Instead of devoting a whole lesson to this topic, we can have a short warm up that might help us get the necessary information. For example, we can split students into pairs, ask each of them to choose their favourite TV show and convince their partner to watch it.
The other easy-to-implement thing is to ask whether they’d like to be a character in any TV series and make them explain why. Remember that such things work best when students have a good sample answer to follow, so we have to be ready to share something as well.
Summing it all up, we agree that students have different interests and needs. But if there’s something that they all share, it’s the craving for entertainment, the possibility to switch off sometimes and distract themselves from daily problems. And if we can give it to them without taking away the teaching component, TV series might be just the means for that. Do you agree? Do you like using TV series in your lessons? We’d be happy to hear your thoughts!
Some of you might be familiar with our Critical Reading Club (aka CRC). The idea behind it is that students read an article before the class and then discuss its content and share their thoughts in the classroom. Previously, we encouraged you to use authentic articles with your students on our Instagram account. But then we got some feedback from you and started developing a more teacher-friendly idea. We’re happy to announce that from now on, we’ll be publishing the Critical Reading Club worksheets.
The main idea behind the Critical Reading Club hasn’t changed: students read an article before the class and then do a series of activities related to its content in the classroom. What’s new is that we have developed the worksheet with some relevant language points and varied speaking tasks. The end result is a short worksheet which typically contains four or five tasks and takes about 30-45 minutes to complete. From the feedback we’ve received so far, it seems it may take longer, as learners tend to get really engaged with the topics!
We are starting with 6 CRC worksheets so there are a few you can try out straightaway. There are 2 CRC worksheets available for free so that everyone can have a peek at this new format. All the other CRC worksheets will only be available to our Unlimited subscribers, to add even more value to our most popular subscription plan.
What a fantastic idea!! You can do so much with these articles…I’m definitely going to try one soon!!.I’ll let you know the outcome… Thank you very much!!
Looking forward to your feedback! In terms of intermediate students, we’ll research some ‘easier’ articles for B1 students and publish CRC for them as well but not super often at this moment.
Thanks for the feedback – you can actually use the filters in our Lesson Search page to only see the CRC worksheets. But maybe we will make it into a separate tab in the menu once this section grows.
We’re happy to announce that we are going to create new teaching materials with you: the Critical Reading Club (CRC) worksheets. They are available in addition to all the regular ESL Brains lesson plans on our website, so there will be more worksheets for you to use every month.
The idea behind the worksheets is that students read an article before the class and then discuss its content and share their thoughts in the classroom. Previously, we only shared articles and a few discussion questions on our Instagram account. Thanks to your active participation and feedback, we’ve been able to develop these brand new CRC worksheets.
It’s very simple. Before each lesson, you just need to visit the ESL Brains website and copy a link to an article for your students to read.
Then, share the link with your class and set the reading task as homework. The ‘in-class’ part is based on a short worksheet, which typically contains four or five tasks related to the content of the article. The activities focus on some relevant language followed by speaking practice, and they take about 30-45 minutes to complete. It might actually take longer, as learners tend to get highly engaged with some topics!
The articles we curate for every lesson are authentic texts published by reputable online news resources (not adapted!). These original, up-to-date materials in English not only spark discussion, but also serve as a rich source of new language for students to learn. The CRC worksheets do not contain reading comprehension questions such as those often found in ESL course books. Instead, their purpose is to inspire critical discussion while at the same time improving students’ speaking fluency. Each CRC lesson is available in the form of printable worksheets (both teacher’s and student’s versions), as well as an e-lesson plan.
We’re all aware of the benefits of continuous reading practice whilst learning a foreign language. It stimulates the brain, increases vocabulary and even helps develop writing skills. However, there is often too little time for learners of English as a foreign language to read long texts and do extensive comprehension activities in class. Although we recognise the invaluable role of the teacher in helping students acquire reading skills, we have decided to focus on boosting students’ motivation to read outside the classroom. We want to achieve this goal by selecting interesting and thought-provoking texts as well as designing stimulating questions for in-depth discussions.
It helps you make the most of every minute of lesson time. Each class should give students the feeling of having learnt new language while maximising their speaking opportunities.
Being able to tackle authentic texts in English will result in enhancing students’ self-esteem and create more interest in exploring the English language and culture on their own. (Just remember, it is your job as a teacher to make sure your students’ language level matches the level of the article you want them to read, so they don’t get frustrated.)
Is there an option to just see these CRC lessons? If not, could you make one so we don’t have to scroll through all different types. This would be great if you could do it for all the different types, e.g. speaking etc. It’s something that I want to find quickly but can’t.
You can filter the lessons by their type. This filter is available after clicking “show more filters” in the Lesson Search page. Read about more ways to browse through ESL Brains lessons here.
ESL LessonsEver wondered which lessons other ESL Brains teachers would recommend? We have, so we had a closer look at what was trending in the first half of 2022, and created the list of the most popular lesson plans from that period. See which lessons have most often been viewed, commented on and liked, and get inspired!
Word formation, listening, but most of all loads of speaking practice! This free lesson plan for intermediate and upper-intermediate students is (in the words of ESL Brains teachers) useful, informative and well-structured. Some teachers have even successfully used it to help students change their negative attitude towards English!
Let your students chuckle and guffaw in this amazing lesson about laughter! The user’s comments are probably the best recommendation there is. Filipe calls it an absolutely amazing lesson, and adds: Great activities. Relevant vocabulary for the intended level and the exam-type activity at the end are splendid. Ece also shares some feedback: Such a fun lesson plan, laughed all the way through it with my students.
Weddings in Malta? Dining in China? Falling asleep in Japan? Let your pre-intermediate students watch some funny videos about cultural differences and share, compare, and discuss their experience and views! As a bonus, they will learn the difference in use between a bare infinitive and a to-infinitive. This amazing lesson gets ALL students talking!
Is it in Italy? India? Mexico? Where? Even the quietest students will want to share their opinion on that! This is one of the lessons which show that even pre-intermediate students will speak English if presented with an interesting topic. And who wouldn’t want to talk about food?
Strive for success, but embrace failure! This lesson is packed with some great advanced vocabulary practice and engaging talking points, and will be a success with both business and general English students.
Has it? Let you students tell you! The lesson has been called excellent and fantastic by many ESL Brains users. Use controversial topics like this one and help your advanced students practise oral fluency and accuracy.
Don’t we all need a good excuse sometimes? Use this outstanding upper-intermediate lesson plan to teach your students how to say ‘no’ politely. They will discuss a video about different strategies for saying ‘no’, and practise the new language in every-day situations. This was a great business lesson, according to Sue. And Lizzie said: I loved teaching it and my students were buzzing to go and say no to all of their bosses the next day!
You are welcome to share your ideas with us in comments.