Listening, Speaking,

1
Listening, Speaking,
Writing, Reading,
and Culture through
American movies
Paul Lamontagne Palmer Trinity School Miami
Florida US Fullbrighter 2005-2006 Instituto
Nacional, Santiago
2
Introduction
Paul Lamontagne is Chair of the World Languages
Department at Palmer Trinity School, a 6-12
Independent School in Miami, Florida sponsored
by the Episcopal Church. There are about 100
students in each grade for a total of 600
students. Paul teaches beginning through
advanced courses in Spanish and French at the
school. He has been teaching for 30 years and has
been at Palmer Trinity for since 2002. The
website of the school is www.palmertrinity.org
Paul is a native of Massachusetts and he has a
Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Spanish
from Assumption College in Worcester
Massachusetts and two Masters degrees one in
Spanish from Middlebury College, Middlebury
Vermont and one in Education from Harvard
University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is a
recipient of the Fulbright Teacher Exchange
Scholarship and is currently teaching English in
grades 7 básicos through 2 medios at the
Instituto Nacional in Santiago.
3
Traditional Listening, Speaking, Writing, Reading
and Culture Activities a.
Observations from Instituto Nacional, Santiago
1. the traditional Sage on the
Stage (Socratic method)
(grammar driven and the almighty test approach)
versus a contemporary Guide
on the Side
(student-centered classroom) (coopeartive
learning) Here is a definition from
http//acadweb.snhu.edu/DE/Goddard_Gretchen/sageo
nstage.htm Sage on the Stage A controlled class
where a content expert lectures to students who
are expected to memorize information to reach
learning objectives. Guide on the Side Content
expert that shares leadership with students and
fosters the discourse of ideas between students
for knowledge building and reaching learning
objectives
4
Here is one universitys suggestions on how to
change to teacher as guide on the side
http//www.acs.appstate.edu/dept/hubbar
d/fad/articles/sage.html Moving from "Sage
on the Stage" to "Guide on the Side" As the
emphasis on creating more learner-centered
classroom environments increases, many faculty
members are finding it difficult to change hats
from lecturer to facilitator.  Keeping the
following principles in mind may make the
transition easier.  In a learner-centered class,
teachers Do fewer learning tasks.  Guides allow
students to lead the review and summary at the
beginning and end of class, as well as generate
examples and solutions. Do less telling.  Guides
allow students to do more interactive learning so
that they can discover things on their own
rather than being told the outcome. Do more
design work.  Guides design assignments that
motivate student participation and involvement
and allow students do the bona fide work of the
discipline, at their level.  Do more modeling. 
Guides take the role of master learner, and
demonstrate how learning is achieved in the
discipline. Get students working with each
other.  Guides form collaborative groups
purposefully, so that students learn content as
well as group dynamics. Create climates for
learning.  Guides create a space that motivates
students' interest in learning and their
willingness to take responsibility for their own
learning. Focus less on grading and more on
feedback.  Guides evaluate student materials in a
way that maximizes the students' learning. 
Students should get more from assignments and
exams than just the grade
5

• Teaching English not just Teaching about English,
  
• a. Producing versus copying English, speaking
• and listening to English, (songs, movies),
  adapting the text for
• other activities, (charts, surveys,
  pictures) the copying
• phenomenon, use outside reading and produce
  skits in class
• (speaking, writing, listening and reading
  activity)
• b. Suggestions on how to use your textbook and a
  collection of
• all-purpose pictures. Use the pictures for
  other activities, use
• pictures for verb tenses, for adjectives,
  for and superlative,
• for colors, for time, for vocabulary etc.
• c. Conventional assessment and a point system
• Copying seems to be prevalent with the multiple
  choice
• (multiple guess) method of making up tests
  even with two
• versions.
• Design fill in the blank tests with a word
  bank complete the
• sentence in an original manner, put some
  sentence in order by
• rewriting them and changing the verb or the
  noun, etc.
• 2. Establish one of the semester grades as a
  point system. Try to
• plan and assess for all sorts of things with
  this point system.

