There is a widespread belief among teachers that collocations are only reserved for higher levels. Likewise, there
is a popular misconception that authentic video can only be used with higher
levels. This short and fun activity proves otherwise. It is based on a film clip, it focuses
on collocations and it’s aimed at Elementary level students.
Procedure
Preparation
You will need a DVD of the animated film “Flushed
Away”. The scene starts at 1:17 (“when the cat’s away the mice will play”) and
ends at 3:14 (“Goodnight”). Or use the Youtube clip below:
Make a few copies of the page and cut it up so that you have at least one set for a group of 3-4 students.
Pre-task
Give students collocation cards and ask
them to match the verbs with the nouns they go with.
While watching – Watch & Observe
Tell students to watch the clip and put
the cards in the right order – the order the main character (the Mouse) does the
activities. Tell them they might not need all the cards that’s why they should
pay attention as they watch.
Go through the answers with the whole
class. The should have used all the cards except for ride a bike. Highlight the difference between drive (a
car) and ride (a bike, horse)
Post-task
As an extension activity you can focus on
adverbs of frequency (and their position in a sentence) and ask students to say
something about themselves using the collocations above and the following
adverbials:
very often
once/twice a day/week
every day
hardly ever
never
e.g. I never play golf. It’s for rich
people.
I brush my teeth twice a day.
Syllabus fit
The activity can be used to supplement most
Elementary textbooks which have a unit on daily routines or leisure activities.
Alternative
For stronger students / classes you can include
more collocations in each set, which means there will be more false clues for the video clip. These can
be other collocations you’ve studied in class or other daily activities. This will
also give students more language for the post-activity.
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