Have you ever watched America’s Funniest Videos with children? Little people laugh the hardest when other kids have funny accidents. After they laugh themselves silly, kids often want to make sure the people in the video are okay! Did he hurt himself?
Funny videos can be used for practicing vocabulary and usage related to Injuries, Sprout’s Spotlight theme this week. If you want to try teaching with this theme, follow these 3 steps:
1. Try our NEW Word Bank lesson plan about injuries. (She twisted her ankle. He scraped his knee.)
2. Review these tips for teaching reflexive pronouns, and practice this usage with your students. (She burned herself. He cut himself.) Tanya’s post includes a handy review of the 5 Main Types of Pronouns that you can share with your students.
3. Practice using reflexive pronouns in a natural way by watching these videos. Use the question “What happened?” to get students to use the target language. (This can also be completed at home as a family if you share this link with your students’ parents.) Remind your students of the following forms:
it | itself
he | himself
she | herself
them | themselves
Toddler in the Hall
What happened to the toddler? Did he hurt himself?
Fireplace Fairy
What happened to the toy fairy? Did the child hurt herself?
Minion
What happened to the trick-or-treater? Did he hurt himself?
Rope Swing
What happened to the boys? Did they hurt themselves?
Still Smiling
What happened to the happy face? Did it hurt itself?
Christmas Acrobats
What happened to the acrobats? Did they hurt themselves?
Possible Answers
These sample answers might give you some ideas for question and discussion prompts:
Toddler in the Hall: He slipped in the butter. He didn’t hurt himself.
Fairy in the Fireplace: It flew into the fireplace. The toy burned itself. The little girl did not physically hurt herself, but she is sad.
Minion: The trick-or-treater fell on his face. He got up by himself. He didn’t hurt himself.
Rope Spin: The boy pushing the rope hurt his head. The swing hit the boy in the head. The other boy did not hurt himself. He is probably dizzy, though. If he stands up quickly, he might hurt himself!
Still Smiling: The happy face fell down and couldn’t get up. It got stuck. It helped itself up.
Christmas Acrobats: Two of the acrobats did not hurt themselves. The third acrobat fell into the Christmas tree. She hurt herself.
Making Predictions
For older or more advanced learners, use these videos for making predictions (the AVF host does this with his audience). Show a few seconds. Then ask your students what they think is going to happen.
Q: What is going to happen to the little girl?
A: I think the toy fairy is going to fly into the little girl’s face. I don’t think she will hurt herself.
If you want to find more videos like this, search for “AVF Fails”. Why not invite your students and their families to submit their own favorites?
More Fun With Videos
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