Christmas Greetings

Having shared this wonderful year with you all, we would really like to thank you for your feedback and support.

It is our hope that next year will find us with renovated strength to embark upon new ideas, projects and dreams. Now it is just time for family get-togethers and some rest!




May you have the best Christmas surrounded by your beloved ones and the happiest New Year.




Challenge Education

Dealing with functions

Although there are different approaches to teaching functions, we believe that illustrating the language in context is the clearest way. When students see people apologising, inviting, suggesting, etc, they fully comprehend what functions mean and how to deal with them.

Here is the lesson plan prepared to work with the movie The Haunted Mansion. The main character, Jim Evers, is talking to his wife: is he apologising? Is he introducing himself? What is he doing?

Enjoy this Lesson Plan with your Pre-Intermediate students and let us know how it works out.

If you haven’t seen the film, here’s the trailer.

Some reasons why using movies in a ESL/EFL classroom is a great idea

Working with feature films

• Is intrinsically motivating
• Exposes students to different native speaker voices, slang, reduced speeches, stress, accent, dialects
• Provides contextualized linguistic, paralinguistic and authentic cross-cultural information

You can use them to

• Practise listening strategies and fluency
• Illustrate grammar and pronunciation points
• Learn new vocabulary, idioms and context-bound expressions
• Present cultural background
• Encourage theme-based discussion
• Provide enjoyable language learning opportunities

“Using authentic sources from the native speech community helps to engage students in authentic cultural experiences” (Peterson & Coltrane, 2003).

References
King, J. 2002. “Using DVD feature films in the EFL classroom.” The weekly column.
Marcikiewicz, A. “How to Teach Through Culture and Culture Through Popular Movies?”
Peterson, E. & Coltrane, B. 2003. “Culture in Second Language Teaching”, Centre for Applied Linguistics Website.
Picture by Siggito http://www.flickr.com/photos/siggito/2218711219/

7th International Congress for ELT Managers and Directors of Studies

We would like to thank you all for sharing rewarding moments with us at the ABS' 7th International Congress for ELT Managers and Directors of Studies.



It is always a pleasure to meet Movie Guide users ready to give their enthusiastic feedback, and also make new friends.

The Producers: A New Movie Guide

We are delighted to announce the release of a new Movie Guide, this time based on the film “The Producers” .



For those of you who enjoy teaching through music, this Movie Guide is a perfect combination of both: teaching material and music.
Also, for Business English teachers, there are 4 different Lesson Plans prepared to work with adults in working situations.

With a total of 14 Lesson Plans, this Movie Guide based on “The Producers” caters for all levels and ages. We really hope you can enjoy this guide together with your students, be them teenagers or adults. We are looking forward to your comments and feedback.

Movie Guide 23 based on the film "Hitch"

Do you fancy dancing?
Watch this clip from "Hitch" and think what you can do with it to enjoy English with your students.

After watching the clip, you may have a lot of different ideas on how to use it in a classroom and we would really appreciate if you share them with all Movie Guide users.

Here, our suggestions for elementary students.
Every movement Alex does has a funny name that students will easily remember. You can encourage the bravest to dance while learning parts of the body.
Go over our lesson plan and enjoy putting it into practice.

Hitch Scene 15 - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Hitch Scene 15

You will find this and other amusing clips in the Official Website of the movie.

The complete Movie Guide based on "Hitch" has 16 lesson plans to work with different scenes and different levels. Check the Index and see if it matches your needs.

What did you do last Saturday 14th June?

We participated in the APIBA Annual Seminar. This year, the seminar focused on “Screens and Learners: What teachers need to know to meet 21st-century students’ needs: computers, DVDs, TV, Cell phone, MP3s, MP4s, iPods, etc.”


In our workshop, we shared tips on how to design lesson plans to work with movies in the EFL/ESL classroom.

We were very pleased, and it was a really rewarding session, where we could also meet colleagues and old friends.

What’s Your Missing Movie Guide?

We may be working with the movie of your dreams.

A new month calls for a new Movie Guide, thus here are our next releases:

Challenge Education Movie Guide 33 based on the film: Ratatouille
Challenge Education Movie Guide 34 based on the film: The Producers
Challenge Education Movie Guide 35 based on the film: The Godfather
Challenge Education Movie Guide 36 based on the film: Scent of a Woman

As we have always listened to MG users’ suggestions, some of our titles were chosen by them. Consequently, we would really like you to go on participating in the selection by suggesting movies you may be interested in working with.
There are already 36 guides based on different films, but what is your missing Movie Guide?
Send us your ideas! You may get to see your title in our “Coming Soon” list.

