Category Archives: Level: B1

Designer Babies

Level: B1 and up Time: aprox 60min

DESPITE being born without any sex organs, an 18-year-old girl remains confident about dating. Jyoti was born ‘intersex’ – something she defines as ‘not having the typical binary sex organs or parts’.

Jyoti started to develop as a boy in utero for around 12 weeks before the process suddenly stopped – since then, she has identified as female and has taken oestrogen since her early teens.

Residing in Hopkins, Minnesota, Jyoti has never let her condition hold her back – recently graduating from high school and attending college in the summer, she is now regularly dating.

This story is a great follow up to classes on plastic suergeries, genetic screening and/or abortion.

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How to get rich?

Level: B1 Time: 30-45min

After creating a huge piece of content based on articles from Huffington Post and finding out that I won’t be able to share it with you guys, I got frustrated, big time… and decided that I need a little break.

I did. Couple of months of trying to figure out something new and here I am. Back in the game, with all new… Totally Inappropriate Listening Activities based on a YT show created by Truly.

They will all come in form of pdf presentations with a quizlet vocabulary set and answer sheet. You can either use them for your online or f2f classes.

The first is a story of Sativa, a 23-year-old making decent money selling pictures of her feet.

Enjoy the lesson and stay tuned for more.

QUIZLET:

https://quizlet.com/581437238/how-to-get-rich-ogfoot-flash-cards/?x=1qqt

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The World in 2021 Calendar

Level: B1 and up Time: 30-45 min

    ELT Teacher Alert!

    This is such a cool idea for the first lesson in the New Year!!!!

    Purchase The World in 2021 edition of The Economist. It’s filled with articles that your students will love.

    My personal favorite is the Calendar with The Economist selection of events around the world. From 63rd Grammy Awards and electric SUV race in Senegal, solar and lunar eclipse, all the way to celebration of 30th anniversary of fall of Soviet Union.

    Let your students read the calendar and have a after-reading discussion. Let ss share their opinions on the event that they think is most surprising, interesting, scary, exciting etc.

    After that invite ss to write a similar calendar for themselves. Skiing trip in February? Birthay party in March? First barbecue in May? Nothing is certain this year and it makes this writing activity even more fun.

    Also… Collect ss’s calendars and read them together at the end of the school year to see how many things actually happened. You never know with the Corona Virus still aroud.

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    Christmas online lesson

    Level: B1 and up Time: ~90min

    This pdf presentation is a material for a B1 online lesson based on a video from world famous youtuber and internet celebrity Zoella.

    Start the presentation and let your SS watch fragments of the video to find out how Zoella answered the questions. After that have your SS answer the questions in pairs/groups/in breakout rooms etc.

    Merry Christmas!!!

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    Talk to them!!!

    Young people have been through a lot since the COVID-19 pandemic began: school closures, massive changes to how they socialize.

    On top of that, #strajkkobiet and abortion discussion going on in Poland and unrelenting uncertainty about what comes next.

    Up to one-third of parents say they’ve noticed their children’s mental health get worse. There are many ways parents and teachers can help children cope with the pandemic and other challenges of 2020.

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    The Gender Tag

    Level: A2 and up

    Merriam-Webster announced that it has chosen “they” as the 2019 word of the year. The singular “they” is a pronoun used to refer to a person whose gender identity is nonbinary.

    https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/woty2019-top-looked-up-words-they

    I was really inspired by the story and decided to create a lesson plan that would allow some discussion on how my students perceive gender roles.

    All I needed was an authentic piece of language that I could use as conversation starter. It turned out that Ashley Wilde did just that.

     

    The Gender Tag Project is a YouTube “tag” video created by Ashley that encourages individuals to answer a set of ten prompts relating to their experience with gender in the form of a YouTube video. The Gender Tag videos are compiled in a YouTube playlist called “The Gender Tag Project,” found by clicking here.

    Start the lesson with a discussion: ‘Why do you think THEY became the word of the year 2019?’

    Watch the They/them pronouns video together. With more advanced groups you might want to read the Merriam-Webster article.

    Follow with a general discussion on how the tradiotional gender roles have changed over the last 10, 20, 50 years.

    Then distribute the handouts and invie your SS to answer the questions.

    The Gender Tag (1) pdf icon

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    Perfect Attendance Pencil

    Level: B1 and up

    One of my personal favorite lessons on Teacher-Parent-Student roles and responsibilities.

    Before the lesson: Send SS a link to this post:

    https://www.instagram.com/tv/B79jz-iHDAq/?igshid=1d95kqebb5rgr

    At the beginning of the lesson show your SS Attendance Award Pencil or a picture of one. Like this one here:

    ołówek

    Discuss with your SS:

    What happened to the girl?