6
Here is the system I used at Instituto Nacional
(adapted from my Spanish and French classes)
INSTITUTO NACIONAL
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
CORRECTION CODE for
WRITING CODE EXAMPLE CORRECTION V is
for verb She play soccer play V
She plays soccer. VT is for verb
tense We watch TV yesterday watch VT
We watched TV yesterday SP is for
spelling I like to play tenis tenis
spelling I like to play
tennis WO is for word order The Games
Olympic Olympic WO The Olympic Games VOC
is for vocabulary I talk English. talk
vocabulary I speak English N is for not
necessary I like the sports. the not
necessary I like sports. W is for
wrong word John is a study. study wrong
word John is a student. WM is for word
missing a lot people WM is word missing
a lot of people P is for preposition
I am to the class. to preposition
I am in the class. PL is for plurals
in these book book plural in these
books AWK for awkward I much very not
do understand I do not
understand much
There are many mistakes here.
Sometimes errors can be combined SP/WO
The Games Olimpic SP for Olimpic
and WO for position of the word
CORRECTION is the
Olympic Games
7
Cinema in the United States

reading
Pre-reading activities Some questions to ask a.
What is the difference between a photograph and a
movie? b. What is the difference between a
portrait and a living person? c. What
professions work in movies? What do they do? d.
Where and when did movies begin? e. Where is
California? Where is Hollywood? f. What kind of
movies do you prefer? g. What are you favorite
movies? h. Who are your favorite actors and
actresses? i. Who are your favorite directors? j.
What influences do the movies have on you and
your friend? As students start to mention the
words that will appear in the reading, write them
on the board. Later, ask a different student to
tell you about the words again
8
Pre-reading matching worksheet I. Find the
opposite of each term _____ A.
still camera 1. a loss _____ B.
professional 2. minor ______ C.
ambitious 3. dependent ______ D.
extended 4. slowly _______ E.
commentary 5. indoors _______ F.
divided 6. silent ______ G.
major 7. dull ______ H.
innovative 8. amateur _____ I.
spectacular 9. shortened ______ J.
mild climate 10. traditional
______ K. outdoors 11. the fall
_______L. the profit 12. united
_______M. sharply 13. lazy ______
N. independent 14. a movie camera
______ O. the rise 15. harsh climate
Answers A 14 B 8 C 13 D 9 E 6
F 12 G 2 H 10 I 7 J 15
K 5 L 1 M 4 N 3 O 11
9
Another pre-reading activity Now have
students use the answers from the above matching
and find the definition. I would write
these definitions on slips of paper and give 30
students these definitions. Then go
over the list one more time and match the
definitions with the words. Definitions (CAPITAL
LETTERS IS THE ANSWER) (I would not distribute
the answers) 1. very
important MAJOR 2. follows the
rules TRADITIONAL 3. like a
turtle SLOWLY 4.
using new ideas INNOVATIVE 5. in the
fresh air OUTOORS 6.
joined UNITED 7. very
interesting SPECTACULAR 8. earns
money A PROFIT 9. takes one picture
at a time A STILL CAMERA 10. one who
makes big plans AMBITIOUS 11. inside
a building INDOORS 12. needs
support DEPENDENT 13. It is sunny and
nice out A MILD CLIMATE 14. with much
experience and work PROFESSIONAL 15. the
increase THE RISE 16. with a voice
which explains
COMMENTARY 17. one who does not
work a lot LAZY 18. separated DIVIDED
19. without control of others INDEPENDEN
T 20. not very important MINOR
21. loses money A LOSS 22. without a
voice SILENT 23. with little
experience AMATEUR 24. boring DULL
25. It is always cold and rainy A HARSH
CLIMATE 26. an instrument to make a motion
picture A MOVIE CAMERA
27. quickly SHARPLY 28. the
decrease THE FALL 29.
extra EXTENDED 30. limited SHORTENED
10
Vocabulary crossword from the website
http//www.greeneclipsesoftware.com/eclipsecrossw
ord/index.html Teachers
Use crosswords to introduce vocabulary and unit
concepts. Students may actually even enjoy
doing the assignment!
Crossword puzzles encourage logical thinking and
correct spelling.
11
Pre-reading activity Charades Divide the class
into teams or have the entire class act guess
each charade. You can choose to let students use
the crossword and matching worksheet or not at
all. Write the following words on a slip of paper
and show the word to one student. This student
needs to act out the word without saying anything
and using gestures only. The others guess. Some
words I would use for the game are 1. still
camera 7. rise 13.
ambitious 2. movie camera 8.
fall 14. lazy 3.
outdoors 9. extended
15. spectacular 4. indoors
10. shortened
16. dull 5. divided
11. sharply 17. profit 6.
united 12. slowly
18. loss Suggestion
Establish a point system for this game (and any
game) 5 points for the
student or team or row who guessed the
word correctly
10 points for the students who volunteer to
act out a word, etc.
12

