Hey all,

So I've really been embracing the idea of planning lessons around films. Paperman was a great lesson, and so I have decided to follow that up with a lesson on "The Reader." This film is really a commercial that is two minutes long, and details the story of a father who is illiterate. His son publishes a bestselling book, and so the father learns to read in order to be able to read his son's bestselling book.

It's a great short film, and brings up all kinds of interesting topics that are great for discussion: literacy, English study techniques, relationships, etcetera. I am posting an original PPT that I made. There are notes at the bottom of each slide which should help you direct the lesson successfully.

The lesson starts with a discussion of literacy, then has the students view screenshots from the film and asks them to write a short story about what they think will happen. Then they watch the film, a few more questions, watch the film again, identify English learning techniques in groups, and then there's a vocabulary review. If there's time then they can create a dialog for the ending scene.

I plan on posting a half-page worksheet as well. I really like the half-page worksheets. The students  can write their original story on the blank back-side, and then complete the front side of the lesson with the vocabulary review and questions as a great end to the lesson. I'll post the PPT now, and should have the worksheet done within the next few days. Hope this helps!

This is fantastic! Perfect for 6th graders who need 'authentic English'.

Films provide multiple points of contact for diverse learning styles/interests: visual, audible, aesthetic, moral, informative...

It helps us talk about society, history, human nature, responsibility, love, art, and language...everything important for the human learner!

I see film replacing a good part of what is currently done by lectures in the (virtual) classroom of the future.

Keep it coming!! I'm buying.

Thanks everyone for the kind words on the lesson. I made a few minor changes to the PPT, and will post that slightly updated PPT here. I also made a worksheet based off of the revised PPT, so if you choose to use the worksheet please use this revised PPT with it. Finally, I will also post a lesson plan. I'm glad that folks are finding this helpful!

Wow, CliffK, you are churning out awesome lessons! This is great. And thanks so much for providing the downloadable version of the film, because YouTube has most definitely been throttled at my school, as I discovered mid-class last week 

OMG CliffK another brilliant lesson ...... and the ad/short film made me miss home. *crying*

Hey, I really love the PPT and the short film. It's a truly great lesson.

One thing however, I notice in the PPT that you show 2 African nations and talk about their high statistics of not being able to read and write. While these facts are true, I feel, as foreign teachers we need to try and change some of the negative stereotypes of Africa and African people.  It would have been good to add a few other countries where literacy is low... etc... especially as, on top of it, the short film shows a black son and father... it's sort of adding insult to injury...

I don't mean to be a 'party pooper' but truly, if anyone has been in Korea , we know there is a strong prejudice against Africa and Africans... and Ebola certainly didn't help... so I often try to show Africa in many forms - not just the impoverished , uneducated, 'straw muddy huts' images the media , especially in Korea, shows. I think we have a little responsibility to combat this.

(recently , I did a lesson on Nigeria which has (2016) the 2nd biggest film industry in the world, and one of the richest countries in Africa...etc, etc, my students were wowed and I could see some of those barriers breaking down...)

I would suggest, I will be doing so, if I do choose to do this lesson - as I truly do love the lesson and effort you put in! Honestly, I do. Anyway, I'll try add some other countries and talk about the struggles of literacy around the world, not just in Africa.

I saw this when I did a quick Google search " According to the CIA World Factbook, almost 75% of the world's 775 million illiterate adults are concentrated in ten countries (in descending order: India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Brazil, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo)."

There's a few Asian nations there to discuss alongside Africa.

I really hope you don't find my comment a personal attack , I really don't want to make you feel like a bad person - I don't dare assume you meant to send any sort of negative message on purpose... but as a fellow educator I felt like commenting on this to point out for future lessons what sort of stereotypes we need to be careful of.

Thank you for you wonderful lessons and effort,

Here's my adult esl lesson on Nigeria, btw: http://mrsbaiaadultesl.blogspot.kr/2016/05/places-lesson-case-study-nigeria.html