Frightening Situations

Intermediate

Frightening situation

Storytelling

1. What scares you the most - being stuck in an elevator or delivering a speech to a roomful of strangers? 

Look at the situations below and check the ones that you have experienced. Rank them from 1 to 3. One is the most frightening for you, and three the least frightening. Prepare to justify your choices - See the useful expressions below to enrich your talk.

Being stung by a bee

Racing in a car

Being stuck in an elevator

Experiencing a natural disaster

Delivering a speech to strangers

Having a lot of turbulance during a flight

Useful language

It scares me to death

I get a little shaky

I go out of my mind

I can't cope with...

2. Watch the movie below and answer the following questions:

1. What makes this scene interesting?
3. How would you react to this situation?

Esl Lesson- Facing Challenges - Conjunctions

Discuss in pairs

Have you ever seen the movie The King's Speech?Would you like to see it? Why? Why not?What do you know about t he story?

Have you ever delivered a speech or workshop?

How would you feel if you had to deliver a speech to a huge audience?

Why are some people really afraid of speaking in public?
What could happen to a person who is terrified of speaking in public when delivering a speech to a very large audience?

Watch the scene to check your answers.

  

Group work
Decide on three pieces of advice you would give the king to overcome his stammering before delivering a very important speech.


Grammar practice - paired conjunctions
Answer the questions. Use paired conjunctions to join the answers to the following questions. 

Use  both… and   Has he learned how to trust himself?       He  has learned how to control his nerves.    He has learned how to trust himself. _______________________________________________________________  Did the king talk to Asians?  The  king talked to Europeans.  The king talk to Asians? ________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________   Was the  English people afraid of what would happen during the war?   French people was afraid of what would happen during the war.   English people was afraid of what would happen during the war. _________________________________________________________________________
Use not only… but also     Did the king work on his self- esteem?   I know the king worked on his speech.    The king worked on his self-esteem too.    Did he live with his children?    I know the king lived with his wife.  The king lived with his children too.   Was the king a devoted student?    I know the king was a devoted man.   The king was also a devoted father.
use  either or The king had to give the speech, or his brother had to do it. Is that right?  The teacher could be with the king, or his wife could be with him. Is that right?  The oldest brother had to become king, or the youngest one could become king. Is that right?

Use neither… nor

The king didn’t like speaking to small groups. Did he like delivering important speeches?

The king never used swear words. Did he use informal words?

Discuss

A teacher helped the king overcome his difficulty and deliver a wonderful speech. Watch the second scene and jolt down some of the strategies the king used.


















Speaking
Have you ever overcome a difficulty? You'll tell a partner about it. Take a look at the questions below to help you remember. 

Have you ever had to quit a habit?

Have you ever had to overcome a difficulty?

Have you ever felt nervous about doing something?
What happened?
Why was the situation difficult?
How did you feel?
Did you overcome your difficulty?
Were there consequences?
Was there a lesson to be learned?

Harry Potter- Movie Activity - Frightening Situation - Using Movies in Class

We, EFL teachers usually share stories in class. I love Harry Potter and many of my students do too.
I use this segment from The Prisoner of Azkaban to involve and help students notice the difference between ed/ ing adjectives. There is anaysis and opportunity to use the language to tell a story of their own. Here is the worksheet in case you decide to give it a try.


I Usually invite students to record their stories.