This lesson series was developed for my National Geographic Educator Certification Program. To complete the program I had to make a video explanation of the lesson aims and outcomes. You can watch the video to get a sense of the lesson by clicking the NG Capstone project link.
Aim:
Students learn about Panda Conservation then take action to create posters that raise awareness about other mistreated animals in China.
Panda Conservation Lesson
1- Pre-teach the conservation language (habitat, poacher, predator etc)
2- Reading tasks (transcript from a video)
3- Listening tasks (watch the video)
4- In depth comprehension questions about the reading and charts.
5- Discussion - Is the Panda safe from extinction?
China’s Wildlife Protection Law Lesson
1- Introduce the situation of bear bile farms, tiger farms and shark finning
2- In groups, students do independent research and create posters
3- Students share what they’ve learned with each other
WARNING - This lesson is just an example of what you could teach about hobbies. It cannot be used exactly how it is.
If you want to use this lesson, you will need to change many slides to personalise it about your own hobby.
Aim: Students practise fluency in speaking and listening while giving a presentation about their main hobby and asking questions about their peer’s hobbies.
The Lesson plan:
1 Students brainstorm as many hobbies as they can think of then discuss which ones they love/hate
2 The teacher gives a presentation about their own hobby (What, when, where, who, why, how)
(These slides must be created on your own. I have uploaded my own example to give you an idea.)
3 Students then ask the teacher follow-up questions about their hobby.
4 Next students prepare to talk about their hobby.
In small groups they take turns to present and ask further questions.
5 Finally, students discuss past and future hobbies.
This lesson aims to develop student public speaking skills, teamwork and fluency. Students must work together to create stories for each picture and tell them to the group.
For more unique variations of this lesson, please see “ESL Picture Presentation Lessons”.
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/esl-picture-presentation-lessons-11936776
Level: Intermediate
Aim: Students learn 6 new words related to crime and practise using adverbs of certainty. Students work together in 2 murder mystery roleplays in which they need to piece together the evidence to catch the killers.
Lesson Vocabulary:
Crime Scene
Evidence
Murder weapon
Witnesses
Suspects
Motive
Lesson Grammar:
It can’t be…
It probably isn’t…
It may/might/could be…
It probably is…
It definitely is…
Level: Lower intermediate - intermediate
Aim: Students follow a survival story in which they land on a desert island. They must use problem solving skills and creativity to survive.
Level: Upper-intermediate (adult political themes)
Aim: Students learn more about graffiti and the different motivations behind this illegal activity.
Students read 3 brief newpaper reports about Banksy’s political graffiti. (Anti-immigration pigeons, Steve Jobs in the Calais refugee camp, French Embassy teargas incident)
Students discuss the effectiveness of using street art to draw the media’s attention to politically sensitive topics.
Level: Elementary
Aim: Students learn/ review 15 words for places in a city then practise asking for and giving directions.
Vocabulary in this lesson:
Park
School
Café
Hotel
Cinema
Train Station
Police Station
Supermarket
Fire Station
Bank
Restaurant
Post Office
Pet Shop
Hospital
Book Shop
Grammar in this lesson:
The hotel is on 3rd Street.
The hotel is opposite the restaurant.
The café is next to the hotel.
The hotel is between the café and the cinema.
The school is behind the hotel.
The café is at the corner of 1st Street and 3rd Street.
Christmas
Aim: Students learn about Christmas traditions and words related to Christmas.
Vocabulary set: Rudolf, Santa Claus, Reindeer, Christmas Pudding, Star, Sleigh, Christmas Tree, Snowman, Stocking, Christmas Present, Chimney, Turkey
Activities: Vocab games, Writing a Christmas wish list, Making a Christmas card
Santa Claus
The teacher pretends to be Santa Claus and gives a presentation about their life followed by questions.
Then the students prepare presentations about their lives while pretending to be different characters.
(Characters: The Abominable Snowman, Buddy the Elf, Rudolph, Olaf the Snowman, The Grinch and Elsa)
Christmas Song
Aim: Students learn specific Christmas vocabulary so that they can complete a listening gap fill to a Christmas song.
