Language Resident: Franco Rivas Quiroz
Level: Advanced
Class theme/topic discussed: Películas y series
Goal of the class:
Students will be able to:
- Express interests using expressions such as “me gusta, me encanta, me fascina, prefiero, detesto”.
- Describe movies considering elements such as plot, characters, genre and setting.
- Use the present subjunctive in adjective clauses using expressions such as “buscamos a alguien que…” “necesitamos un ____ que…”
Class structure:
Warm up:
Juego de la Canasta: In a circle, one of the students chooses a subcategory of the main theme (example: horror movies that start with A, comedy movies of the 80’s, etc.) and each one says a movie or series without repeating what someone else said. When someone repeats a word or says something that does not belong to that category, that person loses and starts another subcategory. They have to use titles in Spanish only.
Activity:
Students talk about their interests in movies using expressions such as: me gusta, me encanta, me fascina, prefiero, detesto”, etc. The following prompts will be displayed on the screen as well as examples of how to respond. After that, they share it with the whole class.
- Películas/series que encuentras interesantes
- Películas/series que consideras raras
- Tus placeres culpables
- Películas animadas que te gustan
- Películas /series que te decepcionaron
- Películas/series que son aburridas
- Películas/ series que nunca verías
Movie producers: In groups, students are the producers of a new movie that’s going to be released. They discuss what kind of movie they want to make, how they want it to go, what kind of director they need; using expressions such as: “buscamos a alguien que…” “necesitamos un ____ que…” . They will focus on the following aspects:
- Genre
- Plot
- Setting
- Director
- Actors
- Budget
They will present their idea to the rest of the class
Wrap up:
Adivina la película: They play in groups. In turns, each student gets a random movie genre and picks a card, where there will be the name of a movie. That student describes the movie and his group has to say the name of the movie in order to get a point. The group that has more points wins.
Each card will not only have the name of a movie, but also 3 words that are related to that movie. Students are supposed to describe it without saying any of those words. If they do, they lose their point.
Resources used: Powerpoint presentation. Printed out pieces of paper.
Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?
The topic seemed to be engaging to students. First activities were easy to follow, and for the “movie producers” it was a bit more challenging. They had been practicing the uses of the subjunctive in previous classes so I went around giving them some extra support and asking questions. They ended up doing a great job and they laughed a lot. The activity that probably worked the most was the Adivina la película. The restriction of words that they could use made them have to find other ways to use the language to explain something, and they managed to do it eventually.
