Oblivion: Present Continuous

This activity was provided by Philip Rice and it was published on his awesome blog THE ESL COMMANDO. Thanks, Phil, for such a great activity.

Phil Rice is an instructor at the English Language Institute in Delaware, USA. He has taught English for the past 5 years and in the ESL field for the past 3 years. He enjoys using technology, games, and creativity to help teach students English. His blog can be found at www.eslcommando.com. 

Oblivion looks like a great movie with Tom Cruise. This activity uses the movie,pictures, vocab cards and a worksheet to help students to practice the present progressive tense in a fun, interactive way that is more like a game than just an exercise.

How to use the worksheet:

Download the Worksheet Here  (Please note, it will look funny on the downloader, but in Word it's fine).

1. Cut and Distribute Pictures to students
2.  Play the trailer and have students sequence the scene in order (They may need two times). You may want to run this part as a game. First team in order wins. 
3. Distribute vocab cards and have students place vocab with the correct pictures.  You can run this as a competition as well. First team with correct 
4. Play trailer again and have students recite correct vocab out loud by stopping the trailer for each picture scene.
5. Students complete worksheet with fill in the blanks.
6. Teacher reviews answers.

WORKSHEET 

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - OBLIVION - MOVIE TRAILLER

Movie Trailer English Listening: Present Progressive

Touch his head	Lay on the ground	Play basketball	Fly over Jack’s  head
Talk to Jack	Ride a motorcycle	Sit at a desk	Fall through a hole
Scream at Jack	Light a match	Shoot a gun	Bang on the door
Fly and shoot	Ask the girl	Light shine	Spin around

Pretend you are a reporter, and you are telling the TV listeners exactly what is happening right now on the show in the order it is happening. Use the PRESENT PROGRESSIVE tense.

1.       Jack _______________________________, he  _______________________________, and he  ________________________. 

2.       Right now, an object/plane  _______________________________________,  the woman____________________________________.  Jack _____________________________. 

3.       Now, the red- haired woman ____________________________________, but Jack ________________________________________and he _________________________________________. 

4.       At this moment, the man with the glasses __________________________, but the red-haired woman ________________________________________.   Jack _________________________________________. 

5.       Now, the light ___________________________________ in the room,  Jack  _______________________ a question ,and the planes ____________________________________.  Now, Jack’s plane ____________________________________.

Touch his head	Lay on the ground	Play basketball	Fly over Jack’s  head
Talk to Jack	Ride a motorcycle	Sit at a desk	Fall through a hole
Scream at Jack	Light a match	Shoot a gun	Bang on the door
Fly and shoot	Ask the girl	Shine bright	Spin around

*Teacher:  Cut and distribute cards after students order the pictures, having them match the vocab cards with the correct pictures.  This works on sight recognition of vocabulary. Circulate and assist with unfamiliar vocab

Cut and distribute the pictures, then play the trailer at www.eslcommando.com

Students put them in order.  Then hand out the first sheet.  Have students put the present progressive in the blanks.

* All the pictures are available in the worksheet

KEY:

1.       Is playing basketball, is laying on the ground, is touching his head.

2.       Is flying over Jack’s head/ is riding a motorcycle /is sitting at a desk/

3.       Is talking to Jack/is falling through a hole /is shooting a gun

4.       Is lighting a match/is screaming at Jack/is banging on the door.

5.       The light is shining/is asking the girl/are flying and shooting/is spinning around.

Yogi Bear: 3rd Conditional

This is a lovely movie, but it was not a real blockbuster. It is a wholesome movie with some interesting moments like the one in this segment.


 I. Watch the movie segment and decide if the sentences below are true or false.





















1.

The ranger did not know the microphone was on.
He sang her a song.

2.

Yogi was dangerously showing off to the audience.
He set fire to his own scarf.

3.

Yogi wasn't wearing his skis.
He fell into the lake.

4.

The audience didn't realize the fireworks were activated by accident.
They kept on applauding Yogi.

5.

The audience was too close to the show.
They ran for their lives.


 II. Complete the sentences below, using the 3rd Conditional.

1. If the ranger _______________ (know) the microphone was on, he ____________ (sing) her a song.

2. If Yogi _____________ (dangerously - show off) to the audience,  he __________ (set) fire to his own scarf.

3. if he ____________ (wear) his skis, he ____________ (fall) into the lake.

