I am republishing one of my old posts here. I believe The Tree is a great clip for those first classes when your students are getting to know each other and you want them to learn how to work as a team.
The Tree is one of my favourite short videos of all times. It always puts me in a good mood. You can read the story behind this clip here.
How would you use this video in class?
Here are some ideas:
1. Why did the boy try to move the tree? Surely he knew he wasn't strong enough for that?
2. Why was the boy first joined by the children? Why did they look so happy?
3. Discuss: "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” How would you define the boy? A born leader? A crazy kid? Or just someone who felt that he had to do something?
4. Why did the people join the boy?
5. Give the clip a new title.
6. If you had to define the force that moved the tree, what would you say? Was it the boy's initiative? Or the team spirit of everybody else? Both? Something else?
7. Can we always change the circumstances in which we live, or are we sometimes helpless? Discuss.
8. How important is team work in today's society?
9. How important is team work in a language classroom?
10. Do you feel that you are a part of a team in your classroom? Why/not?
Now retell the story in the first person singular, pretending to be one of the people you saw in the clip.
What would you do with The Tree in your classroom? Please add your ideas in the Comments section.
Image of the fallen tree: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Fallen_Tree_%282451075658%29.jpg By Mary-Lynn from Taos, NM, United States (Fallen TreeUploaded by Vux) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
1. Why did the boy try to move the tree? Surely he knew he wasn't strong enough for that?
2. Why was the boy first joined by the children? Why did they look so happy?
3. Discuss: "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” How would you define the boy? A born leader? A crazy kid? Or just someone who felt that he had to do something?
4. Why did the people join the boy?
5. Give the clip a new title.
6. If you had to define the force that moved the tree, what would you say? Was it the boy's initiative? Or the team spirit of everybody else? Both? Something else?
7. Can we always change the circumstances in which we live, or are we sometimes helpless? Discuss.
8. How important is team work in today's society?
9. How important is team work in a language classroom?
10. Do you feel that you are a part of a team in your classroom? Why/not?
Now retell the story in the first person singular, pretending to be one of the people you saw in the clip.
What would you do with The Tree in your classroom? Please add your ideas in the Comments section.
Image of the fallen tree: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Fallen_Tree_%282451075658%29.jpg By Mary-Lynn from Taos, NM, United States (Fallen TreeUploaded by Vux) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
