To This Day
Language level: Upper Intermediate (B2)
– Advanced (C1)
Learner type: Teens and adults
Time: One 90 minute class and 30 minutes
of following class
Activity: Watching two short videos,
speaking, writing a poem or story and
reading a poem
Topic: Bullying
Language: Vocabulary and expressions
related to bullying
Materials: 2 short videos, anti-bullying
posters, discussion questions and poem
Overview
This lesson is designed around a beautiful and
poignant video based on the spoken word poem To
this Day by Shane Koyczan. The video is the
result of the To This Day Project to raise
awareness of the long-term effects of childhood
bullying. Students watch two short videos,
speak about bullying, write a poem or story
and read a poem.
Step 1
Show your students the first slide of the
PowerPoint presentation and ask them if they
understand the expression. If they don’t know,
explain that Sticks and stones may break my bones,
but words can never hurt me is an expression said
in order to show that people cannot be hurt by
unpleasant things that are said to them. Ask them
if they agree with this expression or if they
think that words really can hurt. Show your
students slides 2-6 which come from anti-bullying
campaigns and all show that words can hurt. Go
through the vocabulary and expressions, and
discuss the slides.
Put your students into pairs and ask them to
discuss the questions about bullying.
www.film-english.com by Kieran Donaghy
To This Day
Step 2
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Step 3
Tell your students that they are going to watch a
short video in which spoken word artist Shane
Koyczan explains an anti-bullying project. Ask
students the following question:
What is the project?
Show the video and then get feedback.
Link: https://vimeo.com/56131212
To This Day Project is a project based on the
spoken word poem by Shane Koyczan called “To This
Day”, to further explore the profound and lasting
impact that bullying can have on an individual.
The project asks for motion artists and
illustrators to create beautiful animations to
accompany the poem.
Step 4
Step 5
Tell your students they are now going to watch the
video but with the sound turned off. They should
www.film-english.com by Kieran Donaghy
To This Day
Put students into small groups and ask them what
images they would use to accompany a poem about
bullying. Set a time limit of 5 minutes, and then
get feedback from each group.
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notice the images and compare them with the images
they talked about tin the previous stage.
Link: https://vimeo.com/59956490
Step 6
Ask students the following questions:
How did the video make you feel?
What word would you use to describe the video?
Step 7
Tell your students they are now going to write a
narrative or a poem about bullying based on the
images in the video. Keep them in the same small
groups. Tell them they can ask you to stop the
video at again point and ask about vocabulary or
expressions. As they watch the film again they
should make notes about what they see. Show the
film. Show the film.
Give students 20 minutes to write their poem or
narrative. Help them with any vocabulary or
expressions they would like to use.
www.film-english.com by Kieran Donaghy
To This Day
Step 8
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Step 9
Ask one student from each group to read out their
poem or narrative. Talk about each poem or story.
Homework
1. Tell your students that would like them to
perfect their poems and narratives for
homework.
2. Give your students the poem To this Day and
ask them to read it for the next class. Warn
them that it is difficult and that they will
need to use a dictionary to look up some words
and expressions.
Following class
Step 1
Ask your students the following questions:
How did the poem make you feel?
What new words or expressions did you like?
www.film-english.com by Kieran Donaghy
To This Day
What words would you use to describe the poem?
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Step 2
Now show students the video with the sound on. Get
feedback about the meaning and message of the
poem.
Step 3
Ask students to look at these lines of the poem:
if you can’t see anything beautiful about yourself
get a better mirror
look a little closer
stare a little longer
because there’s something inside you
that made you keep trying
despite everyone who told you to quit
you built a cast around your broken heart
and signed it yourself
you signed it
“they were wrong”
I hope you enjoy the videos, the poem and the
lessons.
www.film-english.com by Kieran Donaghy
To This Day
Ask them to discuss the meaning of the lines.
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