4. If the audience _____________ (realize) the fireworks were activated by accident, They ____________ (keep) on applauding Yogi.

5. The audience ___________ (run) for their lives if they _____________ (be) too close to the show.

Answer key:


I.

All sentences are true.

II.

1. had known / wouldn't (mightn't) have sung
2. hadn't been showing off (hadn't showed off) / wouldn't have set
3. had been wearing / wouldn't have fallen
4. had realized / wouldn't have kept
5. wouldn't have run / hadn't been

WORKSHEET

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - YOGI BEAR

A Walk to Remember: Past Modals for Regrets - Should (Not) Have ...

This is a teens classic. In a survey I conducted with my advanced level teenagers, this movie was their favorite one, according to the majority of students in my class. So I decided to see it and I agree with them. It is a very good film, indeed. This scene is perfect to talk about regrets, using past modals.



I. Watch the movie segments and check the sentences that you believe were the characters'  wrong decisions.






















1. The teenagers trespassed a private property.

2. Landon dared a friend to jump from a trampoline to belong to the group.

3. He accepted the challenge

4. He didn't know how deep the dam was

5. They ran away and left their friend hurt and unattended.

6. Landon didn't stop his car when warned by the police and had an accident.

7. Nobody was taking care of the abandoned dam during that night.


II. Now rewrite the sentences above, expressing regrets.


EX:

1. The teenagers shouldn't have trespassed a private property.



II. Discuss these questions:


1. What were the major wrong decisions taken by the group? Explain it.

2. What should happen to those teenagers?

3. Whose fault was that? Landon's, the other teens', or the boy was the one responsible for his own jumping?

4. What would you do if you were in the boy's shoes? What if you were one of the other teens?

5. What should the police do? Arrest Landon, arrest everybody, or have them pay with community services? Explain your answer.

6. What should happen to the property owner?


Answer Key:
2. Landon shouldn't have dared his friend to jump from the trampoline.
3. He shouldn't have accepted the challenge.
4. He should have known how deep the dam was.
5. They shouldn't have run away and left the boy unattended.
6. Landon should have stopped his car when warned by the police.
7. Someone should have been taking care of the abandoned dam.

WORKSHEET

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - A WALK TO REMEMBER

Frankenweenie: Relative Clauses

This is a beautiful, touching movie. The sad scenes are really moving, but the message is uplifting. By the way, the movie is black and white.


I. Watch the movie segment and connect the lines from the movie. Write (restrictive)  relative clauses saying what Mr. Whiskers dreamed about the characters below. Begin your sentences this way:

1. He dreamed about Bob. He fell in a manhole.

Mr. Whiskers dreamed that (Bob) _____________________________________.


2. ______________________________________________________________ .

He dreamed about Toshiaki the day he pitched a perfect game.


3. ______________________________________________________________ .


And Nassor the day he got knocked unconscious.


II. Write what Mr. Whiskers dreamed about Victor.


__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________


III. Work in pairs:

1. Do you believe that dreams can tell us about the future? Why (not)?

2. Have you ever dreamed about something that came true after some time? Talk about it.

3. Would you change traveling plans if you dreamed about an airplane crash in the previous night? Explain it.


WORKSHEET

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - FRANKENWEENIE

ParaNorman: Greetings - Functional Language

I love this animated movie. I must say, though, that it is pretty scary. I used this scene for true beginners. By the way, this movie is a must!

I. Read the greetings below. Practice saying them out loud. Pay attention to intonation! You may watch the scene twice.

( ) Hello.

( ) Good morning.

( ) How are you?

( ) How do you do?

( ) How is it going?

( ) Hi, nice to see you, guys.

( ) Yeah, good to see you.

( ) How (are) you doing?

( ) How's everything?

( ) Hi, you look nice today.

( ) How is it hanging?

II. Watch the movie segment and check the greetings in I that you hear.

III.
Write a short dialog using the expressions in Exercise I.

IV. Role-Play the dialog. 

OPTION 2 - MOVIE SEGMENTS TO TEACH CHILDREN GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY

II.     Play the movie segment. Ask students if the monsters answered Norman and what possible answers they could have given. Stick posters with possible answers on the board. Ask students to repeat the answers.

