Still newish to doing Movie Talks, I have been enjoying the milage that I get out of one short video. Movie Talk, if you haven’t heard, is a technique where the teacher shows a video and along with the class narrates the story in the target language, giving students that all-important input.
- This is the resource folder for this post. You will see it also contains the examples from my last post on Movie Talks.
Take a look here at Rhapsodie pour un pot au feu as an example of how a teacher could talk about a video. I have put in the questions a teacher could ask to get students talking, previewing the vocabulary for themselves and other students in the class.
I use in my classes a version of Movie Talk using still pictures, as you saw in my last example. I take screen shots instead of clicking pause in order to narrate the story. As I tend to pick videos that have spoken audio, I don’t want to start and stop randomly during the narration and dialogue. Therefore, it is a better fit for me to take screen shots from the video, gather them in a presentation and have students talk about them.
Please look at this example from Une vie de chat. And, what I am excited to share with you are the other activities that I use to add even more chances for students to get input on the topic chosen for the unit. For this clip, I have a script that students read and a sequencing activity. Students also could be asked to draw the story as they listen to the teacher read the script and they could be asked to rewrite the story with three changes for their classmates to pick out.
You might have caught in an earlier blog post that I shared yet another Movie Talk called Vinz et Lou. Here it is again in case you didn’t catch it and to illustrate yet another way of doing this method. In this example at the beginning I show pictures without words and ask students what is happening in the pictures and talk myself about what happens in the story, then I show the clip. If there is a cliff-hanger in the video, I stop discussing the pictures before that point and allow suspense to build, then show the clip. Finally, I read through the sentences that go with the pictures.
I continue to like Movie Talk and am enjoying pursuing this technique further. I can see that many of you read the blog. Please consider, if it is useful to you, liking this post or leaving me a comment to tell me where you are with Movie Talk and / or what resources you have found. In addition, if you want to explore more, click the link “Movie Talk” to the right to read prior posts on this topic.
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8 responses to “Movie Talk Update”
For sequencing, I like to screen shot the video and put small pictures into a word doc. I print on card stock and usually in color. (I reuse this resource across years.) I fit quite a few…maybe 15-20 pictures on a page? Then I print exactly that many word boxes, too. Students match up word cards with picture cards and practice retelling what happened. “Elle a vu…. ensuite elle est entrée…blah blah.” I like it for teaching passé composé and for introducing imparfait in a more natural, CI way.
I forgot to say… I cut them up and put pictures and words in a baggies. Students first put the story in order, then retell.
That’s a great way to support language learning. In reading the words you wrote about the pictures, the students are getting additional input. Thanks for the comment!
Thrilled to see a resource on Une vie de chat! That is coming up in my French 8 class in a few weeks. Folks who teach this movie can see more resources on my blog here: https://mmeblouwolff.weebly.com/teaching-with-film/une-vie-de-chat-intermediate-low
Rebecca, thanks for being so generous with the resources for this film– film ressources take so long to make. I think readers could use my activity as an introduction to the film.
Glad you are enjoying Movie Talks. We have a group on IFprofs called “Movie Talk”. Feel free to use and also share your resources there!
I have found that sharing to be very helpful! And, I have shared six of these there. I would encourage readers to especially consider the videos called Lait drôle de la vie, Le Cadeau, l’Omelette, Pip and the Graveyard Shift.
Merci!!