
Background: In movie reviews, discussion or mention of the movie’s genre (and fit to the genre) might be a focus.
Procedure:
-
In the same groups, students complete Task sheet 2 and discuss the questions following.
Feedback: Ask students if there were any interesting findings from the task sheet.
Material: Lesson 5 Task 2 handout
Timing: 20 minutes
Task 3: Personality adjectives
Purpose: To introduce and use adjectives to describe personality.
Background: Adjectives describing personality may be an important part of movie reviews for describing either actors or the characters in the movie.
Procedure:
-
In the same groups, students complete Task sheet 3 and discuss the questions following.
-
Remind students they can find the parts of speech in a review using the https://www.classace.io/tools/part-of-speech-identifier
Feedback: Deal with any problems the students had with the task. Ask students how common descriptions of characters are in movie reviews. Elicit what adjectives they found in the reviews they visited.
Material: Lesson 5 Task 3 handout
Timing: 30 minutes
Task 4: Describing action scenes
Purpose: To describe an action sequence.
Background: Certain parts of movies may be particularly important and therefore require some description. In this task, students practice describing a scene with details such as: the scene, the characters, and the action sequence.
Procedure: this is a jigsaw video activity
-
Place students into three large groups. Give each group a URL of a movie clip to watch. In their groups, students watch the clip together. Give the students enough time to watch the clip as many times as they want and discuss what it is they have seen. Sample URLs are given in Task handout 4.
-
Move students into groups of three, with one student from each of the large groups. In their new groups, each individual student tells the new group about the clip – they should not access the clip in their new group. Indicate to students they can tell their new group the following information:
- the film (genre)
- the characters in the scene
- where the clip takes place
- what happens in the clip
-
Monitor and help students as necessary with the task.
Feedback: Deal with any problems as necessary. Draw attention to the fact that the description of the genre and the scene were probably in the present simple tense, while the description of the action in the scene might probably have been in the past simple.
Material: Lesson 4 Task 4 handout (sample URLs)
Timing: 30 minutes.
Task 5: Plot summaries
Purpose: Students read and analyse a plot summary.
Background information: Part of a movie review may involve a plot summary.
Procedure:
-
Working alone, students read the plot summary of The Great Gatsby (Task sheet 5). Give students time to look up language unfamiliar to them.
-
In pairs or small groups, students answer the questions following the plot summary. and allow them time to find a review of a movie they know or like. Students work through the language in the review and use the various tools introduced in the lesson to analyse the language.
-
All students to share their findings with a partner or another group. If possible, allow students with similar movies (or similar movie genres) to share, to increase interest.
Feedback: Deal with any problems regarding language, or the task itself. Bring up the issues of spoilers, and how reviewers avoid spoilers in plot summaries.
Material: Lesson 5 Task 5 handout
Timing: 40 minutes
Task 6: Making recommendations
Purpose: Students make recommendations about who may be interested in a movie.
Background information: Movie reviewers may wish to make recommendations about possible audiences, or warnings for possible viewers based on language or graphic scenes.
Procedure:
-
In a review, highlight a sample recommendation made by a reviewer (as an example, this one from Belfast https://www.imdb.com/review/rw7545751/?ref_=tt_urv).
-
In pairs or small groups, students match the adjectives describing movies with their connotation. Students can use a sentiment analyser to help them if they wish, eg. https://monkeylearn.com/sentiment-analysis-online/
-
Students consult a review of their own to identify whether/how reviewers make recommendations about the movie.
Feedback: Deal with any problems regarding language, or the task itself. Ask students who common it is for reviewers to make recommendations, and what sort of recommendations are most common in the reviews they read.
Material: Lesson 5 Task 6 handout
Timing: 20 minutes