Fun Fridays

So today is the the last day before Spring Break and I am thinking of what to do with my ESL class that will keep them engaged. Last might I was thinking of differetn activities to do, but one thing that I usually do is put on a movie. At first this seems like free time, but if structured right it can be a a fun and engaging teaching moment.

First pick a movie that all your students can enjoy (middle school - spiderman). A story that both the boys and girls in your class will enjoy. Before you start the movie have the students make a prediction about what they think is going to happen in the movie. Even if they have already seen the movie this will get them thinking.

Start the movie and instruct the students to take notes of important things that happen. Stop the movie every 10-15 minutes and question.
1) What has happened so far?
2) Who are the main characters?
3) If you were Spiderman what would have have done?
4) What do you think will happen next?
5) What is the main problem in the movie?

Ask the questions to the class and then continue with the movie. Before the period is over the studnets will write a summary of the movie. This makes for a good lesson right before any vacation. It is fun and it is a review a review of reading skills applied to a movie.