Let’s talk about movies
60-90 min
Speaking
Intermediate
Overview
In this conversation lesson, students will explore the differences between Hollywood and Bollywood, two of the world’s biggest film industries. They will discuss their movie preferences, compare storytelling styles, and examine how films reflect cultural values. Students will also learn and practise key vocabulary related to cinema (e.g., blockbusters, special effects, independent film).
The lesson is based on a reading activity that contrasts Hollywood and Bollywood. Students will summarise key ideas, test their comprehension, and reinforce new vocabulary. They will also debate film industry trends, pitch their own multi-genre movie, and discuss how films have evolved. The lesson wraps up with a reflective homework task where students write a movie review, reinforcing the ideas and language covered in class.
Our speaking lessons follow a consistent six-stage structure: warm-up, presentation (with video, images, or reading), controlled practice, free conversation, deeper discussion, and a final homework task to introduce in class.
Lessons come with a printable student worksheet and a teacher version containing notes and answers. For online teaching, we provide an editable Google Slides e-lesson that can be downloaded or exported to PowerPoint.
Warm-up
The purpose of this stage is to activate your students' existing knowledge and prepare them for the lesson's theme.
Activity 1: You will lead a warm-up discussion by asking students about their favourite kinds of movies, examples of famous international films, and well-known films from their own country.
Activity 2: The students have to brainstorm examples of films that fit into the specified categories before sharing and discussing their selections.
Presentation
The presentation activities are based on an online article so make sure that the students have the resources to access the article in class.
Activity 3: Students will look at the title and images from the article and predict what they think it is about. Then, they will discuss what they already know about the differences between Hollywood and Bollywood films.
Activity 4: The students read the article and try to summarise the main idea of each paragraph. Have them do the first one and then work with you to refine it.
Activity 5: Students answer true or false questions about the article.
Practice
To reinforce their understanding of the new language or concepts introduced in the lesson, the students will work on a couple of controlled practice activities.
Activity 6: Students have to match key words from the article to their correct definitions.
Activity 7: Students discuss whether certain film characteristics bother them and explain their opinions.
Let's talk
We move into free practice for this stage, where the students apply the language in more open-ended, communicative activities.
Activity 8: Students rank different movie genres from their most to least favourite and then interview each other about their choices.
Activity 9: The students will create and pitch a movie idea that blends three different genres, featuring a unique protagonist and a catchy tagline.
A deeper look
This stage allows students to explore the lesson’s theme in more depth, tackling complex ideas and expressing their thoughts and opinions on related topics.
Activity 10: Students engage in a structured discussion about how movies have evolved over time, from early films to modern blockbusters.
Activity 11: Students will discuss a series of controversial statements related to the film industry.
Homework
Finally, we'll encourage students to extend their learning outside of the classroom to reinforce the language and concepts covered during the lesson.
Homework task: Students will write a review of a movie they have watched recently.
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