Here's an incredibly engaging lesson you can do with upper intermediate classes (outgoing though) and above depending on the target language you want to use. It's mostly lexis based with a large amount of speaking. It is probably best suited for young adults, but you can use it really for any group that likes to have fun. In the lesson, students will create their own organized crime syndicate (mafia) and eventually try and take out the other group's boss.
(this can easily take up 90 minutes so shave off stuff accordingly to your time frame).
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Introduction (a couple of minutes max)
1. Have the theme from the Godfather playing in the background and come in dressed and acting like Marlon Brando. Students have to guess who you are and what you do.
Tip: Not feeling so outgoing...? That's ok use this instead...
2. Show a clip of a typical mob scene from a movie (the Godfather, Goodfellas, Donnie Brasco, the Untouchables ) and elicit the same thing.
The goal is to elicit the concept of mafia, mob, organized crime...etc.
Lead In (7-10 minutes)
Demo these out fast with your class and then put them in groups to discuss.
1 What is organized crime? How is organized crime different from regular crime?
2. What is a mafia/a mob? Name some famous mafias in the world? (If any of your students say "TEFL Mafia" immediately give them 5 dollars...haha)
3. What crimes do they commit? Name 3.
4. Is there a mafia in this city? Who is it?
5. Why would someone join the mafia?
6. Name 3 popular movies that deal with the mob
Target Language (try to keep under 10 minutes)
Elicit and CCQ the following.
1. to wack (someone)
2. a front (as in a business front)
3. turf
4. to put a hit on someone
5. to extort (teach the noun as well)
6. to shake down
7. to racketeer (teach the noun as well)
TIP: if you have a good class you can teach more mob related crime words
8 a. a mob boss
b. an underboss
c. a captain
d. a soldier
e. a crew
9. a made man (a wiseguy)
Study 1. Defining the words (around 5-7 minutes)
Put students in groups and give them cards with the word on them. One student has to define what the word is and the other students have to guess it. Make it a competition for time to see which group can go through the words the fastest.
Study 2. Vocal sentence creation (around 5-7 minutes)
Put the students into two teams. If you have a large class create groups of 4 or so. Give a good demo by using one of the words in a sentence. Throw a ball to one of the teams and they have to put one of the words into a sentence. If they do it correctly and relatively quick they get 3 points. Then they throw the ball to the other group. If the other group does it correctly, they get 3 points and so on. Work on speed and accuracy. If the student takes a while to come up with a sentence, but is able to eventually, give them 2 points. If they can't come up with a sentence or it's really bad grammatically, they don't get any points, but their team can jump in, say it correctly, and get 1 point. The team with the most points wins. If you feel they need more practice, have them use the words again. Give bonus points if they use two or more of the words correctly in a sentence and so on.
Activation 1 - Creating a Mafia
Set Up (around 10 -15 minutes with Demo)
Students create a Mob/Mafia based on the following questions. Remember to demo this out with them! You should have your own Mob created where they ask you about it first. This will help them practice and for them to see what you are getting at.
1. What's the name of your mob/mafia?
2. What kinds of organized crime are you involved in/commit?
3. Where is your turf located?
4. How do you become a made man/wiseguy in your mob?
5. Who's the mob boss? Underboss?
6. What is your front?
7. How many soldiers do you have?
8. How many captains and how large are their crews?
9. Do you have any current hits on anyone?
10. Have any of your members wacked someone or been wacked recently?
Students create their mobs in pairs, or groups, if you have a large class. Monitor the activity and make sure that students are using the target language correctly. Interact with the groups while they are working and ask them the above questions to get a little be of extra practice before the activation.
Activation: Mob conference (Around 7-10 minutes)
Enter into the room and in your best mob voice (could be NewYork Italian, Russian, Yakuza ...etc) greet everyone and say that they are at a Worldwide Mafia Conference and they have to introduce themselves to each other and learn as much as they can about the different mafias using the above questions. Erase most the each question so students are not just reading off of the board, get them on their feet and mingling. If you can play some Frank Sinatra in the background or any other mobbish type music, do it.
Monitor and interact with the groups. Jump in and error correct mistakes. Give them a few minutes with each group and then yell 'Switch'.
Get quick feedback and go over mistakes quickly. If you are out of time, end the lesson here. If you have 7-20 minutes left continue on to the next activation. This next activation is will be fun, so make sure to try and get to this last activity.
Activation 2 - The Hit (around 10 minutes or more)
Tell the class that each Mafia (group) has to plan a hit on another group's mob boss. Create or give a brief scenario for each.
For example, mob group 1's boss likes to eat at a certain Italian restaurant every Sunday night, but he's always surrounded by 4 of his best bodyguards. How will they execute the hit?
Or
Mob group 2's boss going to be playing golf at a certain time. The golf club is completely private and only members are allowed on site. The mob boss has one bodyguard with him. How are they going to do it?
Or
Mob group 3's boss is driving to his country home for the weekend. He's going to be in a small motorcade with a security car in front and in back of him. How will they execute the hit?
(These are just a few ideas that I thought of right now. Think of a few of your own)
Tell the students that they have to create a plan to kill the mob boss using the scenario that each group received. They will be graded from 1-5 on their creativity, realism and of course use of the target language/language skills (combined). Have them present their plans to the class. After their presentation, grade them and give them 1-5 *bullets* (not real bullets you fool!!! - you'll see later) depending on how well they did.
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| Something Like This |
Then, take a piece of paper that you've previously drawn cross hairs on (a basic target symbol) and post it on the board. Tell the group to stand back at the other end of the class and they will throw their bullets at the target. Bullets can be anything that will leave a mark on the paper - think of sticky tack, markers, a coin even...etc If they hit the bullseye, it means that they effectively killed the boss. If they hit the outer marks, it means injured. If they miss the target completely with all of their bullets, the plan failed. Two 'injured' hits means the boss was killed.
Move onto the next group and continue until everyone is done.
Tip: Make sure you can accurately see if the target has been hit. Use your best judgement to determine the distance of the target. Don't make it too easy or too hard.
Feedback (a couple of minutes max)
Board and correct any mistakes that you heard. Say a funny joke or comment. End the lesson.
General Thoughts: This is a fun lesson and will work well with an outgoing group. In general, it's funny and I can't imagine anyone really getting offended by it, but use your best judgement. Just teach the lesson plan accordingly to your level and students' abilities and things will work out fine. Remember though... in Soviet Russia...lesson plan teaches you!
Cheers,
Chris
Westergaard, you are AWESOME
ReplyDeleteawesome work
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