Sunshine Award

I'm very happy to have received The Sunshine Award. Thank you Pilar for the nomination.

The Sunshine Award is an award given to bloggers by other bloggers. It is given to "bloggers who are positive and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere". I do feel honoured that such great bloggers have given me this thoughtful award.

As with other similar awards, there are certain rules that must be followed:

Rule 1.  Post the Sunshine Award logo on your blog.

Rule 2.  Nominate 5 to 10 other wonderful  bloggers.

Rule 3.  Announce their nomination in their blog’s comment section.

Rule 4 .Mention links back to their blog, including a link to the person who nominated you.

Rule 5. Answer seven questions about yourself.  This is designed to help people get to know you better.

1. Kieran Donaghy - Film-English

 Very creative ideas and an inspiration to us all.

2. Sue Swift - An ELT Notebook

 Sue's articles are a must for language teachers

3. Ozge Karaoglu - Orze Karaoglu's blog is a resourceful blog that I refer to all the time.

4. Ana Maria Menezes - Life Feast

 I'm a great fan of Ana's blog and professionalism. Her blog is awesome.

5. Vinicius Lemos and Vania Rodrigues. If the Ship Sinks, We Have the Survival Kit is my favorite source of games and activities. I love their blog.

A bit about myself.
 

1. Favorite colour.
Blue. Always blue.

2. Favourite animal.
Dogs. Can't live without them. I have three!

3. Favourite number.
13.

4. Favourite non-alcoholic drink.
Coke Zero.

5. Favourite alcoholic drink.
I don't drink much, sometimes when I go out with friends, beer.

6. Facebook or Twitter.

Facebook. Finding old friends and relatives.

7. My passions.

Movies and soccer.

Hotel Transylvania & Mr. Popper's Penguins: Modal for Ability/Permission CAN

Hotel Transylvania is an awesome movie. Funny, somewhat scary, and with lots of interesting lessons to teach. Mr. Popper's penguins is an effective family movie, but the penguins are fantastic!

I. Watch the movie segment from the movie Hotel Transylvania about Dracula and his daughter, Mavis, and complete the blanks with can/can't and the verbs in parentheses. 

1. Mavis __________ (crawl) up the walls.

2. Mavis ______________ (go) outside .

3. Dracula ______________ (play)  the guitar.

4. Mavis and Dracula __________ (fly).

5. Dracula and Mavis ________________ (be) humans and bats.

5. Mavis _____________ (read).

7. Dracula ___________ (sing)

II. Which item in I CAN is not used for permission, not ability?

III. Guess what the penguins can do. Check the items you think they can.

1. __ Speak English

2. __ Walk

3. __ Run

4. __ Fly

5 __ Walk in line

6 __ Dance

7 __ Cross streets

8 __ Jump

IV. Watch the segment from the movie Mr. Popper's Penguins and check your answers.

V. Write 3 sentences saying what penguins can do and can't do.

1______________________________

2______________________________

3______________________________

Answer key


I.

Mavis can crawl up the walls.

Mavis can't go outside .

Dracula can play the guitar.

Mavis and Dracula  can fly.

Dracula and Mavis can be humans and bats.

Mavis can't read.

Dracula can sing

II. # 2

III.
Penguins can't speak English, fly and jump.

WORKSHEET

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - MR POPPER'S PENGUINS

Melancholia: 2nd Conditional

Although many people criticized this movie, I really liked it. Thought-provoking, its two different stories hypnotized me until the last scene. This activity is to practice the use of the 2nd conditional orally.

I. Work in pairs. Let's suppose that the Earth will be hit by another planet. Nothing can be done to stop the collision. It will be the end of days and there will be no survivors. The impact will be so hard that death will be painless and instantaneous. 

a. Apocalypse Abbr. Apoc. Bible The Book of Revelation.

b. Any of a number of anonymous Jewish or Christian texts from around the second century b.c. to the second century a.d. containing prophetic or symbolic visions, especially of the imminent destruction of the world and the salvation of the righteous.

          c. Great or total devastation; doom: the Apocalypse of nuclear war.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/apocalypse

1. What would you do three weeks before the collision?

2. What would you do on the day of the collision.

3. Who would you like to be with if that happened?

4. Where would you like to be if the end of times were inevitable?

5. What would probably happen around the world on the day of the apocalypse if everyone knew what was about to happen?

6. Would people still go to work if they knew the world would end within three weeks? What consequences would it bring to every one's lives?

II. Watch the movie segment and then discuss the questions that follow.

1. How did they decide to spend the last minutes of their lives?

2. What's your opinion about their decision?

3. Would you do the same as they did? Why (not)?

4. Do you think the world will ever end? If so, what would probably happen?

5. What's your view of the apocalypse?

6. Why is there so much speculation about the apocalypse? How afraid are you?

WORKSHEET

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - MELANCHOLIA

Hall Pass: Modal for Possibility - COULD

This is a funny movie with great scenes. I had a lot of fun watching it. I used this scene to talk about modals for possibility, especially COULD.



I. What are the possible consequences  of Mr. Will's buying his twenty-year-old  babysitter some beer? What does his conscience tell him about the possible consequences of buying alcohol for a minor? Check the actions you think he believes could happen to him.





















( ) 1. He goes into a lot of trouble.

( ) 2. He is arrested by the police.

( ) 3. His action attitude becomes a scandal.

( ) 4. He is fired.

( ) 5. His fiancée is  furious at him.

( ) 6. He falls in love with his babysitter.

( ) 7. His babysitter falls in love with him.



II. Now rewrite his fears using modals for possibility

WORSHEET 

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - HALL PASS





Answer key:

I.

1,2,3,4,5

II.

1. He could go into a lot of trouble.

2. He could be arrested by the police.

3. His action could become a scandal.

4. He could be fired

5. His fiancée could be furious at him.

6. He could fall in love with the babysitter.

7. The babysitter could fall in love with him.

Premium Rush & The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: Comparatives with Nouns and Adjectives

I simply love The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and its cultural conflicts and good humor. I used these scenes to practice comparatives of adjectives and nouns.

I. Watch both segments. Write (C) if you consider that the items below are more evident in the cyclist scene in  New York traffic. Write (T) if you think it is in the riding a tuk tuk's scene in India. Write (B) if it applies to both equally.

PREMIUM RUSH:

THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL:

1. ( ) Dangerous

2. ( ) Busy

3. ( ) Reckless

4. ( ) Fast

5. ( ) Violent

6. ( ) Safe

7. ( ) Practical

II. Write sentences comparing the traffic in NY City and India.

Ex: The traffic in NY (India) is more (less) dangerous than in India (NY) or The traffic in NY is as dangerous as in India.

1. ___________________________________________________________. 

2. ___________________________________________________________. 

3. ___________________________________________________________.

4. ___________________________________________________________.

5. ___________________________________________________________.

6. ___________________________________________________________.

III. Now decide in which city the items below are more evident. Write (C) if they are more evident in the cyclist scene in  New York or (T) if you think it is in the in the tuk tuk's scene in India. Write (B) if it applies to both equally.

1. Cars in the street

2. People walking in the streets

3. Traffic lights

4. Taxis

5. Tuk Tuks

6. Organization

IV. Write sentences comparing the traffic in NY City and in India.

Ex: There are fewer (more) cars in NY (India) than in India (NY) or There are as many cars in NY as (there are) in NY.

1. ___________________________________________________________. 

2. ___________________________________________________________. 

3. ___________________________________________________________.

4. ___________________________________________________________.

5. ___________________________________________________________.

WORKSHEET
MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - PREMIUM RUSH
MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL

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