Part III: Wickedly Fun 🧙🏻‍♀️

Movies and musicals are powerful tools for language learning, offering a combination of visual storytelling, dialogue, and music that enhance comprehension and engagement. This lesson focuses on using Wicked, the popular musical based on The Wizard of Oz, to improve English skills in an interactive way.

Objective:

To develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills through the musical Wicked, while also exploring its connections to The Wizard of Oz.

Step 1: Background Knowledge

• Begin by introducing The Wizard of Oz (1939). Watching the original film helps students understand the backstory of Wicked and the characters of Oz.

• Discuss the main themes: friendship, destiny, good vs. evil, and personal transformation.

• Provide key vocabulary from both films: witch, emerald, spell, prophecy, betrayal, redemption, outcast, destiny.

Step 2: Watching & Listening Activities

• Play selected scenes or songs from Wicked (such as Defying Gravity and For Good).

• Listening Comprehension: Provide fill-in-the-blank lyrics to practice vocabulary.

• Discussion Questions:

  • What do the lyrics of Defying Gravity mean?

  • How does Elphaba’s story differ from the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz?

  • What lessons can be learned from Glinda and Elphaba’s friendship?

Step 3: Reading & Writing Exercises

• Read a synopsis of Wicked or excerpts from the book by Gregory Maguire.

• Writing Task:

  • Compare and contrast The Wizard of Oz and Wicked.

  • Write a diary entry from the perspective of Elphaba or Glinda.

Step 4: Speaking & Presentation Skills

• Role-Playing: Students act out short scenes from Wicked.

• Group Discussion: Debate whether Elphaba is truly a villain or misunderstood.

• Presentation: Groups create and present their own version of an Oz-inspired story.

Step 5: Interdisciplinary Learning

• Music & Drama: Analyze how music enhances storytelling in musicals.

• History & Culture: Discuss how Wicked reinterprets a classic story with a modern perspective.

• IT Skills: Create digital slideshows about the characters and themes.

Assessment & Reflection

• Students write a reflection on how watching and analyzing Wicked helped improve their English skills.

• Class discussion on how different perspectives change storytelling.

• Exit ticket: One new word or phrase they learned from the lesson.