• Now you are ready to Read the article Cinema in
  the USA
• Ask for volunteers, call on volunteers, you read
  some,
• interrupt the reader to reinforce some of the
  vocabulary
• that was practiced in the matching worksheet,
  the
• definitions on the slips of paper and the
  charades
• 2. Prepare 20 index cards each with one of the
  following
• items (one item from each group)
• a. a picture from the reading
• b. one of the words for the vocabulary that
  appears in the
• reading or one of the following trace,
  series, reliable,
• audience, larger-than-life, emphasize,
  enormous, massive,
• genres, rely, revitalize, impact, homage
• c. a question word (Who? What? Where? When?
  Which?
• What is the name? How many? How? How often?
  Why? )
• d. a number from 1-20( for reading comprehension
  questions
• and answers)
• e. a time period from the text

13
Cinema in the United States

• The birth of cinema can be traced
• back to the United States. The first recorded
  images were series of photographs of a running
  horse using still cameras placed in a row.
• In 1913, many movie-makers went west.
• In Los Angeles, California, studios started
• to appear in a sleepy section of the town, known
  as Hollywood
• Before World War I, the filmmakers
  preferred southern
• California. They were attracted by
  the mild climate
• and reliable sunlight to film movies
  outdoors year-round. In the early 1900s, there
  were many exhibitions of short films in
  nickelodeons since the admission price was a
  nickel (five cents). Within a few years,
  ambitious men like Samuel Goldwyn, Louis B.
  Mayer, and the Warner Brothers (Harry, Albert,
  Samuel, and Jack) were very famous. Soon they
  were the heads of a new kind of business the
  movie studio.

14
Cinema in the United States
After World War I, other moviemakers arrived from
Europe such as
directors like Alfred
Hitchcock (Psycho) and Jean Renoir
(Grand Illusion) and
actors like Rudolph Valentino and
Marlene Dietrich. In
the mid-1940s, the studios were
producing a total of
about 400 movies a year, seen by an
audience of 90
million Americans per week. Television had
a powerful
impact on the movies. The number of movies
being made
dropped sharply. Studios now tried to produce

entertainment that could not be offered by
television such
as spectacular, larger-than-life
productions. Since then,
American films have become
increasingly divided into two categories
blockbusters and independent films. Blockbusters
emphasize spectacle, star power, and high
production value, all with an enormous budget.
15
Cinema in the United States

• Blockbusters typically rely upon star power and
  massive advertising
• to attract a huge audience. During the 1970s
  some new young
• directors with degrees from film schools had
  absorbed the techniques
• developed in Europe in the 1960s. Directors like
  Francis Ford Coppola
• (The Godfather,) George Lucas (Star Wars) Martin
  Scorsese (Taxi Driver),
• and Steven Spielberg (Jaws), paid homage to the
  history of film
• and developed new genres and techniques. Studios
  also supervised
• independent productions, made with small budgets
  and often
• independently of the movie studio corporation.
  Independent movies
• emphasize high professional quality acting,
  directing, screenwriting,
• creativity and innovation. American independent
  cinema was
• revitalized in the late 1980s and early 1990s
  when another new
• generation of moviemakers, including Spike Lee
  (Do the Right Thing)
• Steven Soderbergh (Sex, Lies, and Videotape), and
  Quentin Tarantino
• (Pulp Fiction) made movies.

16
Cinema in the United States
Early in the 2000s, new film types such as those
in foreign languages like Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon by Ang Lee and The Passion of the Christ
by Mel Gibson and like documentary films such as
the films of Michael Moore (Bowling for
Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11), Super Size Me and
March of the Penguins. The rise of the DVD in the
21st century has brought an explosion of
packaging extra scenes, extended versions, and
commentary tracks with the films. Cinema in the
United States adapted from
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_the_United_
States
17
Reading Comprehension questions Cinema in the USA
1. Describe the horse used in the first movie.
2. In 1913, what kind of town was Hollywood?
3. What is a nickelodeon? How did it get its
name?
4. How many Warner Brothers are there? What are
their names?
5. What is a movie studio?
6. How did the movies change when television
began?
7. What are the two main categories for movies?
8. What 3 things do blockbusters emphasize?
9. What 5 things do independent films emphasize?
10. What kind of movie is Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon?
18
Post reading Using the pictures/graphics Now
ask the student with a picture or graphics from
the reading on his/her index card to explain how
it is related to the Reading Cinema in the USA.
19

