The PowerPoint contains advanced language for expressing opinion, personalising the topic, agreeing and disagreeing. It was made with C1/C2 students in mind. If you’re teaching lower levels, the student handout may be more suitable, although I recommend supplementing it with a phrase sheet, perhaps try my FCE Speaking Phrases post.
Put students into small groups (3/4) or conduct the activity as an open class discussion. Before engaging in discussion on the topics, students must decide individually to what extent they agree or disagree with the given statement by circling one of the numbers from 1-6. The idea is that students will be more likely to take a stand and defend their point of view and less able to go along with the crowd if they’ve assigned their opinion a numerical value.
You could also introduce the phrase “to play devil’s advocate” and encourage students do it during the discussion. Another idea could be to assign a specific student from each group as the devil’s advocate for each topic, thus forcing them to come up with counter arguments to what their classmates are saying.
Here are the discussion topics:
Zoos have a positive impact on society.
Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree
Big game hunting should be allowed the money from hunting licences should go towards conservation.
Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree
Humans shouldn’t step in to save endangered species; nature should be allowed to take its course.
Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree
I see no problem with testing cosmetics on animals.
Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree
I see no problem with testing medicines on animals.
Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree
People in the future will view the way we treat animals today as barbaric.
Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree
It’s not a square meal without some meat.
Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree
I could go vegetarian.
Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree
I could go vegan.
Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree
I’m willing to cut down on meat for environmental reasons.
Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree
Eating animals like dogs and cats shouldn’t be viewed as strange; we eat pigs, sheep and cows.
Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree
I would be able to tell the difference between real and synthetic meat.
Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree
One day, all meat will be synthetic meat, grown in a laboratory.
Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree
Factory farming is necessary in order to feed the populations.
Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree
Eating meat is an important part of my culture.
Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly disagree
Sports involving animals (hunting, horse riding, bullfighting, etc.) are an important part of my culture and must be protected.
A simple worksheet and discussion activity in which students look at 21 different phrasal verbs featuring either up or down. Download the student handout and answer key below, follow the link at the bottom of the post for a Kahoot game based on the target language:
This is a conversation topic for B2+ students in which they discuss things that annoy them. First they study some expressions related to annoyance and anger, then put them to use in a discussion about different annoying habits. Download the student handout, key and Powerpoint below:
Start by writing “Pet hates/peeves & Bugbears” on the board and give examples of some of your personal pet peeves using some of the expressions from the student handout.
Vocabulary Focus
Give out the handout and have students complete the expressions. Check answers in open class.
Instruct students to cover the handout, then show the first slide from the Powerpoint, students now need to remember the expressions using the words from the exercises on the handout:
STAND – I can’t stand it when…
The sentences are animated on the Powerpoint so you can reveal them one at a time.
Repeat for the expressions about anger.
Discussion
Put students in pairs or groups of three.
Go through the slides on the Powerpoint showing different annoying habits and behaviours.
For each slide encourage students to discuss their feelings about the topic and also think of a specific time in their lives when they’ve witnessed such behaviour, and how they reacted. If they can’t think of a specific time, encourage them to speculate about how they would react: “If I saw someone throwing litter out of a car window, I would lose my rag!”
Encourage students to share their opinions and experiences in open class.
Wrap up the activity by having students write a definitive list of 3 pet peeves/bugbears that they have.
For adult students or groups that you know well, you may want to teach slightly more explicit versions of the expressions:
Lose one’s shit
It fucks me off
Homework
Have students listen to our episode of 2Ts in a Pod on the topic of Pet Hates:
This is a lesson plan for C1/C2 students by Soleil García Brito on the topic of face recognition based around a video and a gapped text exercise. The warmer could also be used with lower levels (B1/B2). At the end of the lesson students can take an online test to see if they are “super recognisers”; you’ll find the link below.
Download the student’s handout and teacher’s notes below.
This is a cheat sheet/reference grid explaining the different task types that students will be required to complete in part 2 of the Cambridge C1 Advanced writing paper. Download the handout below:
This is another guest post by Soleil García Brito on the topic of gender roles and the colour pink but this time for higher level students (C1/C2). The lesson plan is made up of two video exercises, a gapped text reading exercise and a discussion on the topic. Download the student handout and teacher’s notes below:
New Episode! This is the first in a new series of book club episodes based around Richard Osman’s brilliant page-turner “The Thursday Murder Club”. Tim and Katy discuss the plot a few chapters at a time and highlight some useful language. Try it out with your high-level students!
This is a conversation lesson plan designed with higher level adults in mind (C1/C2). It could also be adapted for lower levels. Download the handouts below:
The advanced discussion phrases handout is a truncated version of my C2 speaking phrase sheet, other phrase sheets could be used for lower levels.
Give out the phrase sheet. Have students peruse it and ask questions about unfamiliar expressions. You may also want to model pronunciation of some of the exponents, although this could also be done reactively. You could also ask students to choose their favourite expressions from the list to encourage ownership of the exponents.
Give out the discussion topics. Explain the system: students must read the topic and first individually circle one of the numbers between one and six to determine how much they agree with the statement. Students are then free to discuss the topic in groups or as a class. They must decide their level of agreement before discussing the topic to avoid following the crowd. This system should lead to more in-depth discussion and hopefully more disagreements!
Encourage the use of the expressions on the phrases sheet; you could award points for the number of expressions used. Some of the discussion topics are common proverbs or phrases so be ready to give definitions and examples to illustrate meaning.
This is a writing task for students preparing for the C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency exam. Students are required to write a report on the effects that the initial coronavirus lockdown had on young people in their country and also give recommendations to improve the situation in the event of a second lockdown. Download the handout below:
This is a Halloween-themed speaking lesson plan. It was designed with C2 proficiency students in mind as preparation for speaking part 2. However, it can be used with a wide range of levels. Download the powerpoint below:
I recommend giving out one of my phrase sheets before doing the task. Find them using the search function.
If you’re teaching C1 or C2 students you could also use my “Scared Stiff” lesson plan to look at language to describe feeling scared or to talk about horror films.
Put students in pairs and go through the powerpoint. Students will have to discuss and make decisions about different elements of horror films and other topics related to fears and phobias.
