Finding Motivation in a Poem

Motivation is probably the most frequently used term for explaining success or failiure in any given task. It`s easy to assume that if students are motivated, they will learn more. Surely, there is much truth to this belief, and we should further our understanding of what motivation really is and learn how to use it in our favor. What does being motivated mean? How can we become motivated to reach our academic goals? If motivation is an inner drive, emotion, or desire that moves us in a direction, it must than be fostered if we are to succeed. To any language learner, creating, fostering and maintaining motivation is key to the learning process, but it is easier said than done. What can we do to get the drive to learn going, to feel pushed in the right direction and keep on until we become fluent speakers of the target language? Bring emotion into play and doing what really sparks sheer joy is my answer. What touches you, what moves you? That`s what you need to focus on.. Cooking, reading, music, poems, or stories conjure up emotions, memories and trigger our learning brains. Our souls are easily touched by the beauty of an inspiring poem, and we need inspiration to exceed our own expectations and move forwards . Please, watch the video below and find inspiration in a poem.

Invictus - A Poem to Inspire - Punctuation Practice

Intermediate +
Punctuation; using commas
APP; Explaineverything - IOS
Ipad - Optional
Camera
Internet Status; offline
Worksheet

Student A - Watch and/or read about movie scene 1 and prepare to tell your parner about it.
Student B - Watch and/or read about movie scene 2 and prepare to tell your parner about it.

Scene 1.

Mandela remembered a game in Barcelona. At the time, the future seemed very bleak, but he was inspired by a song.

According to Mandela, people need inspiration.

Nelson Mandela told the captain of the team that when things got really bad, he found inspiration in a poem.

Because Mandela had the poem, he had the strength to deal with the situation.

On the day of a big match, the captain played a familiar song, so the players would get inspired.

Nelson Mandela wanted the captain to inspire the players, for he wanted to use rugby as a way to unite the country.

The captain understood Mandela because he also knows how important it is to feel inspired in order to accomplish a goal.

Scene 2

The captain of the team decided to visit the prison Mandela went to, for he wanted to understand him better and get inspired.
The whole team visited the prison, but only the captain knew about the poem.
The captain was really touched by the poor conditions, and started remembering the poem.
The captain could hear the poem in his head, and he was really emotional.
At the end, the visit was a great success, and everybody got the inspiration needed

2. Watch a presentation and take notes.

3. Add commas to the sentences if it is necessary.
The players are practicing a lot but nobody knows whether they will be able to win the game.
The president asks the captain to inspire the team for it’s essential that people start trusting each other.
The players the manager and the captain visited the prison.
I don’t know if the players will sing the song or if they’ll keep pretending.
4. Watch this inspiring trailer and write sentences of your own using the guidelines you've studied.

5. Discuss in groups:
Have you ever felt down or really sad and came across someone or something inspiring?
What inspires you?
What are you passionate about?
Name one inspiring movie and say why.
Name an inspiring song or book and say why you find it special.

6. Make a presentation on explainanything about learning punctuation.

Answerkey:
The players are practicing a lot, but nobody knows whether they will be able to win the game.
The president asks the captain to inspire the team, for it’s essential that people start trusting each other.
The players, the manager, and the captain visited the prison.
I don’t know if the players will sing the song, or if they’ll keep pretending.

Invictus Movie Activity - Punctuation- Using Commas

Intermediate +

Puctuation; using commas
APP; Explaineverything -

Ipad  - Optional

Camera

Internet Status; offline

1.


Student A - Watch and read about movie scene 1 and prepare to tell your parner   about it.Student B - Watch and read about movie scene 2 and prepare to tell your parner about it.

Scene 1. 

Mandela remembered a game in Barcelona. At the time, the future seemed very bleak, but he was inspired by a song.

According to Mandela, people need inspiration.

Nelson Mandela told the captain of the team that when things got really bad, he found inspiration in a poem.

Because Mandela had the poem, he had the strength to deal with the situation.

On the day of a big match, the captain played a familiar song so the players would get inspired.

Nelson Mandela wanted the captain to inspire the players, for he wanted to use rugby as a way to unite the country.

The captain understood Mandela because he also knows how important it is to feel inspired in order to accomplish a goal.

Scene 2

The captain of the team decided to visit the prison Mandela went to, for he wanted to understand him better and get inspired.


The whole team visited the prison, but only the captain knew about the poem.


The captain was really touched by the poor conditions, and started remembering the poem.


The captain could hear the poem in his head, and he was really emotional.


At the end, the visit was a great success, and everybody got the inspiration needed.

2. Watch a presentation and take notes.

Movie Scene Punctuation

3. Add commas to the sentences if it is necessary.


The players are practicing a lot but nobody knows whether they will be able to win the game.
The president asks the captain to inspire the team for it’s essential that people start trusting each other.
The players the manager and the captain visited the prison.
I don’t know if the players will sing the song or if they’ll keep pretending.

4. Watch this inspiring trailer  and write sentences of your own using the guidelines you've studied.

Answerkey:

The players are practicing a lot, but nobody knows whether they will be able to win the game.

The president asks the captain to inspire the team, for it’s essential that people start trusting each other.

The players, the managert, and the captain visited the prison.

I don’t know if the players will sing the song, or if they’ll keep pretending.

A Movie Activity to Introduce Indirect Questions

It's amazing the way we find what's righ for us at the point of need. I watched a great movie this weekend. Invictus touched me deeply. I needed to remind myself that I am the captain of my soul.
I'm looking forward to using it next week as I will be teaching indirect questions on Saturday to an outstanding group of high intermediate students who really need to work on their fluency. We had been discussing movies - Unit 10 American Headway 3. I decided to have a smooth transition and try to inspire my students to open up to the idea of speech classes by showing them a compelling movie review.
In class:
I'll show them a wordle cloud and ask them to predict what movie We'll talk about, the plot, actors.




Students will go over the questions on the board:

• Have you seen this movie? What is it about?
• Who are the actors? What do you think about the plot?
• Students will watch this short movie review to notice the question Francois Pienaar asked Mandela, and how it would be different if it started with Could you tell me...When to use one way or another, which one sounds more polite, etc.

I'll use the course book to practice this grammar point and end this controlled grammar stage with a movie activity suggested on moviesegmentstoassessgrammargoals.


Our homework
Students will be invited to bring a movie segment or song that speaks to them and share it with their classmates
E-writing takes place when they post about the song or movie segment on our class blog.