Play the beginning of a popular TV series, such as an episode of the detective series “Monk” or an older series such as the comedy “Friends.” It should be a series with half-hour length episodes that have definite plot lines. Play the first part of the show then have students guess the ending. They may write the ending in groups. The teacher may play the ending in the next class session so students can see how close they were.
This is valuable practice in both listening skills, as students will have to follow the episode, as well as speaking and writing skills, as they discuss and write the ending, . In addition, because the language of a TV series is written for a general audience and is highly contextualized, it should not be difficult to understand.