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March 15, 2006
Name That Film Warm-Up
Hello again,
A great activity that I find useful for assessing language skills and student interaction, especially the first time a class meets, is to have students write the title of a film on a small sheet of paper or label. Students then exchange these in secret, unable to see the new title they have chosen. They then either affix the label to their shirt or hold the paper in front of them so that classmates can easily view the title, but it remains unknown to the student. Students must then try to guess the title of their film by asking questions to their classmates . . .
. . . I always stipulate that students can only ask one question per classmate and are given a time limit of 5 minutes. What makes the activity so useful is that students can be requested to ask specific types of questions. For example, present perfect only, closed questions only, etc. It also serves as a great icebreaker and socialization activity and allows the instructor ample opportunity to observe students' confidence and socialization.
Have you tried this or a similar activity? Tell us about it by leaving a comment below!
Best,
Marlen Harrison
March 2006 Guest-Writer for ESLemployment
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About the author of this entry:
Marlen hails from South Florida but has lived abroad in both Europe and Asia. His own international education experiences include a year at Kingston University in Surrey, England. In 1995, Marlen earned his B.S. in Psychology from Appalachian State University.and then was awarded the M.A. in Education and Human Development from George Washington University in 1997. Currently, he is pursuing a doctoral program in TESOL after four years of teaching in a variety of settings in Western Japan. In addition to his liberal arts and educational background, Marlen is also a member of the Japanese Association for Language Teaching, acting as Co-Coordinator for their Learner Development special interest group.
Posted by ESL Lesson Plan at March 15, 2006 08:38 AM
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Comments
This is a nice variation on the game where students choose historical or fictional figures and proceed in the same way. I think the crucial feature of these activities is that the students choose their titles or names rather than have these imposed upon them by the teacher. This way the choices reflect the students' cultural preferences.
Posted by: Brenda Townsend Hall at March 16, 2006 04:20 PM
Hi Brenda!
Yes, giving the student some autonomy to make choices that reflect their interests is more exciting for the students, and likewise, helps us as teachers get to know our students better. I love this activity for observing my students' behavior.
Marlen
Posted by: Marlen at March 19, 2006 08:46 AM
