We were working with giving and following directions today (turn right, turn left, go straight . . . etc.).  I had students pretend to drive cars while I showed them projected road signs and told them to turn or go straight.  Then, I had them close their eyes, listen to my directions and do what I told them to do.  As I was preparing the lesson, I remembered the scene from “Scent of a woman” in which the blind man (Al Pacino) drives a car.  I wondered about showing the clip in class.  My initial thought was that the audio was in English, and it would serve no purpose.  But, I changed my mind and showed the clip.  Why?  Context.  Students watched the video and better understood the idea of driving blind, which gave them a context for closing their eyes and listening to my directions.  If I’m wrong and the clip gave them no extra motivation to follow my directions, I wasted a couple minutes.  I can live with that.

The clip could be used with Movie Talk to extend its value.