In this interactive ESL video lesson students will practice vocabulary chunks through prediction tasks, visual and basic listening comprehension tasks. Besides, pupils will also get a chance to use the newly learnt chunks to create their own sentences and express their ideas.

I think it is most suited from intermediate level and higher.

How would you describe the relationship of grandma and grandson?

How do you think working out this secret handshake made them feel while the grandma was still alive?

What do you think will happen next at the end of the film? Explain your opinion.

Do you believe in reincarnation (=being born again and again)? Why yes or why no?

Asking those who believe in reincarnation: Can you imagine that we meet our loved ones in our next lives?

Do you think we can be reincarnated as animals, e.g. dog, horse, ant?

Do you think a woman can be reincarnated as a man and vice versa?

I think this is such a touching touching, spritual story that everyone can relate to who has or had grandparents they love. So hopefully students will be open to sharing their thoughts and feelings about the short film. And if you're lucky you can use this as a springboard to discussing deeper topics like what happens after death.

Tell the class that they are going to watch a 10-minute film about a grandma and a grandson. You will stop the video a few times and the class will make guesses about what will happen next, and think about the characters' feelings and motivations. There will be a lot of 'chunks' in this lesson, which will be the focus of this lesson. But what are chunks?

Chunks are words that go together very frequently. There are words in the language (in every language) that often go together, while they never go together with other words that have similar meanings. For example, we say 'heavy rain' to describe a torrential rain when a lot of water comes down, but native speakers never say 'big rain' or 'large rain', although the meaning would be absolutely clear. Yet, no. 'Big rain' or 'large rain' are not word combinations you will hear from native speakers. So if you want to sound like a native speaker, you will need to learn chunks. Best of all, chunks not only help you with sounding more natural but they also help you speak faster and more fluently: it's easier for your brain to recall (=think of) five chunks in a sentence than twenty individual words. For example, "I have lot on my plate these days but call me up next week and we'll grab a bite. 'I have a lot on my plate' means I am super busy, I have a lot of responsibilities or a lot of troubles. 'These days' means recently. 'Call me up' means phone me. 'Next week' is another chunk. 'Grab a bite' means eat out in a restaurant. Now students will be more likely to appreciate what you are about to teach them in this class, and hopefully their minds will be more tuned to noticing the chunks they will be coming across.

I don't think there is a need to pre-teach any of the words in the lesson as all of them either become clear from the context or are explained on-the-fly, often as part of the questions/instructions.

Now you are ready to start the video. Tell students that the title is 'Next life'. (Note: Because there are some prediction questions, I don't recommend showing the movie in full before doing the quiz since that would ruin these questions.)

A grandma comes up with a plan. She wants her grandson included in her plan. The theme is the afterlife but it's not heavy viewing at all. On the contrary, it is an uplifting story.

I cut out the first minute of the movie and the rolling credits to make sure you don't run out of class time. Now the net viewing time is around 10 minutes. If you want the full film, click on its Youtube link below.

Vocabulary Chunks Practice - Next Life - Short Film

vocabulary-chunks-practice-next-life-short-film

Let's do English ESL general vocabulary practice. In this interactive ESL video lesson students will practice vocabulary chunks through prediction tasks, visual…