Vocabulary set: Presents, Stocking, Christmas Tree, Santa, Reindeer, Toys, North pole, Fireplace, Lights, Sleigh, Mistletoe
Song: Mariah Carey - All I want for Christmas is you
Aim: Students learn about famous quotes from history
Game: Students must guess the missing words in incomplete quotes as well as the famous people who said them
Aim- to test and develop student’s general knowledge and introduce them to an aspect of British Culture - the pub quiz
Firstly, students read about the origins of a pub quiz and learn how they work. (teams, a quiz-master, question rounds, a prize)
Secondly, students work together in teams to compete in a pub quiz.
The question rounds are: Geography, History, Music, Sport, Famous People, Maths
Level: Beginner - Elementary (Could be made harder for Lower Intermediate)
Aim: Students learn about pirates and make a treasure map.
Vocabulary: beach, lake, mountain, volcano, island, castle, river, forest, desert, cave
Grammar: in the north of / to the north of
Level: Intermediate +
Aim: Students learn about Psychology (the study of the mind and human behaviour) and psychology tests. Students try 4 psychology tests (The Rorschach Inkblot , The Stroop Effect, The Cube, A Personality Quiz) and work together with a partner while discussing them.
This lesson aims to get students thinking deeply about their lives and futures. I created this lesson because I wanted my final lesson with each class to pass on some meaningful life philosophies such as the concept of being a global citizen,l lifelong learner and finding your Ikigai (life purpose).
Aim: to practise speaking about the future and making predictions
(In this lesson students begin by discussing fortune telling in their country. Then they will read a story about a fortune teller and answer comprehension questions. Following that, they will pretend to read each other’s fortunes using basic tarrot cards and palm reading.)
Aim: to teach students about rhyming words while raising their awareness of the east London Cockney culture
This fun lesson introduces 11 Cockney Rhyming Slang phrases in a game of Balderdash. Students guess the meaning of the phrases by brainstorming other words that rhyme, looking at the phrases in context and using picture clues.
Aim: for students to understand when and how to use euphemisms
Students discuss the reasons for using Euphemisms. Then students are introduced to many examples of euphemisms and must use them in writing and speaking activities.
Reading Skills
Aim: Students read an article about a man who marries a robot.
In this lesson they:
Predict useful words from the title and pictures
Skim read
Scan read
Detail read
Discuss the topic
Reading skills 2 - (With handout Plumff and Jubulu)
Aim: Students practise using context to help understand unknown words.
In this lesson they:
-Discuss context clues
-Read a text including made up words and answer reading comprehension questions
-Read a text including very difficult vocabulary and match synonyms
Level: Upper Intermediate
Aim: to introduce students to different target setting strategies
Students write a to-do-list about their week, then they practise prioritising the items on their list using the urgent/important grid. After that, they will watch a 3 minute TED talk and read the transcript about drawing goals. Taking inspiration from the video they will then draw their goals and then create 3 SMART targets to help them set their targets appropriately.
Advertising
Aim: Students discuss what makes a great advert with reference to several examples
Students will consider the different sources of advertising, look at studies showing how many ads a day the average person sees and view 8 examples of clever ads. Using discussion and brainstorming techniques to evaluate what makes an effective ad, students will then create their own ad for the school.
Sales Pitch
Aim: Students learn about brand logos and slogans then prepare a persuasive sales pitch using several sales techniques
Students will learn about: USP’s, celebrity endorsement, social proof, yes questions, creating urgency, positive facts and statistics and superlatives.
Publicity Stunts
Aim: Students read and discuss examples of publicity stunts by businesses, celebrities and political activists. Then they discuss publicity stunts that went wrong and how they could have been improved. Finally, they prepare a publicity stunt to raise awareness for your school.
Level: Intermediate
Aim: Students learn 9 movies genres and words related to movies. Then they learn how to talk about the setting, plot and characters. Finally, they listen to a piece of music and imagine a movie scene which they will then describe to their partner.
Lesson Vocabulary :
Movie Genres
Action
Martial Arts
Animated
Western
Sci-Fi
Horror
Super Hero
Rom-Com
Comedy
Movie Language
Plot
Characters
Scene
Setting
Soundtrack
Cast
Special Effects
Director