The London International Mime Festival: an idea for a lesson about miming and non-verbal language

The London International Mime Festival  is taking place from Saturday 9 January to Saturday 6 February 2016. It  is an annual theatre event in London and it features live art, new circus, clown and physical theatre at various London venues. It was established in 1977 by Joseph Seelig and Nola Rae.

Click on my Blendspace lesson below to get more information.

An example of a Mime Performance at the Festival

Mime stimulates imagination, physical control and self confidence, moreover non-verbal language is doubtless a very important part of the communication (most of all for non-native speakers who use it while speaking a foreign language to be better understood!). For these reasons I prepared a lesson for esl students about miming and non-verbal language,  using some sources from the Web.

What does "mime" mean?

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/mime

Let's attend a Mime Workshop!

http://drama-in-ecce.com/2012/05/11/mime-workshop-for-all-ages/

Some Esl Miming Games!
http://www.teach-this.com/esl-games/miming-games

Miming Games Worksheets
http://www.eslprintables.com/games_worksheets/miming_games/

Let's have fun with mime vocabulary and theatre audience etiquette with flashcards, quizzes, tests and games!

https://quizlet.com/14677902/mime-vocabularytheatre-audience-etiquette-flash-cards/

Can you guess what they are miming?

What is non-verbal communication?
https://www.andrews.edu/~tidwell/bsad560/NonVerbal.html

Cultural differences in non-verbal communication

As an Italian, I can say that non-verbal communication is very important in my language!

(slides from  my presentation "Differences between Italians and British")

Watch the following videos

Now describe some gestures or body movements that are typical of your own culture.

Never too young to remember - International Holocaust Remembrance Day

“If we bear all this suffering and if there are still Jews left, 

when it is over, then Jews, instead of being doomed, 

will be held up as an example.” 

Anne Frank

January 27th is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day

On 27 January 1945, Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp, was liberated by the Soviet troops during World War II.

What is World War II?
http://history.parkfieldict.co.uk/world-war-ii/why-did-world-war-ii-start

Learn more about the Remembrance Day at the following websites:

The United Nations site:
http://www.un.org/en/holocaustremembrance/

The Unesco site:
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/commemoration-in-memory-of-the-victims-of-the-holocaust/

Over one million children under the age of sixteen 

died in the Holocaust...

Children of the Holocaust

Click on the images below to open my Blendspace lessons about the Holocaust children and Anne Frank.

Anne Frank - A graphic biography

Anne Frank

Anne Frank - the only known video

STUDENTS' TASK

Click on the image below and surf the links.
Read and listen to some excerpts from Anne's diary, then take a quiz.

“Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.”

Primo Levi

Let's talk about the UK (still with Scotland)

At the beginning of the new school year teachers usually explain to their students what they are going to study. Sometimes efl teachers not only teach grammar but also British culture, so one of the first cultural topics they discuss with their students are the geography of the UK and its form of government. Here you can find an interactive mindmap, a digital poster and a  collection of useful websites, just to simplify the work.

Click on the Glogster digital poster below, you will find general information about the United Kingdom and some videos.

Now take a look at my Cacoo mindmap below about the UK form of government. I have edited it with Thinglink to make it interactive. Pass your cursor over the image, you will see that some links will appear.

You can also click on the following link to enlarge the above image:

http://www.thinglink.com/scene/568385850161758208

SCOTTISH REFERENDUM

Last September, 18th Scottish people voted for Scotland independence. The question they were asked to answer was "“Should Scotland be an independent country?” The majority of voters answered "NO". Click on the following link to learn more about the referendum: 

https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/scottish-independence-referendum/about; 

then watch the video below from The Guardian.

Scottish referendum explained for non-Brits

Here you can see the referendum results.

If you want more general information about the Uk government, the Queen and the Royal Family, open my Blendspace lesson.

STUDENTS' TASK

Use Cacoo or some other mindmapping tool to draw your own mindmap about the Scottish referendum (what the referendum process was; what "yes"  and "no" voters wanted, etc.)

Notting Hill Carnival - August, 24 and 25 2014 - What's your favourite Carnival?

Colours, music, stalls, floats and costumes. The  biggest European  street festival  is held in London in August.