• Question words activity
• Ask each student who has question word written on
  his/her index card to create
• a question from the reading.
• For example, the student with Why? could ask
  Why did filmmakers prefer
• southern California?
• You can do many things with the questions.
  (1-10 make the questions
• 
  11-20 answer them)
• Each student could write his/her question on the
  board and the others could
• answer them aloud or in written form. Be
  sure the student who wrote the
• question also reads it aloud or someone in
  the class reads it aloud.
• (11 answers question 1 etc.
• 2. Each student could write his/her question on
  paper and pass them into you.
• Then, you could ask them or keep them for a
  homework assignment or for a
• quiz, or even as part of a future test using
  the same reading.

Who?
What is the name?
How many?
How?
Where?
What?
Which?
When?
How often?
Why?
20
If you have some students write on the board you
may want to do another matching with the
remaining students
Match the director with his movie
_____ A. Pulp Fiction 1. Francis Ford Coppola
_____ B. The Passion of the
Christ 2. Alfred Hitchcock ______ C.
Do the Right Thing 3. Michael Moore
______ D. Star Wars 4. Martin Scorsese
_______E. Crouching Tiger, 5. Steven
Soderberg Hidden
Tiger ______ F. Sex, Lies and
Videotape 6. George Lucas
______ G. The Godfather 7. Mel Gibson
______ H. Jaws 8. Steve Speilberg
_____ I. Psycho 9. Ang Lee
______ J. Raging Bull 10. Quentin
Tarrantino ______ K. Fahrenheit
9/11 11. Spike Lee
Answers A 10 B 7 C 11 D 6 E 9 F 5
G 1 H 8 I 2 J 4 K 3
As students write their questions on the board,
you can ask some questions about the matching.
Examples Who directed Psycho? What is the
name of a movie directed by Spike Lee?
What kind of movie is Jaws? Do you
know any actors from The Godfather? Which ones?
Which movie(s) from the
list have you seen? Which movies are your
favorites? Why?
21
Time-line activity Write the 10 following terms
on the board from the text Early 1900s , 1913,
before World War I, 1940s, 1960s, 1970s, late
1980s, early 1990s, early 2000s and 21st century
Have students write or read a sentence
stating why this time period is important in the
text. 1 and 20 work together to write a sentence
2 and 19, 3 and 18, 4 and 17, 5 and 16, 4 and
15, 5 and 14, 6 and 13, 7 and 12, 8 and 11, 9 and
10. Write the sentences on the board and use it
as a summary of the text.
22
Mad Lib activity To practice grammar. Choose
some sentences and make up a Mad Lib paragraph.
Mad-Libs can be found at http//www.penguinp
utnam.com/static/packages/us/yreaders/madlibs/fun.
html or at http//www.madlits.com/ or at
http//www.rinkworks.com/crazylibs/ or some
on-line Mad-libs at http//www.penguinputnam.com
/static/packages/us/yreaders/madlibs/fun.html
Here is mine using the Cinema in the USA
text First, ask students to write down the
following parts of speech. 1. NOUN
4. ADJECTIVE 7. PAST CONTINUOUS
2. PLACE 5. ADJECTIVE
8. NUMBER 3. SIMPLE PAST 6. INFINITIVE
VERB 9. NOUN 10.
ADVERB Then, read the following text and ask
students to give the words they wrote down
or make a chart with the text and have
various students read each sentence with the
new words inserted . Hopefully, there will
be some comical results
23
MAD LIB
The birth of (1. NOUN) can be traced back to
(2. PLACE). Filmmakers (3. SIMPLE PAST)
Southern California. They were attracted by a
(4. ADJECTIVE) climate and (5. ADJECTIVE)
sunlight to (6. INFINITIVE VERB) movies outdoors
year round. In the mid 1940s, the studios (7.
PAST CONTINUOUS) a total of (8. NUMBER) movies a
year. (9. NOUN) had a powerful impact on the
number and the number of movies being made each
year dropped (10. ADVERB)
24
Progressive paragraph activity This is
a variation of Mad-Libs. Divide the class into
groups of 7 to 10 sentences. Each
student needs a piece of paper and a pen or
pencil. Decide on a topic (Maybe since we are
reading about movies, we should pick movies) Any
topic will do. Each student writes a sentence
about his/her favorite movie maybe at least 7
words in a sentence. Then, about a minute
later, everyone passes his/her paper to someone
else in the group (maybe to the person behind
his/her and the last person brings his paper to
the first person in the group. Each student
reads what is written and has to add a new
sentence to the story. (Again at least 7 words)
After a minute or so, say stop and pass the
paper onto the third person. The third person
reads the first 2 sentences and adds his/her
sentence. You may want to add some spice to
this activity by announcing that Now, use the
word blockbuster in your sentence or Now, use
a verb in the past continuous in your sentence
etc. Once all members of the group have added a
sentence to all the papers, you can collect them
or read a few out loud, or write a few on the
board and have students peer edit them, rewrite
them, or vote on the best one.
25
Did you know? Some significant American-born film
directors include Woody Allen Robert Altman
Clint Eastwood (also famous as an actor)
John Ford John Huston Stanley Kubrick
Spike Lee Martin Scorsese Orson
Welles Some American actors who have become icons
include Fred Astaire
Marlon Brando Robert De Niro James
Cagney Joan Crawford
Bette Davis James Dean Henry Fonda
Jane Fonda Harrison
Ford Clark Gable Judy Garland
Gene Hackman Tom Hanks Katharine
Hepburn Dustin Hoffman
Gene Kelly Grace Kelly Marilyn Monroe
Paul Newman Jack
Nicholson Al Pacino Gregory Peck Sidney
Poitier Jimmy Stewart
Meryl Streep Shirley Temple Spencer Tracy
John Wayne Read these
pages as extra material or proceed to the
following activities. 1. Survey (What is
your favorite movie?)(new vocabulary comedy,
drama, horror, etc.) Research movies
and their directors (Who is your favorite
director?) Research movies and find the
principal actors in them (who is your favorite
actor?) Make a survey Brainstorm by
rows or small groups movies, directors, actors,
genres Use the survey as a writing
activity, a speaking activity, a listening
activity Use student interest for
learning about culture
