Ideas for summer lessons: summer movie trailers

We’ve almost forgotten how great it is to go to the cinema. A lockdown made us watch movies at home.

Anyway, some films that are planned to launch pretty soon, and we can already enjoy their trailers. Let’s do it together with our students! In this article, you’ll find ideas on how to vary your summer lessons with students of Intermediate and higher level. Use these movie trailers as warm-ups, fillers or extra listening practice in the lesson or homework. 

British movies

Misbehaviour (drama)

A group of women hatch a plan to disrupt the 1970 Miss World beauty competition in London.

Questions to discuss: 

1. Is it based on a real story?
2. What epoch does a movie show?
3. What kind of discrimination do characters face? Is it still actual?

keys: 

1. Yes 
2. 1970-s 
3. Gender discrimination 

There are lots of speculations around beauty contests nowadays, so after discussing the trailer, ask students to practice analytical skills and write an essay on the topic “Beauty contests are all biased”.

Escape from Pretoria (thriller)

Based on the real-life prison break of two political captives, «Escape From Pretoria» is a race-against-time thriller set in the tumultuous apartheid days of South Africa.

Questions to discuss:

1. Where was the movie shot?
2. Have you recognized a famous actor? Do you remember his most famous role?
3. What do characters want to do? Do you think they will succeed?

keys: 

— In prison

— Daniel Radcliffe. He starred in Harry Potter

— They want to escape from prison.

True or false?

1. There is one person who wants to escape.
2. The movie isn’t based on a true story.
3. It’s extremely difficult to escape from that place.
4. The main character makes a key from wood.
5. The main character is single.

keys:

1. False, there is a group of people
2. False, it is
3. True
4. True
5. False, he has a girlfriend 

American movies

The Outpost (drama, history, war)

A small team of U.S. soldiers battle against hundreds of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

Questions to discuss:

1. Which conflict does a movie show?
2. How can you describe soldiers?
3. Do you think the movie is violent?

keys: 

1. The conflict between the USA and Afghanistan

Then students can use social networks to practice reading! As Orlando Bloom stars in the movie make your students check his Instagram* post about “The Outpost” out, guess the meaning of the following words:

— honor

— portray

— outstanding

and make sentences with them.

Greenland (action, thriller)

A family struggles for survival in the face of a cataclysmic natural disaster.

Questions:

1. What are they trying to look at?
2. Why are the crowds of people running?
3. If that happened to you, how would you feel? What would you do?

keys:

1. The comet
   2. They want to escape from their hometown because of the fragments falling down

Then students might read an article and find more about the movie. They should find new words, then create a short text using them all.