Level: B1/B2 Time: 60min
Grandma Gamer meets her biggest fan. These two prove that friendship has no age limit. Shirley Curry is an 82-year-old living in a retirement community. Joseph is a 26-year-old who turned to online games after family tragedy. This is the story of how the gaming world unexpectedly made them the best of friends.
This online/projector lesson focuses on speaking and listening skills but there is some vocabulary work to do, too.
Level: B1 and up Time: 60-75 min
Is your child headed down the wrong road? Hanging out with the wrong crowd? Being disrespectful or doing drugs? If so, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office may be able to help.
The department’s Consider the Consequences Program helps kids ages 10 to 16-years-old stay in school, graduate and begin a successful career.
This video was inspired by my SS who told me about the true crime genre. I couldn’t believe it, when I first saw it, but as of 2022 the program is still on.
The southern accent, the vocabulary and the topic made it a great material for our class. However…
(Warning!!!) Some of the scenes in the video are very intense. I don’t recommend it for SS younger than 15-16yo.
Level: B1 and up Time: 60-75 min
This is a lesson is inspired by one of my students who is amateur taxidermist.
Note that this video is a starting point for conversation rather than a tutorial. Enjoy!
Level: B1 Time: 60 min
Plug and play lesson on the controversial topic of Huggy Wuggy the character from a video game called Poppy Platime. The video game is rated for children ages 12 and above. However, law enforcement officials warn that some fan-made videos featuring the character start out with very child-friendly visuals that quickly turn nightmarish so younger children may access them without realizing their true nature.
The police warnings and concerned parents posting appaling comments made Huggy Wuggy a true craze. Which makes it perfect for an up-to-date lesson.
Enjoy.
Level: B1/B2 Time: 90min
This lesson is based on the infamous situation that took place during 2022 Oscars Ceremony when Will Smith hit Chris Rock.
I tested it with my teenage groups as well as adults. It’s great for introducing grammar of ‘past tenses to talk about unreal situations’. There is some nice vocabulary to work on. Reading comprehension activities and a little bit of writing based on the article written by NYC author, public speaker and well known social critic Fran Lebowitz.
The lessons ends with reading Will Smith’s letter of apology and a discussion on physical and emotional violence and a role play in which SS get a chance to put themselves in the shoes of Jade, Will or Chris.
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/28/1089360891/will-smith-apology-chris-rock-oscars-slap?t=1649110178606
btw… I felt kinda old when I found out that none of my students knew the movie G.I. Jane 😉 That’s why I recommend watching a trailer of G.I. Jane before the lesson or as a warm-up activity.
Level: B1-B2 Time: 60-90 min
This class starts with a general discussion on fashion and beauty industry. After that SS get to share their opinions on various brands in the industry. Depending on how talkative your class is and how much detail you want to go into, it’s going to take about 30-45 minutes.
After that, present the vocabulary and watch the video, followed by some comprehension questions. With my less advanced groups I finish the class with SS sharing their memories of clothes or toys that they feel nostalgic about.
With more advanced groups I gave SS another video and invited them to prepare a similar set of comprehension questions that they exchanged in pairs.
These are free materials that you can use during your regular or online classes.
Level: B1 and up Time: 90 min
This lesson was designed for my teenage students but it will work with other age groups provided they don’t know much about the topic.
NFT has become a craze in the online market. NFT can be tied to any digital asset such as video clips, songs etc. You can turn pretty much any unique bundle of information into an NFT, but they’ve really taken off in the art world. A digital NFT picture was sold for over $58 million and an NFT tweet for $3 mln. There is a lot of controversy around NFTs regarding copyright, forgery and even natural environment issues. Which makes it a perfect topic for a lesson 😉
It took me a while to find the right material for this topic and I think that Handsome Blader has done better job than CNN, Bloomberg and CNBC put together!!!
You’ve got a slideshow, Answer Key and a quizlet with vocabulary flashcards if you decide that your SS need it: https://quizlet.com/_altjeo?x=1jqt&i=sje7e
Level: B1 and up Time: 90 min
I made this lesson for my teenage group of 13-14-year-olds. It challenges some of the popular myths about Thanksgiving and is an opportunity to explore this traditional American holiday.
I started with a brainstorming activity, followed by a vocabulary presentation, reading assignment and a video that follows.
Vocabulary: https://quizlet.com/_anz6un?x=1jqt&i=sje7e
Six Native American girls school on the REAL (or not) history of Thanksgiving. https://www.teenvogue.com/video/watch/the-real-history-of-thanksgiving
Level: B1 and up Time: 120 min
This one is going to work great with most classes from B1 up.
A dress code is a set of rules, often written, with regards to what clothing groups of people must wear. Dress codes are created out of social perceptions and norms, and vary based on purpose, circumstances, and occasions.
One of the places where dress code causes the most controversy are schools.
Uniforms, piercing, low cut shirts, tank tops etc… The lesson is a great opportunity to present/revise clothes vocabulary and involve SS in a lively discussion.
Look at teachers notes for lesson plan and answers to the presentation. The lesson involves quizlet vocabulary set.
Level: B1 and up Time: 30-45min
Today something for FORTNITE fans.
Aidan Jackson, 18, from Cheshire, England, suffered from a potentially life-threatening epileptic seizure while playing Fortnite ‘duo mode’ online with Dia Lathora, 20, from Richardson, Texas.
The pair connected online playing Fortnite – and it was Dia’s quick thinking that Aidan was saved in time and taken to hospital.
Super cool excuse to talk about benefits and threats of gaming. And a chance to learn about stuff that makes your students tick!!!
Enjoy!
don't overthink shit 