26
Record your class answers like this (for
example) Type of movie
Number of votes (45) Harry Potter
and the Goblet of Fire
30 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
30 Lord of the Rings
25 The Revenge of the
Sith
22 Then with the survey done, you could have
student speak (or write) about the results.
1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the
most popular movie in our class. 2. More
than half of the students saw Lord of the Rings
and they liked it. 3. Less than half of the
students saw The Revenge of the Sith 4. 30
students saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
and 30 students saw Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer's Stone. 5. Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer's Stone is as popular as Harry Potter
and the Goblet of Fire 6. Harry
Potter and the Goblet of Fire is more popular
than Lord of the Rings or they can
be innovative and say More than half of the
students saw Lord of the Rings and they liked
it. I did not see it and I do not want to see
it. I do not like Lord of the Rings. Do the
same with favorite kind of movie (comedy, drama,
horror, etc) favorite actor etc.
27
Word Chain game Practice vocabulary or about
movies with this game. Divide the class in groups
again. Each student needs paper and pen. The
first student writes a vocabulary word (or a
movie title) for example MOVIES then next
student needs to write a new word that begins
with the last latter that the previous student
used. So he/she writes SUPERVISE and the third
student must write a word that begins with E
like ENORMOUS You can play and give points
to the group which makes the longest chain or
use the chain to begin review vocabulary
Here is an example of a word chain MOVIES
SUPERVISE ENORMOUS SERIES STILL
LARGER-THAN-LIFE ENTERTAINMENT TRACE
EXTENDED DROP PRODUCING GENRES SUNLIGHT
TELEVISION NICKEL etc.
28
Spy Code game Another way to review vocabulary
(or movie titles() is with a spy code Each
letter of the alphabet is a number and you code
words (or movie titles (using the code) You can
make up the code or have student make up the code
and try to stump their classmates. The code
A1 G7 M13 S19 Y25
B2 H8 N14 T20 Z26
C3 I9 O15 U21
D4
J10 P16 V22 E5
K11 Q17 W23 F 6
L12 R18 X24 Example 5 20
ET 1012319 JAWS
192116518 199265 135 SUPER SIZE
ME 2092011493
TITANIC Make it a game for reviewing or
practicing vocabulary
29
The Ratings System Find your Partner
Activity Use the reading called The Ratings
System. Cut up the answers and the questions and
have students find each other. Each pair reads
the question and answer and later must explain
the question and answer to the class.
The Ratings system 1. When did the rating system
get started? The Rating system went into effect
on November 1, 1968 2. What is the purpose of the
rating system? The movie rating system is a
voluntary system to provide parents with advance
information on films, and to enable parents to
make judgments on movies they want or do not want
their children to see 3. Do the ratings indicate
if a movie is good or bad? The ratings do not
determine or reflect whether a film is "good" or
"bad." The system is not intended to approve,
disapprove or censor any film it merely assigns
a rating for guidance--leaving the decision to
the parents 4. Who gives movies their ratings? A
selected group of parents give the movies their
ratings. They watch each film and, after a group
discussion, they vote on its rating, 5. What
criteria do they use? The rating board uses the
theme, the language, violence, nudity, sex and
drug to make decision. Each of these elements is
assessed is in the context of each individual
film.
30
6. What do the ratings symbols mean? General
Audience. All ages admitted. This signifies that
the film rated contains nothing most parents
will consider offensive for even their youngest
children to see or hear. Nudity, sex scenes, and
scenes of drug use are absent violence is
minimal some dialogue is polite conversation
but does not go beyond common everyday
expressions.
Parental Guidance
Suggested. Some material may not be suitable
for children. This
signifies that the film may contain some material
parents might
not like to expose to their young children .
Explicit sex
scenes and scenes of drug use are absent nudity,
if present, is
seen only briefly, horror and violence do not
exceed moderate
levels. Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some
material may be inappropriate for children under
13. This signifies that the film rated may be
inappropriate for pre-teens. Parents should be
especially careful about letting their younger
children attend. Rough or persistent violence is
absent sexually-oriented nudity is generally
absent some scenes of drug use may be seen.
31
Restricted-Under 17
requires accompanying parent or adult guardian
(age varies in some
locations). This signifies that the rating board
has concluded that the
film rated contains some adult material. Parents
are urged to learn more
about the film before taking their children to
see it. An R may be
assigned due to a film's use of language, theme,
violence, sex or its
portrayal of drug use. No One 17 and
Under Admitted. This signifies that the film is
very adult and that children age 17 and under
should not be admitted to it. The film may
contain explicit sex scenes, an accumulation of
sexually-oriented language, or scenes of
excessive violence. The NC-17 designation does
not, however, signify that the rated film is
obscene or pornographic. 7. Is the rating
system a law? Yes, the rules permit movie
producers to re-edit their films and re-submit
them in hopes of receiving another rating.
Adapted from http//www.filmratings.com/question
s.htm
32
Rate the movie and why Use the surveys which
listed the students favorite movies. Research
the rating the movie received and have students
try to tell why it was given the rating.
Look up ratings at
http//www.hollywood.com/ Example Harry Potter
and the Goblet of Fire is rated PG-13
Lord of the Rings is
PG-13 The Polar Express is G

Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory is PG Fahrenheit 9/11 is
rated R The Godfather is rated R The
Matrix is rated R Bad
Education by Pedro Almodóvar is rated NC-17
33
For Your Information (FYI) Smoking in movies
influences teenagers to start smoking Adapted
from http//www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-0
6/dc-sim060603.php Study finds that children are
exposed to too many violent movies Adapted
from http//www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/20
02-12/dc-sft121902.php Suggestions on how to use
them 1. Reuse some of the previous activities or
games from above. a. some pre-reading
matching b. Question words Who? What? Why?
etc. in pairs c. Time-Line activity (also use
the number in the smoking and violence passages)
d. Mad-Libs e. Make up a survey (for each
reading or two separate surveys) 2. Try a
variation of one of the previous activities
a. Have the students make a Mad-Lib with the
grammar point you are studying now b. Ask
others to fill out the survey (adults, older
classmates, older friends, etc.) c. I prefer
a true or false questionnaire ask all students
to answer truthfully and have them
total the results Examples Have you ever seen
an R rated move? How many?
less than 5, 5 to 10, more than 10, more than
25 Does your favorite actor or
actress smoke?
34
Challenging the gifted students 1. Have
students do some research and have a debate.
2. Do some research and watch some scenes from
movies and talk about the actors who
smoke and the violent scenes and the rating
system 3. Compare the two passages Which
effect is greater from the movies? Children
smoking or violence? Why?
Listening script Adapted from
http//www.suite101.com/article.cfm/teens/14940
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Listening to a teenagers perspective
Pre-listening vocabulary American slang
Review the appropriate equivalent a.
awesome 1. great b. hotspot 2.
favorite place c. chill out 3. relax
and have some fun d. coolest 4. most
popular, best e. new half
5. new girlfriend or boyfriend f.
What gives? 6. What is the problem? g.
Come on 7. Be realistic h. sweetie
8. girlfriend i. heck
9. polite form for hell j.
What is the point? 10. Why? k. to
handle 11. to react in a mature
way l. flicks on 12.
turns on with a remote control m. foul
language 13. bad words, swear words
n. cuss words 14. bad words,
swear words As you review the
words above, ask a student to create a sentence
with each new one and askthe student to create
the sentence in the context of going to see an R
rated movie.
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Pre-listening activity Ask students
to write down the answer to these questions
1. What is an R rated
movie? 2. Name a
popular R rated movie that you have seen.
Why do you think it is
rated R? 3. Would you
take you little sister or brother who is 12 years
old with you to
see this movie? Why or why not?
4. Do you
watch television?
Is there a lot of
violence on TV?
5. Do you use foul
language?
Where do you hear foul
language a lot? You do not need to hear
the answer to these questions or you can use the
answers after you have heard the text.
Listen to the text Listen several times, if
necessary Have students use the
pre-listening words and raise their hands when
the hear one of the words.
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• Post-listening comprehension activity
• Answer based on what you hear
• a. a 16 year old boy c. a 17 year old boy
  