London's Afro-Caribbean communities have celebrated their traditions since 1964 but learn more about this festival clicking on the following Blendspace lesson I prepared for you:

Notting Hill Carnival

SOME ESL RESOURCES

Notting Hill Worksheets and Printables

http://www.eslprintables.com/cinema_and_television/movies/drama_movies/notting_hill/

http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi-bin/pdf/index.pl?read=1937

Carnival vocabulary

Practice some Carnival vocabulary, and then take the test at:

http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-90943.php

ESL Resources on Carnivals around the World

The most famous carnivals:

http://www.michellehenry.fr/carnivals.htm

A Video Quiz: Carnivals from around the world:

http://www.eslvideo.com/esl_video_quiz_low_intermediate.php?id=15668

The most famous Italian Carnivals

Have a look at the following information I've put on Thinglink about  three famous Italian Carnival cities. Moreover I've added on Thinglink some videos I've mixed up with Metta. Enjoy!

YOUR TASK

What's your favourite Carnival? Do you celebrate Carnival in your country or city? Write an essay about some particular traditions or masks that characterize your country or city's Carnival.

Aesop's moral stories - let's talk about fables using digital tools

Aesop was an ancient Greek fabulist. He is presumed to have been born in 620 B.C. Unfortunately not much is certain about his life but some agree that June, 4th was his birthday. It's an opportunity for us to talk about fables. Aesop's fables's characters are animals, often with a humorous twist, and his tales always have a moral and a lesson to teach.

If you want to read, watch or listen to Aesop's fables click on the following links:

Aesop's fables summaries:

http://englishmicrodot.blogspot.it/p/aesops-fables-adapted-for-esl.html#AF1

Youtube cartoons about Aesop's fables with subtitles:

https://www.youtube.com/show/aesopsfablesanimatedstoriesinenglish

Aesops's fables audio files with a printable transcript:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/schoolradio/subjects/english/aesops_fables

SOME TASKS FOR YOU

1) WEBQUEST

Now click on the image below to open my Blendspace lesson  and, after reading all the information, write a report about Aesop, his most famous fables and morals.

2) MY OWN FABLE

The following is a Padlet board I made for you. There are 5 simple steps to create your own fable. Click on the image below to open the board, then click on each step to open a link.

Then, make a presentation with Projeqt (you can pin your presentation's URL on my Padlet board!). Click on the link below to open my short example.

Cineforum - some movies based on British or American novels for children

If we want to talk about foreign literature in our EFL class, watching some movies could be very useful. I choose six films based on some British and American novels for children. Three of them (Alice in Wonderland, A Christmas Carol and Peter Pan) allow us to talk about the 19th century literature. The others (The Polar Express, The Golden Compass and Harry Potter) can be used to talk about modern or contemporary literature.

In the following Blendspace lesson that I prepared students can learn some information about some authors of books for kids. You can see the trailers of the six movies. Then you can read a list of some movies taken from children novels if you want to go on watching other films and reading other books. Finally there is a presentation of mine with some information about the novels' authors and the major themes of their books. You can also do some quiz.

Click on the link below and have fun!

An English Cineforum: some movies based on novels for children.

Below teachers can find some interesting links about using movies, videos and  novels in their classroom.

Movies and novels in EFL classes: some links for teachers.

I made the above poster with Piktochart

Click on the following image if you want to view my presentation outside the context of the Blendspace lesson. 

Enjoy your

Travelling into Italian culture - Puglia

Puglia (or Apulia) is the "heel" of Italy.

Click on the following Thinglink image I've created to have some information:

   

https://www.thinglink.com/scene/481523444043743233

I've also created a  presentation with Blendspace . You can find videos, pictures, recipes and information about Apulia: 

 






https://www.blendspace.com/lessons/z47IiKrUtFiKkw/visit-puglia 

And now some information by my students about their town:

In this blog we usually travel around the world and study different cultures, now we want to talk about ourselves! Our school is in Gioia del Colle, Puglia. It literally means "Joy of the Hill" and it is located on the Murge plateau at 360 metres above the sea level.

There is a famous Castle, built in the 12th century, during the time of Norman Count Riccardo Siniscalco d'Altavilla. Destroyed by William the Wicked of Sicily, the castle was rebuilt in 1230 by Emperor Frederick II.

Gioia del Colle is famous for its fantastic "mozzarella"!

This is our school

 

http://www.iclosapiosanfilipponeri.gov.it/

At the following link you can have some information about some monuments of Gioia del Colle:

http://www.infopointbari.com/index.php?pag=luoghi&tipo=Monumenti&citta_s=Gioia+del+Colle&action=Filtra&p=1

Come and visit Puglia!!