Activities based around a "butterfly effect" Liberty Mutual Insurance commercial. Ideal for sequencing activities and practising the past perfect. It also nudges students to appreciate the power of being nice to one another without having to be too cheesy about it.
All instructions are to be used with this PowerPoint:
Instructions
Slide 2
Warmer: students discuss questions related to kindness and kharma in pairs.
Slide 3
Show video up to 01:42
Slide 4
- Tell the students that you're going to give them these images and they will have to put them in order.
- Ask them if they'd like to see the video again first (they will almost certainly say yes).
Once they're ready, give students the images (print and cut out from slide 10) and get them to put them in order using the target language. They are like to cut corners whilst ordering the images, which is ok provided you insist that each pair/group goes through and retells the series of events once they have finishes.
Slide 5
Use this to check/elicit each stage whole class.
Slide 6
Collect in the images from the previous section and tell the class that they are now going to watch an even more complex sequence. Then play to 02:56
Slides 6 +7
Repeat the steps from slides 4 and 5 for the next sequence.
The powerpoint includes a structure suitable for B2 students, but you can easily bring this up or down:
A2: "After she saw the man saving the cat, she helped an old lady with her shopping."
B1: "After she had seen the man saving the cat, she helped an old lady with her shopping."
B2: "After she had seen the man saving the cat, she went on to help an old lady with her shopping."
C1: "Having seen the man saving the cat, she went on to help an old lady with her shopping."
Follow up Speaking Activity
The students should have had plenty of practice with the target structure by now. You could take the opportunity to continue on the topic of kindness and what students could do to be excellent to one another other... But I think it's nice to let students reach their own conclusions without getting too preachy, so my follow up is tongue-in-cheek.
Print and cut up the cards from slide 11 and give each pair one set. Then show the language on slide 9.
Student A picks up a card and makes a suggestion:
"Why don't we feed seeds to the pigeons in the square"
Student B explains why it's not a great idea
"Your idea of feeding the pigeons in the square sounds fantastic, but unfortunately some of them may have nut allergies."