Looking for something new this holiday season? Check out this vocabulary lesson using Prep and Landing.
For a movie that’s geared at younger children, there is still a smattering of elevated language that makes this perfect resource to use in almost any classroom. Common Sense Media puts this PG movie as suitable for ages four and up, while the Lexile levels remain challenging enough to try this out with your high school students.
Vocabulary Words
Here is the list of vocabulary words I focus on when watching the movie. They happen to occur throughout the movie and are pretty evenly spaced out.
rehabilitate
oblige
nefarious
ascertain
sociable
serpentine
vantage point
hostility
interface
While some of these words may be familiar to your students, they still struggle to put into words the definitions which is what I ask them to do in the lesson.
Lesson Layout
I use a worksheet that has the sentence(s) the word is used in. For each word the students need to guess what the word means based on prior knowledge and context clues. I provide the actual definition afterwards. The movie itself is 22 minutes and you have lots of options of how to play it out.
- Pause at each word and sometimes replay the small scene with the word. Depending on the age of your students, the number of students you have, and how long their attention span is, for some teachers this is a good option.
- Pause every few words to make sure everyone is still on track and engaged.
- Watch the whole thing through and then go over the actual definitions at the end.
Then What?
Students have a list of 10 words. What next? I give mine a word search puzzle at the end to complete. This helps out my slower-to-finish students so they have some extra time build in and my fast-finishers have something to occupy their time without relying on me to hand out additional papers.
I also keep a Quizlet and Blooket of the words already made so I can pull one of those out to fill any remaining time at the end of the class. Students can practice their new words while continuing to enjoy the laid-back tone of the class.
No Time?
The holidays are kicking my butt, too, and they’ve barely started. I have my worksheets available at my TpT store if you don’t have time to make your own (or if you just want to treat yourself to a prep-free day). Click HERE or on the image below to check it out.
1 comment
This is such a fun and creative way to incorporate vocabulary into a holiday-themed lesson! I love how you utilize the movie “Prep and Landing” to introduce challenging words to your students. It’s great that you provide context clues and encourage your students to guess the meanings before revealing the actual definitions. And the word search puzzle at the end is a fantastic idea to engage both the slow and fast finishers. Thanks for sharing your lesson layout and the additional resources you provide. It’s clear that you’ve put a lot of thought and effort into making this lesson enjoyable and educational for your students. Bravo!