Memorising language chunks creatively helps students to develop fluency whilst improving critical thinking skills. The ideas are short, practical, and based on experience, research, educational psychology , technology and best practice. and experimentation. Inspired by literature, poetry, arts, mnenmonics, mindmapping, visual thinking, and multi-sensory associations.
Practical ideas for really helping students to remember language through whole-brain multi-sensory engagement that involves, makes them think, teaches them how to enjoy challenge and be creative. This is suitable for general education, online learning, traditional set-ups and blended/flipped learning scenarios.
WHERE mind MEETS language through THE ARTS, TECHNOLOGY and PSYCHOLOGY
12. 1) Give students the title of a movie clip they are
about to watch.
Handout blank mind map templates that you have prepared, either on hard
copy or digitally.
Have them brainstorm in groups or pairs.
Tell students to imagine what the movie will be about and add words
and images to their map to represent the storylines they predict.
Then watch the movies as a whole class.
Ask students if the real movie was very different from their stories.
Watch again and ask students to map the similarities and differences on a
new mindmap.
Now put students into pairs from different groups. They must compare and
contrast their maps and tell each other about the similarities and
differences.
14. 2) Follow-up from idea one or stand-alone
activity.
As a follow –up students write the story of their
imaginary movie or even create their own movies
using digital technology.
As a stand-alone activity, you can give students a
topic based on a theme you have in your course
book. Give them key words in mind map form for
revision and tell them to put these words into a
topic-based story or their own movie.
16. 3) Follow-up to idea two or else as a stand-alone
activity.
Students create their stories or movies at home.
Then they create mind maps of their movies for class. In class each
student or pair/group presents the mind maps to the class. Divide the
class into teams.
The class have to guess what the story or movie is about based on the
map, asking only yes/no questions.
The map should be large enough for everyone to see or else on an o
overhead projecter/or in digital format.
18. 4) Alternative follow-up to three or stand-alone
activity
Students create movies. They write the story of the movie at home. Next
day they read out their stories to the class. In this case there are no visual
aids, so it’s essentially a listening activity.
Students listen and map the story.
Have map templates handy so as not to waste time. They just add keywords
to their maps.
Afterwards get students to retell the stories to each other and compare
with the original. Then they can watch the short movie.
Finally, they can embellish/design their maps with images and display around
the class, keep in special project folders or display online through blogs etc.
20. 6) Alternatives to idea five.
Instead of letting student just map anything they want, ask them to focus on
particular parts of the story.
For example:
Ask them to mind map the characters as they imagine their characteristics
and appearance.
Ask them to mind map only nouns, verbs, events.
Alternative, divide them into teams. Each team has a separate focus, some
map the events, others the ideas, other the verbs, others different parts or
speech, others map the feelings or mood.
24. 8) Movie-grammar maps.
Imagine a Mr. Bean movie clip. Mr. Beam always does ridiculous things.
Example of grammar to practice: should/shouldn’t have
Hand out mind map templates with lexical branches (and/or images) and
should/shouldn’t along the branches.
Students watch the movie and write down what Mr. Bean should/shouldn’t
have done.
What others ideas can you come up with?
26. 8) Jumbled words
Give students sets of jumbled words in groups.
Tell them to arrange the words onto a mind map
and then act out their stories for the class.
Then show everyone the real movie –clip and tell
them to map the true story
28. 9) Impressions and feelings
Find an emotive movie clip and let the class watch
it.
Also hand out simple mindmap templates and tell
them to jot down their feelings onto branches
which represent scenes in the movie..
(option)
Roleplay that they are at the cinema with friends
or date & they chat about the movie after,
describing their impressions.
Example from Film English
30. 10) Adjectives
Students watch movie clip and write down
adjectives to describe different parts of the
movie scenes as depicted on mind map branches.
After put them into groups and tell them to put
all of their adjectives together.
Now they can direct their own movies scenes
using these adjectives to make up a story.
Poetry ideas
32. Poetry, rhyme, imagery, story, repetition
I sat there with Sally
We sat there, we two
and I said “ how I wish we had
something to do
Too wet to go out, to cold to play
ball
so we sat in the house, we did
nothing at all
33. Poetry, rhyme, imagery, story, repetition
“Say!
In the dark?
Here in the dark!
Would you, could you, in the
dark?”
― Dr. Seuss, Green Eggs and
Ham“I do not like green eggs and
ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-
Am.”
“Try them, try them, and you
may! Try them and you may, I
say.”
poetry
link
Seussville
34. 10 more ways to use poetry
Link to my
article on
poetry
Class poetry groups online
& in social networks
Acrostic poetry
Grammar through poetry
Limerick poetry
Classic literature and poetry
Word-powered
Picture
poems
Pattern poems
Rap poems
35. 10 more ways to use poetry
Link to my
article on
poetry
Class poetry groups online
& in social networks
Acrostic poetry
Grammar through poetry
Limerick poetry
Classic literature and poetry
Word-powered
Picture
poems
Pattern poems
Rap poems
Poster
lin k
36. 10 more ways to use poetry
Link to my
article on
poetry
Class poetry groups online
& in social networks
Acrostic poetry
Grammar through poetry
Limerick poetry
Classic literature and poetry
Word-powered
Picture
poems
Pattern poems
Rap poems
Poster
lin k
Order of adjectives:
Opinion
Size
Shape
Age
Colour
Nationality
Material
The cute, small, chubby,
ancient, red-haired, Irish
leprachaun.
37. 10 more ways to use poetry
Link to my
article on
poetry
Class poetry groups online
& in social networks
Acrostic poetry
Grammar through poetry
Limerick poetry
Classic literature and poetry
Word-powered
Picture
poems
Pattern poems
Rap poems
Memory
Movies
38. 10 more ways to use poetry
Link to my
article on
poetry
Class poetry groups online
& in social networks
Acrostic poetry
Grammar through poetry
Limerick poetry
Classic literature and poetry
Word-powered
Picture
poems
Pattern poems
Rap poems
Word play,
songs,
Movies,
numbers,
shapes
Mnenmonic peg system
Watch this
space for my
future articles
on this topic
39. 10 more ways to use poetry
Link to my
article on
poetry
Class poetry groups online
& in social networks
Acrostic poetry
Grammar through poetry
Limerick poetry
Classic literature and poetry
Word-powered
Picture
poems
Pattern poems
Rap poems
Comics!!
In education
Social and emotional
40. 10 more ways to use poetry
Link to my
article on
poetry
Class poetry groups online
& in social networks
Acrostic poetry
Grammar through poetry
Limerick poetry
Classic literature and poetry
Word-powered
Picture
poems
Pattern poems
Rap poems
Comics!!
In education
Social and emotional
41. 10 more ways to use poetry
Link to my
article on
poetry
Class poetry groups online
& in social networks
Acrostic poetry
Grammar through poetry
Limerick poetry
Classic literature and poetry
Word-powered
Picture
poems
Pattern poems
Rap poems
Comics!!
In education
Social and emotional