This afternoon I am teaching a lesson in my new course "Anglicky bez učebnic" (English Without Books) and the topic is: Recommendations in a city. It is my own lesson which I´ve just put together and it´s based on English Out There´s* Lesson 1 (in the Intermediate e-book), which is about London. This is a follow-up lesson located in my city of Brno.
I am using a short film about Brno (the second largest city in the Czech Republic) made by a young American man David Price living in Brno in 2006. The film has two parts – hence the two Youtube videos.
This lesson plan will work best for teachers in Brno but I think anyone can use it. What do you think?
Warm-up + gist question: What do you expect David to show us in his film about Brno? Are you expecting a „professional“ film or a „home-made“ type of film? (check and get feedback after watching both parts)
Before watching for the first time, students should have these questions in hand. Go through them and then play the first part:
1) Which part of Brno does David live in?
2) Which two words does he use for „tramvaj“?
3) Does he like everything on the Freedom Square?
4) Which two adjectives does he use to describe the furniture in his Brno flat?
5) What is „a coat rack“ and what is „a drying rack“?
7) When at the Špilberk Castle, David says: (it is)… a very ________ -looking castle, it dates ______ to the 14th century. It _______ Brno very well, saved the city in ________ battles. As you can see we´ve been _________ blessed with _______ colours. 8) What do you think the word „moat“ means? He speaks about it when overlooking the main entrance to the castle.
9) What´s his favourite view when at the top of the Špilberk Castle? He says that it has two ________ and it is one of the ______ of Brno.
10) Which sights do you expect to see in Part 2? And how about the beautiful nature surrounding Brno?
Check answers with students. You can play the parts where they fill in the words again, for listening practice.
Part 2 is optional. A nice expression to teach from part 2 could be "the hub (of the city)" but I´d mainly let them just watch and relax after the previous activities.
(There are three universities in Brno and one of them is quite famous around Europe, unfortunately David managed to misspell it and mispronounce it. Find out
here which one I mean if you aren´t from Brno. Anything else David didn´t get right about Brno?)
Check the warm-up questions at this point. Get feedback about the film and ask students whether they would like to make a film like this in Brno or in a different town. What would they show in the video? How long would it be? Would they just show sights or also some cultural events, people on the street, their friends? (Idea: You can make your own film with your students and upload it to Youtube for others to see! It´s great practice of English, mixed with modern technology, something especially young students love!)
Alternatively, if the students are from Brno, you could discuss all the construction changes which have taken place in the centre since 2006. An interesting discussion could follow on the topic of changes in urban areas. To learn more about Brno, go to Brno Now, a great website in English.
Let me know if you tried the lesson and whether it worked for you. On which level did you use it? Any suggestions for improvement are MOST WELCOME!
Can´t wait to teach this lesson today!
