Fabulous Films - Walk the Line

Short description

This lesson plan  uses Walk the Line, the film about Johnny Cash’s life, and an interview with the singer to get an insight into a person’s challenges and will power (listening skills).

Pupils study and perform a song to enrich their vocabulary and improve speaking skills; they work with sub-standard English and as a final product they prepare a speech about Johnny Cash’s life, songs and challenges (speaking skills, digital competence). An additional (and optional) task investigates another perspective: The meaning of clothes. What messages are artists sending to those around – and to themselves through the way they dress when performing

The tasks address a differentiated classroom from struggling to advanced learners by using a game, a singing competition and an online interview with tapescript.

Vocational themes

HO - omsorgsfeltet,  fysiske, psykiske og sosiale behov hos mennesket.
MK - tradisjonelle medier…nye kanaler, produkter, tjenester.
DH - utvikle forståelse for estetiske problemstillinger knyttet til kulturer, tradisjoner og trender.
SSA - mellommenneskelige relasjoner, kulturforståelse og etikk.

Opplegget støttes i Læringsplakatens punkt

Skolen skal fremme tilpassa opplæring og varierte arbeidsmåtar og i Generell del av læreplanen, f. eks. Det integrerte menneske: " å gi sterke opplevingar ved dei fremste menneskelege ytingar slik vi kjenner dei frå litteratur og kunst, frå arbeid, handling og forsking - og gi kvar einskild sjansen til å oppdage og utvikle dei kimar som ligg i eigne givnader."
 

Competence Aims in K06c

Engelsk

Språklæring

• vurdere og bruke ulike situasjoner, arbeidsmåter og læringsstrategier for å videreutvikle egne ferdigheter i engelsk
• vurdere egen framgang i arbeidet med å lære engelsk

Muntlig kommunikasjon

• vurdere og bruke egnede lytte- og talestrategier tilpasset formål og situasjon
• lytte til og forstå sosiale og geografiske varianter av engelsk fra autentiske situasjoner
• uttrykke seg på en nyansert og presis måte med god flyt og sammenheng, tilpasset formål og situasjon

Kultur, samfunn og litteratur

• drøfte engelskspråklige filmer og andre kulturuttrykk fra forskjellige medier

Vocational education:

Healthcare, childhood and youth development (HO), , Design, arts and crafts / media production (DH), Service and transport
(SSA)
See Overview of competence aims and themes

Teaching Objectives

The project should enable pupils to:

• achieve good knowledge  about the life of Johnny Cash, his dreams, songs  and his challenges
• transfer specific knowledge to general insight into challenges people face in life
• improve their general and programme related vocabulary and grammar/language skills
• deliver a good speech in group
• record and submit a speech about challenges in Johnny Cash`s life
• create and present a poster and participate in peer assessment of this (optional)

Debriefing and Assessment

• Pupils are engaged in the topic from the beginning; they are asked to do some research, reflect and evaluate the final speech (peer editing)
• Pupils are actively involved in the process of teaching and learning by working in groups (teamwork)
• The assignment helps pupils understand their own learning and develop appropriate strategies
• The assignments build students’ skills for peer and self-assessment.

Resources

Attachments

• Pupils’ worksheet with assignments for pre-,  while-, and after-viewing activities (pdf)
• Concept circle (pdf, handout)

Links

• San Quentin (YouTube, song)
• Walk the Line (YouTube, song)
• I Got Stripes (YouTube, song)
• The Ring of Fire (YouTube, song)                                                                             
• Interview with Johnny Cash. Music’s Man in black . Video clips, podcasts and full text. (Academy of Achievement. 1993.) 
• The Meaning of Clothes (Podcast. BBC Learning English)

Preparations

Teacher

• Provide the film Walk the Line (DVD);
• Make sure pupils have access to the Internet;
• Give pupils some instructions on recording and uploading a speech by using a recorder (Lydinnspilling) on their computer;
• Make sure pupils have  headphones/earplugs to listen to the interview and songs.

Plan of Lessons

Topic

Challenges in life. Johnny Cash’s life story.

Film

Walk the Line. Directed by James Mangold (2005), a true story about Johnny Cash – a country music legend - and his life)

Previewing activities

Engaging pupils in Johnny Cash`s songs and life

1. The pupils are to listen to a song and answer questions, and
2. Team work: They will have 3 min. to collect interesting facts about Johnny Cash to be shared in class. Details on pupils’ worksheet (see Resources), which needs to be handed out.

Watch the film Walk the Line (135 min.)

While-viewing activity

Pupils will use a concept circle (handout, see Resources) and fill in four themes/ideas/concepts which they think are central in the film. They then walk around and share their ideas with at least three classmates /(details on pupils’ worksheet).

After viewing activities

1. Teamwork.
   The pupils will work in groups of 4 and create a storyline of Johnny Cash’s life. They will use a wordbank for support and fill in bubbles marked 1-6. This part includes a peer assessment part.
2. Pupils  will work with some quotes from the film (see worksheet)
3. Pupils will study the lyrics of some songs by Johnny Cash and perform a song
4. Pupils will listen to an interview with Johnny Cash, learn about his challenges in life, and then, in order to practise new vocabulary, talk about what might be their future challenges in life.
5. They will prepare and help each other to coedit a 5-min. speech for recording. Details in pupils’ worksheet (see Resources) 
6. An additional task is added for those who would look closer into the meaning of clothes. This task includes the Carousel feedback, which is a form of peer assessment.

The content, process and final products meet the needs of the differentiated classroom: from struggling to advanced learners.

Follow-up

Further work might involve topics such as:

• the American Dream (from rags to riches)
• addiction;
• celebrities;

Pupils can study Penguin Readers about different celebrities, such as Martin Luther king, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan with a focus on their challenges in life, their contribution to society, etc.Comments

Pupils like activities that involve singing and the game on quotes.

Teamwork, self- and peer editing actively involve pupils in the process of teaching and learning.
They develop strategies and working skills which are important in their future studies or work.

References

Source (and key) for quotes from the film: IMDb (sett inn lenke)Developed byTatjana Berg, FYR-koordinator Hedmark fylke
Et FYR-opplegg utarbeidet i samarbeid med Fremmedspråksenteret