I find it very difficult to engage my all-male high school seniors. I have no set curriculum to follow, so I try to find topics that interest them. But for 33% or so, the most interesting topics are found behind their eyelids.
Thus, I was inspired to create a lesson around Mike Birbiglia's sleep-related stand-up. So far, it has been the least miserable lesson I have given. :)
I wrote up transcripts with missing words to correspond with the video, so the students could follow along while the video played.
Next I taught the words that belonged in the blanks through a powerpoint presentation.
Then we reviewed those words with a Jeopardy game.
Finally I played the video again and had the students fill in the blanks. I would call on students to read individual sentences (particularly the ones that were sleeping).
Whether anyone uses the lesson or not, the stand-up is pretty funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP3ToXG0YrI