Movie Guide 07 based on the film "The Terminal"

We want to share with you a lesson plan based on the first scene of the movie "The Terminal".

Movie Trailer

Taking into account the importance of the protection of intellectual property rights, original films must be used at all times to exploit Challenge Education™ Movie Guides


The Lesson Plan we are presenting today, deals with airports and immigration forms. It is designed for students of English at Pre Intermediate/A2 Level.

If you arrive at the Airport you must pass through Passport Control, Baggage Reclaim Area and Customs immediately after leaving your plane. In each area you will be asked different questions.
What questions are heard in the scene?
What happens if something irregular is detected with your passport?

Read this doc on Scribd: Lesson Plan Scene 01 from The Terminal Movie Guide

The complete Movie Guide has 18 Lesson Plans with more than 40 photocopiable activities for students (107pages). You can access the index here.

Busniess English Lesson Plans

Do you have Business English Courses? Do you want to supplement your classes with lesson plans based on movies?

Many teachers ask for Business English Lesson Plans so today we are publishing the Business English Index.


Negotiations, Deals, Leadership, team work, appointments, retirement, audits and inspection, customers, job interviews, telephoning, meetings, staff duties, and much more...

We have selected all the Lesson Plans for Business English already released. Just as our list of Movie Guides increases every month, our list of Business Lesson Plans will also increase.

Remember that these Lesson Plans belong to a complete Movie Guide based on the Movie.

Top Ten Movie Guides

Thirty-Two Movie Guides released.
Would you like to know what our Movie Guide Users' favourites are?
In this graph you can see our top ten Movie Guides.



1. Shrek
2. The Terminal
3. Ice Age
4. Pirates of the Caribbean
5. Gladiator
6. Lord of the Rings
7. The Incredibles
8. Matrix
9. Mask of Zorro
10.Bruce Almighty

¿Are you using Movie Guides? ¿What is your favourite one?
For those of you new to Challenge Education Movie Guides, we offer creative lesson plans based on sequences of movies. Teachers love our Movie Guides because they are a flexible tool to supplement any EFL/ESL course, they are very simple to use and they help students develop their communicative skills.
¿Want to learn more? Click here.

Movie Guide 01 based on the film "Shrek"

Challenge Education Movie Guide 01 is based on the film "Shrek" It was the first e-guide released in 2005 and it is one of our bestsellers.

MOVIE TRAILER


Let Shrek, Princess Fiona and Donkey help your students discover a wide range of new words and expressions. Both kids and adults can profit from these 16 Lesson Plans from the Kingdom of Far, Far Away.

1 lesson plan for Beginner
2 lesson plans for Elementary
6 lesson plans for Pre Intermediate
3 lesson plans for Intermediate
4 lesson plans for Upper Intermediate

In this opportunity we want to share with you one of the lesson plans for Upper Intermediate/B2 level included in the e-guide.
This lesson plan is based on scene 11 (0:49:13 to 0:55:24) of the film and it deals with human values, making students think of stereotypes and how they may affect first impressions. Why does Shrek say to the Princess “You are not exactly what I expected”?
Students are encouraged to debate on the topic and share personal experiences.

Read this doc on Scribd: Lesson Plan Scene 11 from Shrek 1 Movie Guide

If you use this Lesson Plan with your students we will be delighted to get your feedback. Would you like to see the complete index of the e-guide with all the lesson plans available? Click here

Authentic Material in the classroom

Many are the resources teachers of English can use in their lessons but experience and research let us claim that using films in the EFL/ESL classroom proves to be one of the best choices. The value of films as a language teaching resource is clear when we find our students highly motivated and interested while working with this precious authentic material that provides them with broad cultural contexts of the target language, and gives them opportunities to develop their cultural awareness and expand their experience with listening and speaking. The merits of film viewing are numerous. Films bring the English language world to the learner, who feels highly motivated to be able to understand and enjoy something real. Learners are in contact with natural language that includes up-to-date linguistic resource of accents, vocabulary, grammar and all kinds of discourse used by native speakers of the target language. All in all, films stand out as a powerful tool that will make your everyday lessons motivating and contextualized.
Patricia Dudulec
Creative collaborator at Challenge Education

Teaching Foreign Languages through Movies

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Starting a new way of communicating

This is our new blog. A new way of communicating among Challenge Education Movie Guide users around the world. Thirty two Movie Guides have been released in the past two years providing language teachers with a wide range of lesson plans to motivate students.

