This EFL lesson is designed around a beautiful short film titled Lost Property by Asa Lucander. Students do a dictation, work out meanings of the verb ‘lose’, speak about lost items, watch a trailer and short film, and write a story.
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Language level: Intermediate (B1) – Upper Intermediate (B2)
Learner type: Teens and adults
Time: 90 minutes
Activity: Dictation, working out meanings of the verb ‘lose’, watching a trailer and short film, speaking and writing a story
Topic: Lost property
Language: the verb ‘lose’, commonly lost objects and present tenses
Materials: Trailer and short film
Downloadable materials: lost property lesson instructions
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Overview
This EFL lesson is designed around a beautiful short film titled Lost Property by Asa Lucander. Students do a dictation, work out meanings of the verb ‘lose’, speak about lost items, watch a trailer and short film, and write a story.
Step 1
Dictate the following sentences to your students:
- Laura’s lost her job.
- Aston Villa lost again on Saturday.
- Greg lost his father last year.
- Anna’s lost my book.
- I’ve lost my keys again.
- I hardly ever play cards because I always lose.
Step 2
In pairs students check they’ve got the same sentences.
Step 3
Tell your students they are three different meanings of lose in the sentences. They should work out the different meanings, and match two of the sentences to each meaning.
Step 4
Elicit the different meanings and example sentences:
Meaning A – to put something where it can’t be found. Sentences 4 and 5.
Meaning B – not to win. Sentences 2 and 6.
Meaning C – to have something or somebody taken away from you by accident, death etc. Sentences 1 and 3.
Step 5
In pairs, ask your students to come up with as many objects that are typically lost as they can in one minute. Write up the most typically lost objects.
Step 6
Ask each student to tell their student about a time they lost an object but then found it later.
Step 7
Write “Lost Property Office” on the board. Elicit or explain that it is a place where objects people have accidentally left in a public place like a train, shop, restaurant etc. are kept until the owner comes to get them.
Step 8
Ask your students if they have ever been to a lost property office and, if they found the object they had lost there.
Step 9
Tell your students they are going to watch a trailer for a short film titled Lost Property. As they watch they should notice the lost objects.
Show the film.
Lost Property – Trailer from Asa Lucander on Vimeo.
Step 10
Elicit that the lost objects are a watch, photo and a goldfish.
Step 11
Put your students into small groups and tell them they are going to watch the trailer again and then write the story of the short film which the trailer previews. Give them 15 minutes to write their stories and help them with language as necessary.
Step 12
Get a member of each group to read out their story and invite the rest of the class to comment.
Step 13
Now show the film and ask students to compare their narratives with the story the film tells.
Lost Property from Asa Lucander on Vimeo.
Step 14
Tell your students they are going to watch the film again. Their task this time is to decide what the film means.
Step 15
Hold a plenary session on what the film’s meaning is.
Step 16
Now read out part of an interview with the director of the film, Asa Lucander, in which she explains what the film is about.
“Lost Property is a love story, but above all it is about the fragility of the mind – how we take it for granted, and how lost we are without it. It is about hope, persistence and devotion. It portrays an illness, Alzheimer’s – that robs us of who we are. Our memory is so fragile, yet so deeply ingrained. It’s about how we cope with it, and how it affects others. The film touches on these things, yet on the face of it, it is a simple tale in a lost property office. I see the lost property office as a metaphor for the mind. Shared memories are tucked away in hidden rooms, waiting to be found.”
Ask your students what they think of the meaning.
Homework
Give your students the link to the film. Ask them to watch it at home and write a detailed description of what happens in the film using present tenses.
I hope you enjoy this ESL lesson.
Support Film English
Film English remains ad-free and takes many hours a month to research and write, and hundreds of dollars to sustain. If you find any joy or value in it, please consider supporting Film English with a monthly subscription, or by contributing a one-off payment.
Monthly subscription |
| €7,00 EUR – monthly €3,00 EUR – monthly €10,00 EUR – monthly €25,00 EUR – monthly |
One-off payment |
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from Film Lessons – Film English http://film-english.com/2016/01/04/lost-property/
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