Bob Wilson
evaluates project work in two ways. While students are working
on their projects he acts as a guide-on-the-side and uses an
excel to keep a record of how well students are using their
time, how well they are working as part of a team and other
aspects. You can download a generic excel for this class time
record below and adjust it to your particular situation. He also
uses an excel to evaluate the students when they are presenting
their work. Once again you can download a generic editable
version of this below.
CLASS TIME RECORD
PRESENTING THE
PROJECT EVALUATION SHEET
PROJECTS READY TO USE
TOURIST SURVEY & PRESENTATION SKILLS
RATIONALE
This is one of my most popular
projects as students love getting the chance to speak English to
real people. Learning how to use presentation software is also a
vital skill they are going to need throughout their lives.
Learning how to speak in public is also very important and they
will see how practice improves their technique.
INSTRUCTIONS
1
Organise the class into
teams of four. 2 girls and 2 boys makes for
successive groups.
2
Students prepare a
questionnaire on a subject of their choosing such as
holidays. 10 questions plus name, age and
nationality works well.
3
The class go to a local
tourist hotspot and interview tourists with their
questionnaire and a clipboard.
4
Students then prepare a
presentation where thery show the results of their
survey including graphs.
Use these two presentations to teach
students the basics of slide design and how to speak and act
in a presentation.
SLIDE DESIGN
BODY LANGUAGE FOR
PRESENTATIONS
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ppt
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ppt
SHORT FILM PROJECT
RATIONALE
The omnipresence of smartphones and
tablets means that students may now make films with great ease.
The processes involved in making a film provide a huge input of
target language skills. Popular topics for films include:
A Famous TV show
A documentary
A dramatization
Music videos
Masterchef Junior is a
very popular choice as teams have to decide on
recipes and film the show at home in the kitchen.
This works well with
interviews. Students can also add subtitles when
interviewees don't speak the target language.
Students love writing
mystery stories and police series and adventures
Some classes enjoy
taking a pop song, writing their own lyrics and
working out dance routines.
SKILLS
Making a film
requires specific skills and planning in order to get a good
result. These skills are detailed in the videos below.
FILM SCRIPT WRITING
THE STORYBOARD
CAMERA ANGLES
It
is very easy to write your film script like a
professional. Just follow the simple guidelines
shown in the video above.
Storyboards are like
comics and are fun to do. They help you plan your
filming schedule and camera angles efficiently
A movie that doesn't
edit between different camera angles is boring!
Using a variety of camera angles for interviews and
action scenes makes your film great to watch.
NORMALIZATION
COLOUR GRADING
MAKING MOVIES WITH
SMARTPHONES
Different scenes have different volume levels, so
when you watch your movie you have to keep changing
the volume which is a fail! Use your editing
software to make all the volume levels the same.
Editing software has
filters to give your whole movie the same look and
feel and to give a similar lighting effect to the
whole movie. This makes your work look cool.
Here are some tips
for using your smartphone for movie making. There
are lots of videos about this on youtube. Take some
time to check some out and pick up some great ideas.
CELEBRITY FLASHBACKS
RATIONALE
Students spend two weeks following
famous people they are interested in on Instagram, Tweeter and
other social networks and then put together a movie using the
material they have gathered. The aim is to collect and use real
English.
INSTRUCTIONS
1
Make teams of three or
four.
2
Each student chooses a
famous person to follow on social networks.
3
Over two weeks they
gather images and text on the person they are
following.
4
Now students make a
movie using their material. The movie starts with
the famous people, interpreted by the students,
having a coffee together in Starbucks or somewhere
like that. They each start talking about their lives
and the movie goes into flashback.
BULLYING AT SCHOOL ROLE PLAYS
RATIONALE
Students will draw on their own
experience of bullying and what makes them feel bad at school.
Adolescents don't always find it easy to put themselves into
other people's shoes and this is a vital skill for developing
emotional intelligence. Acting out real experiences will help
adolescents find ways to cope. And remember, if you are
suffering from bullying, tell your parents and teachers
IMMEDIATELY!
INSTRUCTIONS
1
Make teams of three or
four.
2
Each team spends time
thinking about real experiences they have had at
school which have been upsetting for them, such as
being excluded from a party.
3
Allow the students a
week to work on a role play or representation of an
incidence of bullying.
4
Each team now performs
their scene in front of the class.
5
It is now vital to allow
a class discussion to unfold after each team. This
will help students find solutions to these problems.
MORE COOL PROJECTS
CRITICAL THINKING ROLEPLAYS
TEENAGE PROBLEMS DISCUSSION
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ppt
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ppt
Critical thinking is one of the top
skills demanded by companies today. A project to heighten
critical thinking skills betters students ethics and makes them
more independent-minded. It is also a huge source of relevant
emergent language.
Adolescents often have arguments with their parents.
Let's look at what causes friction between mums,
dads and their teenage children.
LEARNING STYLES PRESENTATION
WHICH SMARTPHONE?
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ppt
Or download
ppt
Many students and teachers don't know that it is a
scientific fact that we all learn in different ways.
Knowing how your own brain learns will help you
achieve success at school and college.
Which smartphone is the best value for money? Which
is the coolest? Which ones are fails? It's time to
do some market research.
