This is my take on a great video which I originally came across in a lesson plan on film-english.com several years ago. It's a short film which a police sketch artist draws women based first on their own descriptions and later on others' descriptions of them. Perfect for discussing appearances and introducing vocabulary to describe faces. This lesson introduces a lot of vocabulary for describing people and has the potential for a high feel-good factor at the end.
This lesson has 4 main stages:
Students discuss the importance of appearances.
Watch 1 minute video to explain context.
Describe and identify different images of each person in groups.
Use advanced vocabulary to describe own features in a positive light.
Warmer
Ask your students to discuss some questions like these:
To what extent are you swayed by physical appearance?
How much can you tell about a person from their face?
Can you judge a person by their shoes?
Do you agree with the statement "beauty is in the eye of the beholder?"
What's your view on cosmetic surgery?
Video
Show students the video up to 1:25
Post - Video
Put students in groups of 3 and give each group member a different set of images from the powerpoint below:
Student A Slide 7
Student B Slide 8
Student C Slide 9
Each student has pictures of the same 5 women, either:
A photo
A sketch based on a strangers description
A sketch based on the womans own description
Students take turns to describe one of their photographs. The other 2 students have to identify which of their drawings matches the image, then by describing their images and asking each other questions, they have to guess if they have the more or less attractive version.
After students have had time to describe all of their images, use slides 2-6 to reveal.
Bonus Material
Tell the students that a similar experiment as carried out with men. Ask them to predict whether men would have described each other and themselves in a similar way to the women. Then show them this:
Follow Up Activity
Give students this vocabulary list:
Explain that it contains only positive language for them to describe their own faces in the most positive way possible. They have to describe themselves in such a way that it is recognisably them, but as they might be described by a modeling agent.
(It's easiest if they do this looking in a mirror or at a selfie on their phones)
After a few minutes, display the texts and have the students guess which of their classmates each one is.
In my experience (I've done this activity 4 times), students writing about themselves in a positive way then having classmates recognise these descriptions, has led to compliments and a warm fuzzy feeling that is a rare treat in a teenage class. However, an easy alternative is to get students to describe someone famous instead.