BrainPOP ESL | Lesson Plan

GRADES 3-5; 6-8; 9-12

OBJECTIVES

Students will:

practice the new vocabulary words in a Word Sort activity.
listen for passive sentences in the movie It Was Invented (L3U1L2), and ask and answer questions about inventors and inventions.
Use the new vocabulary and the past simple passive to talk about inventors and inventions.

VOCABULARY

MATERIALS

PREPARATION

Gather visuals to help reinforce the vocabulary words.
Gather visuals of famous inventors, artists, authors, composers, etc., to practice past simple passive sentences.
Project or write the following words for the Word Sort on the board, or make sets of the words for each pair of students:

also
create
chip
dark
delicious
destroy
dim
dry
past
present
small piece
tasty
too
wet
Make copies of a two-column table: Inventions and Inventors, or have students make their own.
Prepare a worksheet with significant dates from the movie, or write them on the board.
Prepare a card with a list of commands for a student to perform.
Make enough copies of the Verb Word Search for each student.

LESSON PROCEDURE

Vocabulary

Watch the Vocabulary movie to introduce the new words, using any additional visuals you may have. Stop to ask questions, give examples, and ask students to make connections to the words.
Project the picture side of Flash Words onto the board or interactive white board. Students label the words they know and then flip the pictures to check if they are correct.
Divide the class into pairs to do a Closed Word Sort with the words listed above in the Preparation section. Project or write the words on the board, or make sets of the words for each pair of students. Students must find pairs of words and sort them into Synonyms or Antonyms.

Grammar

Use pictures of famous inventors and inventions, artists, authors, or composers to introduce the difference between the past simple in active and passive voice. For example:

a. The Wright Brothers invented the flying machine.
The flying machine was invented by the Wright Brothers.
b. Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet.
Romeo and Juliet was written by Shakespeare.
Watch the Grammar movie.
Challenge question: Write a sentence on the board with an intransitive verb (one that doesn’t take an object). For example: The accident happened yesterday. or It rained a lot. Can the sentences be changed to passive? Why not?

Movie

Watch the movie. Students listen for passive sentences.
On a second viewing, students work in pairs to complete the Inventions and Inventors table. Students practice asking and answering questions using the information in their tables and prompts, such as:
Name an inventor from the movie. What was invented by him/her?
(Example: The light bulb was invented by Thomas Edison.)
Students watch the movie again, and write answers to the following questions, using the past simple passive.
What happened:
a. on February 11, 1847? (Edison was born.)
b. in 1879? (The light bulb was invented.)
c. on October 18, 1931? (Lights were dimmed.)
d. in 1891? (The game of basketball was invented.)

Features

Watch Hear It, Say It. Students may listen and repeat sentences from the movie, or record their own voices and listen back.
Students do the remaining interactive features of the lesson: Play It, Warm Up, and You Can Do It.

ACTIVITIES

As students watch the movie, they copy down any sentences they like that are examples of past simple passive. Pause the movie as necessary. Distribute cards and paper clips for them to copy one of the sentences. Each word of the sentence goes on a separate card and is then clipped together. Students work in pairs and exchange sentences. Each pair of students puts together two new sentences. Students can share the sentences with the class. The sentences can then be sequenced according to the movie.
Write commands on a card. For example:

1. Open a book.
2. Close the book.
3. Give a pen to one of your friends.
4. Move a chair to a different place.
5. Throw a piece of paper in the garbage.
Write the following words on the board:

book
pen
chair
piece of paper
Give the card to a student and ask him/her to silently do what the card says. When the student has finished the actions, ask the class to say or write what happened to each of the objects listed on the board. They must answer using the past simple passive.
For homework, have students search the Internet or other resource for basic information about an inventor not mentioned in the movie. The next day, roundrobin and ask students to share a sentence or two about their inventors. At least one sentence must be in the past simple passive.
Give students the Verb Word Search and remind them to fill in the 2nd and 3rd form of the verbs on the bottom.