Disney ESL Lesson Plan

OBJECTIVE & OVERVIEW

This Disney ESL lesson plan contains PDF worksheets, activities, and digital materials for pre-intermediate A2 students. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to have conversations about Disney movies and films. They will also be able to describe a Disney movie, or any movie in general, using certain vocabulary terms and phrases.

PREVIEW & DISCUSSION

This ESL lesson on Disney and describing movies starts with students discussing some questions about Disney movies. Then, students list or research some Disney movies, and write the themes associated with them. At the end of the preview section, there are some phrases students can use to express their imagination, all of which contain vocabulary words from the video. 

VIDEO & LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Students proceed to watch a short promotional video featuring Disney's 100th anniversary. In the video, students hear quotes from Walt Disney and see short clips from a wide variety of Disney movies — from both modern-age and older-age movies. The video contains engaging animations and visuals, and also shows some people, family, and children partaking in several activities at Disney theme parks.

In the listening comprehension sections, students list some Disney movies they see featured in the video. They'll also do a matching exercise on some adjectives they hear in quotes by Walt Disney. In the final activity for this part, students can list some people or characters they see in the video and specify the activities they're doing.

DISCUSSION & VOCABULARY

After the viewing phase, students discuss a few questions about the video and Disney. The second part has students match some movie-related vocabulary terms to their definitions. This include terms such as: Students should match the type of layout with the images. Then, there are some adjectives for students to describe other aspects of a store, including:

• the plot
• the genre
• the main characters
• the soundtrack
• a favorite part
• a review

Students then use these terms in Part 3 and match them to some common phrases used to describe the details of a movie.

MOVIE TALK: LIGHTS, CAMERA, CHAT!

The featured communicative activity in this lesson plan has students think of a Disney movie, or any other movie, and then they use the terms and phrases they learned in the post-viewing exercise to describe the film. There are a few bonus questions at the end for students to discuss about movies and Disney.

Benefits of using this Disney ESL lesson plan and describing movies:

Engagement: The lesson plan leverages the popularity of Disney and its movies, which are well-known and loved by many students. This can increase student engagement and motivation in the learning process.

Real-world Relevance: Teaching students how to describe movies is a practical skill. Movies are a common topic of conversation, and the ability to discuss them is a valuable language skill.

Vocabulary Expansion: The lesson plan introduces movie-related vocabulary terms and phrases, which helps students expand their English vocabulary. It also provides practical exposure to terms like "plot," "genre," "main characters," "soundtrack," and "review."

Communication Skills: The communicative activity at the end of the lesson plan encourages students to apply what they've learned by describing a movie. This activity helps develop their speaking and communication skills.