Compare and contrast essay

This short asignment is intended to give students an example of how to write a simple (two-paragraph) comparative essay. The theme of the assignment is "technology," and students are asked to compare/contrast one negative and positive point for one example of a piece of technology. This example highlights the airplane. This assignment is designed to suppliment activities for the film Blade Runner; however, it can also be used as a stand-alone lesson.


Assignment

Scene from the film "Roman Holiday" (1953)

"Scene on the Spanish Steps"

By annonymous request I am am posting a lesson for the 1953 American classic, Roman Holiday, starring Greggory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. Interestingly, this film has maintained a very strong following in Japan, and it continues to be popular even among young people who would normally have only minimal interest in old films (i.e. my students, ahem).

Video

Lesson plan

Film summaries

Lvl: Beginner
Subjects: Introductions; Love; Romance; Dreams

Scene from the film "Blade Runner" (1982)

"She's a replicant" scene from the 1982 film Blade Runner

I absolutely love this film, based on the novel by sci-fi master Phillip K. Dick (author of Minority Report, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly and many more). As the reader may or may not have been able to tell from this blog, I have a penchant for the sci-fi genre. Many such films, however, are pretty bleak (this one included) and thus a bit difficult to discuss in class. But I think Blade Runner is a nice exception; it is dark, to be sure, but also can inspire thought-provoking discussion about human's relations with technology. Find links to the video and lesson plan below, and hope you enjoy!

Video

Lesson plan

Vocabulary Review 1

Vocabulary Review 1

This review lesson focuses on vocabulary. The lesson covers material from three films: Star Wars, Rushmore, and Back to the Future.

Lesson plan

Reported Speech Review Lesson

Reported Speech

Here are two review/grammar lessons for practicing reported speech. This is commonly a difficult part of speech for Japanese ESL students to master. The contents of the Lesson plan 1 also connect with some of the films previously covered in class.

Lesson plan 1 (Movies)
Lesson plan 2 (General)

Song from the musical "West Side Story" (1961)

"America"

The kids have been pressing me to do a musical in class, and I finally caved to their demands. My two stipulations, however, were that the musical had to touch on social issues and also have good music (as decided by me, an "objective" critic who seldom listens to songs from musicals). The compromise was West Side Story, which I think nicely fits the above two criteria. Links to the song, "America," and accompanying lesson plan are below.

Video

Lesson plan

Lvl: Advanced

Subjects: Discrimination; Racism; Minorities

Scenes from the Film "E.T." (1982)

Scene 1: "It was nothing like that!"

After a fairly long hiatus from posting over summer break, I am back with a fresh set of film lessons. This first one is from the fantastic 1982 Steven Spielberg film, E.T. The film beautifully captures the struggles and challenges of a young boy growing up, and emphasizes the importance of friendship and compassion. Rated, uh, I guess PG, for language, whatever that means.

Video

Lesson plan

Film summary

Scene 2: "Across the Moon"

Although there's hardly any dialogue, this is perhaps one of the most iconic scenes from the film, and thus, I felt, worth a view. Elliott and E.T. fly across the moon.

Video

Lvl: Intermediate

Subjects: Growing up; loneliness; family