Iguais (Alike) - short film

2016

Students

Arts & Music
International Relations
Teacher Education

Autonomous learning
Classroom Context

Portuguese

Any language

A1
A2
B1
B2
C1
C2

Animation
Activity/task

Vocabulary

Speaking
Critical Thinking
Writing
Reading

The animation” Iguais” (Alike) focuses on the academic environment, the role of the family and of the identity and singularity of each individual. The short film also uses the colour in an original way to convey the characters’ uniqueness. With this resource one can develop learners’ critical thinking based on the metaphors brought up in the animation which, through the colours presented, point out the contradictions between the functioning of society and the individual goals. The teacher can take their students to think about the value of some expression forms that face the danger of disappearing from daily life (like musicians, Art professionals, who are forgotten for not being “alike”).
This resource can be used with all levels of learners once the discussion put forward by the teacher will define the tasks to be carried out and the level of proficiency of the students.
Besides questions on the interpretation of the short film, questions can also be raised about the gender of the short film, the design of an abstract similar to the one explored in the short film. In addition, language work can also focus on verbs that express opinion (think, believe, want).

The resource has been used by me, with students whose mother tongue is not the Portuguese language, in different Portuguese courses, from level A1 to C1, as well as in a summer course of level B2. As the courses were entirely in an online format, activities like the ones suggested in this resource were highly motivating as they did not require much of students’ attention (the videos last approximately 8 minutes). They can also trigger deeper or simpler discussions, depending on the level of students and the purpose of the tasks. The video can also be used as an autonomous activity to be done as homework.

Step 1 - The teacher leads students to think of a definition for the word short film.
Step 2 - The teacher asks students if they usually watch short films and, if so, which ones struck them and why (and what themes they focused on).
Step 3 - Students watch the short film and make assumptions about the themes brought by the film and their impressions.
Step 4 - There is a set of questions about the interpretation of the film. The students answer them with the teacher, orally.
Step 5 - The teacher asks the students to summarize the short film so that different views of the film can be raised.