In the TV Show / Movie Pitch ESL project, students create an idea for a TV show / movie, then pitch it to the rest of the class.
1+
30-60+ mins
Setup
Divide the class into small groups of two or three.
Elicit the following key information to talk about when describing a TV show or movie, and write it on the board:
– Premise
– Genre
– Setting (Place and Time)
– Main Characters
– Character Descriptions
– Plot Summary (first episode if TV show)
– Target Audience
– Possible Actors (Optional)
Project
- Each group creates an idea for a TV show or movie, covering each of the topics on the board.
- If students are struggling for ideas, ask them to start by discussing what type of tv shows/movies they enjoy, and some of their favourite fictional characters.
- When they have finished, the groups then take turns pitching their idea to the rest of class, who act as network/studio executives.
- After each presentation the class should give feedback on what they liked or didn’t like. At the end the class could vote for their favourite idea.
Target Language
The TV Show / Movie Pitch ESL Project is clearly a great fit with the topic of entertainment. Students can practise vocabulary for different genres, as well as specific vocabulary like episode/season/series etc.
However, you could also use it with other language topics. For example, put a focus on the character descriptions if you want to practise describing people (both appearance and personality). Or for adjectives in general, expand that to detailed descriptions of the show/movie as a whole (quirky, light-hearted, fresh etc.), and the setting (stunning, dingy etc.).
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