Why play-offs?

In this short lesson, we will explore the use of mixed condititionals in a very meaningful way to most Uruguayans...

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Superlatives

I developed this activity to work with a teens basic group. I wanted to find a movie that was meaningful to them, a film which had many and different characters for them to apply superlative forms. The result was amazing; not only did they apply the grammar point accurately, but also they oustandingly expanded their use of adjectives since they wanted to express what they really thought of the characters.

Here's the task:

Watch the trailer and write four adjectives to describe each of the characters:

Hulk is: 1- 2- 3- 4-	Iron man is: 1- 2- 3- 4-	Captain America is:     1- 2- 3- 4-	Thor is: 1- 2- 3- 4-
Black widow is: 1- 2- 3- 4-	Loki is: 1- 2- 3- 4-	Nick Fury is: 1- 2- 3- 4-	Hawkeye is: 1- 2- 3- 4-

Use these expressions to report your answers:

In my opinion…
I think…
I believe…
From my point of view…

Watch the trailer and decide if your description is complete.

Watch again and check if these sentences are true or false:

Nick Fury says “war has started”

The assistant says “I think it’s a tramp”

Hulk says “what if I say yes”

Hulk says “we are not a team; we are a time bomb”

Iron man says “guys, I’m bringing the party to you”

Transform these adjectives into superlative forms

Dangerous		Short
Strong		Weak
Egocentric		Wicked
Intelligent		Crazy
Aggressive		Quiet

Write sentences to describe the characters using these superlative forms and the ones you included in the first exercise.

For example: Black widow is the quietest character.

As a follow-up, they had to write a post in a forum saying which their favorite super hero was and why, using the superlative forms. They also had an online poll and decided on the following categories: the best soccer team, the best soccer player, the funniest cartoon, the scariest movie, the coolest band, etc.

Participle Clauses

This activity was created to work on understanding, grammar and speaking in the context of health. This is a great and thought-provoking scene where Dr. Adams is defending his philosophy which will definitely trigger a juicy discussion.

Watching:

True or false?

1. The man who was sitting in the middle wasn’t satisfied by Doctor Adam’s answers.

2. Any person who was treated in the ranch was both a patient and a doctor.

3. Because you help someone else, you are a doctor.

4. Because of the audience’s reaction, we can notice their sympathy with the doctor.

5. Since he felt confident, he went on with the development of his argument.

6. He could treat the patients because he didn’t feel more than a trusted friend.

7. As he wasn’t afraid of death, he could speak about it openly.

8. The people in the audience agreed with him after they had listened to what he had to say.

9. If you treat a person and not a disease, you win no matter what the outcome.

10. After he explained his point, he felt relieved.

Re-write these sentences using participle and adverbial clauses:

Ex:  The man sitting in the middle wasn’t satisfied by Doctor Adam’s answers.

2-

3-

4-

5-

6-

7-

8-

9-

10-

As a follow up, students could be asked to debate on whether this is a good or bad  approach.

This is a debate developed by Paola Vilardo:

"Laughter, a new approach to medicine"

Part I

GROUP A: Brainstorm all the reasons why this is not a good idea and we should stick to the classic approach to medicine.

GROUP B: Brainstorm all the reasons why we should be incorporating this new approach to medicine..

With your group, also think of COUNTER-ARGUMENTS (arguments for the other side).  Take notes.  

Part II

○ Present your argument to a member of the other group.  Debate this issue!

○ Your GOAL is to convince the other person to agree with you!

Whenever possible, include the expressions below:

Not having been tested,….

Having heard your point…

After listening to you…

Not being qualified,…

Having visited several hospitals,…

Resorting to common sense, we can…

Paired Conjunctions

This is an activity developed to practice the use of paired conjunctions. The procedure would be the following: students first get a general idea of the movie plot, so that later they can use this information to complete the activity by simply focusing on grammar use. I chose this movie because we were talking about everyday annoyances.

Answer the questions:

How would you define Bill Foster at first? After?
Why do you think this happens to him?
Is it possible for someone to react this way?
Do you remember anyone having reacted in a similar way?

Fill in the blanks

I’m _________ trying to _________ home it’s my _________ girl’s birthday. If everybody stays out
of my way, _________ nobody will _________ _________.
So we’ve got a nut case with a _________  _________ of guns, he’s in Hollywood right now and
he’s _________ west.
I don’t know if you _________ or not,  but there’s other _________ waiting to use the _________
_________.
If you hold up _________ this guy, _________ _________.
It’s _________  of _________.
In America we’ve got the _________ of _________. The _________ to _________.
What are you _________ with the _________.
We are _________ it, what the hell _________ it look _________?
I don’t _________ anything’s _________ with the street. I think you’re _________ trying to
_________ your inflated _________.

Complete the sentences using:

Both (…) and / Either (…) or / Neither (…) nor / Not only (…) but also

_________ did the homeless ask him for money, _________ for his address.
_________ attacking people _________ being violent was in his plans.
He was _________ crazy _________ too angry.
He is _________ furious _________ violent.
_________ will he get home on time, _________ he will end up in jail.
_________ the people _________ the police are scared of him.
He _________ goes to jail _________ gets killed.

Future forms

This activity was designed for students to see and identify the different future time structures. After watching the trailer, they'll probably have a much better idea of whether the statements are plans, predictions, etc.    
                            

                      

Remember

Going to	Future plan – decided before time of speaking	I am going to leave next week.
	Future result from evidence	He is going to fall off his bike
Will	General predictions	Cars will fly in the future.
	Sudden decision made at time of speaking	I’ll phone her now.
Present continuous	Future plans that have already been made	Our plane is leaving at 5:00.

Before you watch the trailer, complete the sentences using the correct future forms. 
 
Alex got a passport because his class _____________ (travel) to France.

This group of kids_____________ (visit) France on a school trip.

Their plane _____________ (leave) on Tuesday at 7:00.

They _____________ (arrive) there the following day.

Alex is boarding the plane when he suddenly gets a premonition that the plane _____________ (explode).

He thinks that the survivors _____________ (die).

He _____________ (try) to defeat death.

Watch and complete the sentences with your opinion according to what you see.

Alex has a …………………feeling.The boy with dark hair thinks that Alex …………………
The girl thinks that Alex …………………
The FBI thinks …………………

As a follow up, students could discuss questions like the ones below in a forum:

What’s the message of the movie?
What’s your opinion about it?
What would you do if you had the dream that Alex had?