    How does she feel about it?

    How do you feel about the situation?

     

    The video of Taylor went viral. As a result she was invited to The Ellen Show:

    Watch the video and answer the questions.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKn4naaLuqs

    • On the scale from one to ten, how mad was Taylor? Why?
    • Has Taylor ever used the eraser? Why?
    • Was this the first time Taylor got the perfect attendance pencil?
    • When did Taylor realize her pencil was missing?
    • What did Taylor get from Ellen?
    • What does Taylor want to do when she grows up? Why?
    • What does Taylor get at the end of the show?

     

    Discussion: The situation rises several issues and involves lots of people. Taylor, her friend Lizzie, Taylor’s mom, teacher, school authorities.

    Discuss the issues mentioned in the comments below the video:

    • To teacher: First, I want to give the teacher the biggest side-eye. Why would you bother to give a child a perfect attendance pencil if it was free for all to use? Do not give me that “sharing is caring” baloney. While I believe in teaching a child to share, boys and girls should have the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their work. Also, they should be given the opportunity to share or to refuse. Either enforce that this is Taylor’s pencil only, or just give everyone the same pencil. Rules and structures should not be malleable.

     

    • To Taylor’s mom: I know that you are raising a beautiful daughter. I love how articulate she is. It was such a joy listening to her story. It sounds like you are raising an outstanding child. Just know that I am only commenting here as you put this story out there, and it went viral. That said, I would love it if you would stand up for her in this situation. Yes, it is nice for children to learn to be the bigger person, but it is also good for them to learn to enforce proper boundaries with others. If something has gone awry, they need to be able to rely on us for support.

     

    • To school authorities: Why do you give kids rewards for attendance? It’s like giving awards for not being ill? Or for coming to school despite feeling down or being ill? It’s discrimination!!! My son skips a day at school every fortnight because of his medical condition. Guess how he’s feeling when the perfect attendance pencils are distributed?

     

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    Tighter Dress Code for Teachers

    Level: B1 and up (first part great for Young Learners too)

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    During the Covid-19 quarantine I struggle every morning to get dressed. Why would I want to get changed? Pajamas seem absolutely fine for online classes.

    Do other people, my students in particular, experience that too?

    Start the class with a discussion:

    Has the quarantine changed the way you dress? How?

    Then let the fun begin. Imagine that the quarantine is over and you can go out tonight. Invite ss to run to their closets and get changed for:

    • Movie theater
    • Date
    • Party in a club
    • Wedding
    • Other occasion of their choice

    It’s gonna work best if you get changed too. Then let everyone talk about their outfits. Clothes vocabulary and second conditional will come handy for this lesson.

    Next step is a video. TYT show on Paris Monroe also known as #TeacherBae

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F291o8Wx-LE

    Monroe is an American teacher who gained a lot of attention by posting classroom photos on Instagram. It was followed by lots of discussion on appropriate dress code for teachers at school.

    Before watching the video present and practice vocab here:

    https://quizlet.com/502633359/tighter-dress-code-flash-cards/

    The hosts are Alonso Duralde, Kenny Hamilton and Grace Baldridge. What do they think about these issues?

    • (00.00-02.30) Paris Monroe’s attire is appropriate for school.
    • (02.30-03.40) Women know if their outfit attracts attention.
    • (03.40-06.25) Attractive men are treated differently than attractive women.

    Obviously let the ss express their own opinions on the issues above.

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    Video

    What if you fell into Jupiter?

    Level: A2 and up

    Humans have explored the Moon, Mars, and of course, Earth. But what do we know about Jupiter?For the most part, this gas giant is a mystery.

    So what would happen if you wanted to discover it for yourself and jumped right onto the planet? Or should we say into?

    Because Jupiter doesn’t have a surface, just a seemingly endless stretch of atmosphere. Would you fall straight through? What would you see on your way? And how would it make you feel?

    Just a great class based on a fun science video from ‘What if …’ YouTube channel.

    With a great worksheet from Dolce Dario.

    What if you fell into Jupiter_Worksheet pdf icon

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    Totally Inappriopriate Speaking Activities

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    Materiały oparte na strukturze maturalnego egzaminu ustnego z języka angielskiego. Poniżej znajdziesz link do pliku pdf. Bierz i używaj 🙂

    Na ostatniej stronie znajduje się przykładowy zestaw pytań dla egzaminatora… Tylko do pierwszego arkusza. Dla mnie to nie potrzebne, ale mogę napisać takie zestawy do pozostałych arkuszy. Pod warunkiem, że znajdą się osoby chętne żeby z nich korzystać. Daj znać co sądzisz. Wszelkie info mile widziane 🙂

    TISA (1)  pdf icon

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