Here is another great TED Talk I used in class with my students. It is short, funny and most people find it very relevant. This class involves speaking, listening and writing about the topic of success. We all want to know what the secrets of achieving success are so this TED Talk is universally liked and students find it easy to relate to its content. It also opens up some interesting topics for discussion, which all makes for an engaging and dynamic English lesson.
listening
LinkedIn lesson plan
I planned this LinkedIn lesson with my adult Business English students in mind. It combines speaking, listening and writing in the context of using LinkedIn, one of the fastest-growing social networking services for professionals. It is a great lesson to use with corporate clients, who often have an extensive and impressive knowledge of business networking and find this topic really interesting and engaging.
TED Talk: English mania
This TED Talk deals with the topic of learning English around the world nowadays, focusing on China and comparing language learning to a mania. This lesson is based on the TED Talk by Jay Walker. TED Talks are a great source of listening/reading materials as well as inspirations for class conversations and written assignments. I try to choose Talks shorter than 10 minutes (ideally 4-8 minutes long) and topics which are relevant to specific interests of my students.
The Real Rain Man: video activity about Kim Peek
The Real Rain Man video activity offers students the opportunity to practice their listening and speaking skills. They watch a short video and answer some questions, and then discuss the content of the documentary. I came up with the idea for this activity while looking for more engaging ways to approach the chapter in the book entitled “Secrets of the mind”.
Lifetramp lesson plan
Lifetramp lesson plan offers listening, speaking and writing practice. The aim of this class is to talk about different jobs and compare authentic job descriptions. The idea for this lesson came to me after stumbling upon this amazing website. I found the idea of Lifetramp really interesting and decided to introduce my students to this online community.
Smartphone apps listening activity
This smartphone apps listening activity is based around the topic of new technologies and innovative use of smartphone apps. It works best with FCE, CAE, and upper-intermediate students. It compliments well coursebook chapters about technology and its influence on our lives, especially new technologies such as smartphone apps. I used this video published by BBC News.
Facebook lesson plan
Facebook lesson plan offers a lot of Facebook-related vocabulary practice, grammar practice, and speaking. It was inspired by the video What’s on Your Mind which went viral and inspired some discussion about the way we use social media to create our online persona. It is suitable for pre-intermediate and intermediate students and compliments well coursebook chapters about technology or media.