• b. a 16 year old girl d. a 17 year
  old girl
• a. He does not have a date.
• b. He cannot enter the movie since he is not
  17 years old
• c. He does not like the movie.
• d. He thinks that the blockbuster movie is
  bad.
• 3. a. His girlfriend b. His sweetie
  c. His friends d. One of his parents
• 4. a. at 15 b. at 16 c. at 17 d.
  it does not mention an age
• 5. a. the amount of murders
  c. the amount of pressure for sex
• b. the amount of maturity
  d. the amount of foul language
• 6. a. in the hallways at school
  c. at the movies
• b. on television
  d. in all these places mentioned
• For a more advanced class, I would only print the
  answers and they would
• have to listen to the question and then choose an
  answer.

ANSWERS 1. A 2. B 3. D 4. C
5. D 6. A
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Creating a new set of activities The Oscars Now,
we are going to create some activities with this
last reading.
The Oscars! Every January, the attention of the
entertainment community and of film fans around
the world turns to the upcoming Academy Awards.
Hundreds of millions of cinema lovers glue
themselves to their television sets and want to
learn who will receive the highest honor in
filmmaking. The annual Oscar presentation has
been held since 1929. All voting for Academy
Awards is conducted by secret ballot and
tabulated by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The results
of balloting are not revealed until the
now-famous envelopes are opened on stage during
the live television program. The Oscar
represents the best Achievements of the year in
the opinion of those who themselves are at the
top of their craft. Regular awards are presented
for outstanding individual or collective efforts
of the year in up to 25 categories. Up to five
nominations are made in categories with balloting
for these nominations restricted to members of
the Academy branch concerned film editors, for
instance, nominate only for Achievement in Film
Editing. All voting members may nominate for
Best Picture. Awards also are given to the Best
Foreign Language film of the Year, a category
not represented by a branch. Nominations for
awards in these categories are made by a large
committee of members drawn from all branches.
Final winners are determined by vote of all
eligible members.
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In addition to the regular annual awards, the
Board of Governors is empowered to vote
Scientific and Technical Awards, Honorary Awards,
Special Achievement Awards and other honors. In
their first year, the Academy Awards were
presented at a private dinner at the Hollywood
Roosevelt Hotel, with fewer than 250 persons
attending. Public interest proved so great,
however, that the following year the Academy
permitted radio broadcasting of the event.
Television added a new dimension in 1953,
enabling millions throughout the United States
and Canada to watch the ceremonies. Telecasting
in color was begun in 1966, Since 1969, the
Awards program has been telecast throughout the
world, by the mid-1990s reaching movie fans in
over 100 countries. Adapted from
http//www.oscars.org/academyawards/about.html
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Thank you
plamontagne_at_palmertrinity.org