Challenge Education designs Movie Guides with lesson plans based on sequences of popular movies aimed at optimising learning results and supplement any EFL course. Each Movie Guide has at least 15 lesson plans created to be used independently of the whole film. Each lesson plan is designed for one of the following levels: Beginner /A1 , Elementary / A2, Pre Intermediate / B1, Intermediate / B1+, Upper Intermediate B2. All lesson plans include step-by step Teachers' Notes, Answer Key and Students' Handout ready to use.

01. Challenge Education Movie Guide 01 based on the film: Shrek 1 /
16 Lesson Plans (107pages).

02. Challenge Education Movie Guide 02 based on the film: Mask of Zorro
16 Lesson Plans (105pages).

03. Challenge Education Movie Guide 03 based on the film: Matrix 1
21 Lesson Plans (128 pages).

04. Challenge Education Movie Guide 04 based on the film: Pirates of the Caribbean 1
15 Lesson Plans (97 pages).

05. Challenge Education Movie Guide 05 based on the film: Bruce Almighty
15 Lesson plans (102 pages).

06. Challenge Education Movie Guide 06 based on the film: Gladiator
15 Lesson Plans (107 pages).

07. Challenge Education Movie Guide 07 based on the film: The Terminal
18 Lesson Plans. (107pages).

08. Challenge Education Movie Guide 08 based on the film: HP 1
27 Lesson Plans (179 pages).

09. Challenge Education Movie Guide 09 based on the film: The Ring
16 Lesson Plans (107 pages).

10. Challenge Education Movie Guide 10 based on the film: Lord of the Rings 1
18 Lesson plans (128 pages).

11. Challenge Education Movie Guide 11 based on the film: The Grinch
15 Lesson Plans (118 pages).

12. Challenge Education Movie Guide 12 based on the film: Ice Age
16 Lesson Plans (113 pages).

13. Challenge Education Movie Guide 13 based on the film: Minority Report
16 Lesson Plans (127 pages).

14. Challenge Education Movie Guide 14 based on the film: The Incredibles
19 Lesson Plans (181 pages).

15. Challenge Education Movie Guide 15 based on the film: The Haunted Mansion
17 Lesson Plans (139 pages).

16. Challenge Education Movie Guide 16 based on the film: The Day After Tomorrow
16 Lesson Plans (144 pages).

17. Challenge Education Movie Guide 17 based on the film: Collateral
15 Lesson Plans (139 pages).

18. Challenge Education Movie Guide 18 based on the film: Space Jam
15 Lesson Plans (129 pages).

19. Challenge Education Movie Guide 19 based on the film: Intolerable Cruelty
15 Lesson Plans (126 pages).

20. Challenge Education Movie Guide 20 based on the film: Madagascar
16 Lesson Plans (146 pages)

21. Challenge Education Movie Guide 21 based on the film: The Last Samurai
15 Lesson Plans (121 pages).

22. Challenge Education Movie Guide 22 based on the film: Spanglish
16 Lesson Plans (129 pages).

23. Challenge Education Movie Guide 23 based on the film: Hitch
16 Lesson Plans (138 pages).

24. Challenge Education Movie Guide 24 based on the film: Polar Express
17 Lesson Plans (142 pages).

25. Challenge Education Movie Guide 25 based on the film: High School Musical
15 Lesson Plans (141 pages).

26. Challenge Education Movie Guide 26 based on the film: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
18 Lesson Plans (156 pages).

27. Challenge Education Movie Guide 27 based on the film: The Chronicles of Narnia
16 Lesson Plans (125 pages).

28. Challenge Education Movie Guide 28 based on the film: Wallace and Gromit - The Curse of the were-rabbit
15 Lesson Plans (134 pages).

29. Challenge Education Movie Guide 29 based on the film: The Island
15 Lesson Plans - 120 pages.

30. Challenge Education Movie Guide 30 based on the film: Nanny McPhee
15 Lesson Plans - 128 pages

31. Challenge Education Movie Guide 31 based on the film: Night at the Museum
15 Lesson Plans - 124 pages.

32. Challenge Education Movie Guide 32 based on the film: Cars
15 Lesson Plans.


What is your favourite Movie Guide? Let us know!