         Some Possible Answers:

         Good Morning.                              I’m sad.

         Hello.                                                 I’m tired.

         I’m Fine.                                              I’m Okay.

         I’m happy.                                          Thanks.

         Nice to see you, too.                  Good to see you. too.

III.    Play the segment again, pausing after Norman’s greetings so that the class as a whole can answer him according to the Teacher’s instructions.

1-     When I pause the video, answer happily. Pause after “Good morning.”

2-     When I pause the video, answer sadly. Pause after “How is it going?”

3-     When I pause the video, answer loudly. Pause after “Hi, Nice to see you, guys.”

4-     When I pause the video, answer whispering. Pause after “Good morning.”

5-     When I pause the video, answer angrily. Pause after “Yeah, good to see you.”

6-     When I pause the video, answer singing. Pause after “How (are) you doing?”

7-     When I pause the video, answer crying. Pause after “Hi, you look nice today.”

8-     When I pause the video, answer laughing. Pause after “How (are) you doing?”

IV.    Ask students to stand up and walk around the room as you play some music. When the music stops, they have to pair up and greet each other. They can’t repeat the greetings. Leave the greetings and possible answers on the board for visual reference.

V.    Give each pair of students a comic strip with blank speaking bubbles. Tell them to write a dialog using the greetings they have learned. Display the comic strips on the walls.

WORKSHEET

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - PARANORMAN

Answer key:

(correct answers)

Good morning.

How is it going?

Hi, nice to see you, guys.

Yeah, good to see you.

How (are) you doing?

Hi, you look nice today.

How is it hanging?

The Amazing Spider-Man: Wish

The Spider-Man is one of my favorite cartoon characters. The movies are great and this scene, which is about getting even, is excellent for a contextualized practice on WISH.


 I. Watch the segment and decide whether the sentences about Flash are true or false.



1. Flash humiliated Gordon in front of everyone.

2. Flash threw Gordon on the ground.

3. Flash reacted and punched Parker.

4. Flash disappointed Gwen because he hadn't done his homework.

5. Flash did not know that Parker was so good at basketball.


II. Now write sentences expressing Flash's regrets, using WISH. Use the items in Exercise I.


1. Flash wishes ______________________________________________________ .

2. ________________________________________________________________ .

3. ________________________________________________________________ .

4. _________________________________________________________________ .

5. _________________________________________________________________ .

III. Talk to a partner.

1. Did Flash deserve being humiliated in front of everyone because of his attitude. Justify it.

2. Was Parker right when he decided to get even with Flash? Explain it.

3. Have you ever taken action to stop bullying in your school? Why (not)?

4. Who should be punished by the School Coordination? Flash, Parker, both or none of them? Why?


WORKSHEET

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

Answer key:


1. Flash wishes he hadn't humiliated...
2. He wishes he hadn't thrown...
3. He wishes he hadn't  reacted and punched...
4. He wishes he hadn't disappointed... OR He wishes he had done his homework.
5. He wishes he had known that Parker was...

Wreck-It Ralph: Dialog Writing

This animated movie is innovative and highly creative. It is great to see  animation based on video games characters we all know - most students do!

I. Talk to a friend:

1. Do you like video games? What are your favorite ones?

2. What are the best video games villains you know? What do they do that make them such terrible villains.

3. What are the best video games heroes? Why are they so great heroes?

4. What is your favorite kind of video games?


II. Watch the segment and then complete the dialogs that are not in English.

Felix: What brings you here, neighbor?

Q*bert: ____________________________________________________ .

Felix: ______________________________________________________.

Q*bert: ____________________________________________________ .

Felix: ______________________________________________________ .


Q*bert: ____________________________________________________ .

Felix: ______________________________________________________.


Q*bert: ____________________________________________________ .

Felix: ______________________________________________________.



Felix: Ralph's gone turbo*!



III. What do you think Ralph's gone turbo* mean?

IV. Role play your scene. Add an ending to your scene too.



*To go turbo, in this case, is to be discontinued, out of the market.

WORKSHEET 

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - WRECK-IT RALPH