2006-08-03T15:33:00.000-07:00

Exploring Cyberspace: http://mm.dfilm.com/mm2s/mm_route.php?id=2997818

An Economized Orchestra produced by Cora Chen
Facing the Music—the symphony orchestra is facing a budget cut.

Students watch and listen to the film once or twice for general comprehension. Then ask students what the film is about. Guided listening: ask students to listen for the phrases that contain the word "cut" and write down these phrases. Then discuss the meaning of these phrases and also learn how to use other expressions with the word "cut:"
cut-idioms-by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia

The House Pet Interview produced by Cora Chen
The parrot named "Muse" has a successful interview by Jane and becomes her pet.

The House Pet Interview introduces some tips for a successful job interview. After students watch the film, ask them why the parrot has a successful interview. Then there would be a class discussion about tips for a successful job interview. The students can share other tips for job interviews in their native cultures and compare them with the ones in the U.S. e.g. whether a firm handshake or eye contact between a woman and a man in their cultures is acceptable, etc.

A Hybrid Age produced by Cora Chen

After watching the film, encourage students to answer the following questions:

Can you think of some ways life a few decades ago/a few years ago was different from life today?
How do you think it will be different in the next few years?
What kind of things that will make life a lot easier/convenient for us? Use your imagination to make predictions.

By answering the above questions, students can practice using the "Past Tense" and "Future Tense."

Counting Sheep produced by Cora Chen
Cathy has insomnia. So, she starts counting sheep. . .
This episode introduces the nouns that have irregular plural forms that do not end in -s.

The Four Seasons
Students can learn about the 4 seasons, weather and clothing items from the following films. After students watch the films, ask them to tell the class how many seasons there are in their native countries, and what kind of clothes people wear and what kind of leisure time activities they enjoy during these seasons.

Winter: http://mm.dfilm.com/mm2s/mm_route.php?id=3000761
(2 scenes)

Spring: http://mm.dfilm.com/mm2s/mm_route.php?id=3002219

Summer: http://mm.dfilm.com/mm2s/mm_route.php?id=3000949

Autumn: http://mm.dfilm.com/mm2s/mm_route.php?id=3000956
(2 scenes)

After the films, students are encouraged to retell the stories by using “present tense”, “past tense”, “present or past progressive tenses” or other tenses. They can also give the characters the names they are familiar with, such as Spanish names, Russian names, Chinese names, Japanese names, Vietnamese names and so on.

Cora's ESL page

Cora's Films