Tag Archives: canva

Lesson Plan: Going Vegan?

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For over 30 years, I’ve been a proud pescatarian—a semi-vegetarian, if you will—happily skipping steak. Let me tell you, being “the one who doesn’t eat meat” in a region, Asturias,  famous for its chuletones and fabada can make for some hilarious and eyebrow-raising moments: from explaining my choices at barbecues to finding the right food for me in a menu full of meat choices, I’ve collected plenty of anecdotes along the way.

So, in this lesson aimed at B2 + students,  we’re going to explore the fascinating world of vegetarianism—a topic that sparks some seriously interesting conversations.

Ingredients of this lesson plan.

  • Warm-up: speaking and a fun video
  • Introducing Vocabulary with a home-made IAnized 🙄 video: Vegan vs Vegetarian
  • Vocabulary
  • Speaking: two corners
  • Scattergorix Game
WARM-UP: Speaking and one of my Favourite Videos

To kick things off, I’ve got a video I’ve been using for years to introduce this lesson. Now, I’ll admit that the quality is terrible. It’s grainy but it’s absolutely hilarious, and I just can’t bring myself to part with it. Before we jump into it, though, let’s set the scene with a couple of thought-provoking questions:

  • Have you ever gone on a date with someone who was vegan? How did it influence your choice of restaurant or food?
  • Do you think food choices (like being vegan) should be a factor when choosing a partner? Why or why not?

LISTENING:Note-taking: Vegan vs Vegetarian

Time to clear up the terms vegan vs. vegetarian, often confused! I’ve made a quick video using AI magic to explain the basics.

Students watch the video and jot down the key differences. In retelling the main differences, make a point of writing key vocabulary on the board.

 Differences between de cristina.cabal

Vocabulary

Do we need a vocabulary exercise? Absolutely! The more words we know, the more we can express ourselves—plain and simple.

 

Speaking Practice

Let’s get moving with an expressing opinions activity! It’s all about taking a stand—literally.

Step 1. I’ve kept it simple—just grabbed three plain sheets of paper, and wrote I agree, I disagree, and I can’t decide, and stuck them in the corners with blue tack.

  1. I agree
  2. I disagree
  3. I can’t decide (optional, if you have a larger group).

Step 2. I display the first statement, Being a vegetarian is the best choice for both personal health and the planet . Once students decide whether they agree or disagree with the statement, and before they stand up, I offer some guidance by suggesting ideas they can use to explain their position on the statement.

So, if they AGREE, they can use these reasons;

  • Reduces risk of chronic diseases (heart disease, diabetes)
  • High in nutrients like fibre, antioxidants, and vitamins
  • Avoids animal cruelty in factory farming
  • Lower carbon footprint and reduced resource use (water, land)
  • Helps combat deforestation and biodiversity loss

If they DISAGREE, they can use these

  • Risk of B12, iron, and protein deficiencies without careful planning
  • Limited food options in some cultures or regions
  • Costly and hard to access plant-based substitutes
  • Large-scale plant production can also lead to deforestation and water use

Step 3.  they are ready now.  Sudents move to their corner and discuss with like-minded peers for about 5 minutes.

Step 4. After about 5 minutes, they’ll pair up with someone from a different corner and try to change their mind—debate time!

For the next statements, they’ll have a moment to prepare their reasons before standing up and choosing their corner.

Going vegan? – Presentación de cristina.cabal

Game: Scattergorix

After hard work comes the reward—this time in the form of a game! Have you ever played Scattergorix? In this round, the list of categories is all about food. Hey!!! And yes, I got a little help from ChatGPT. Sometimes, it’s not so easy to come up with something for every category.

These are the rules of the game and below, the home-made game I created for my students.

scattergorix de cristina.cabal

 


Food Scattergorix de cristina.cabal

Politics: Biden and Trump Visit my Class. A Lesson Created with AI.

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Picture this. Me announcing to my C1 students that the next lesson in the textbook was going to revolve around Politics. To be honest, any other year, I would have probably shared my students’ feeling of apathy or disinterest.  But this year I was really looking forward to this lesson as AI is shaking things up in my English class!

Imagine my students’ jaws dropping when I announced a class debate featuring… wait for it… virtual versions of Biden and Trump! And both using the vocabulary we have been studying, revising and reinforcing.

In this lesson for C1 students, you will find

  • Tailor-made texts using specific vocabulary
  • Talking avatars reading these texts to create a listening comprehension activity
  • Mediation activity using the talking avatars and the texts
  • Speaking activity using target vocabulary

How I Did it

Using ChatGPT to Generate Text Using Target Vocabulary

Prompt: You are an English teacher. Write a text divided into paragraphs. Each paragraph should be preceded by a heading. The headings should be: economic policies and immigration policies. Write it from a Republican point of view. Write a short paragraph for each heading, using C1 English and include such as the verbs benefit, trigger, boost, undermine, bankrupt, to earn peanuts, to be into, compound, combat, and lead

I repeated the same prompt but asking ChatGPT to generate the text from a Democrat point of view.

Listening Comprehension: creating talking avatars to read the text

I created two separate talking avatars. I created Joe Biden and uploaded the text generated by ChatGPT, and then did the same for Donald Trump, and uploaded them to YouTube. This step was important as I wanted to use Twee.com to generate the comprehension questions, which you can find here.

Mediation Activity

Download:  Joe Biden PDF, Donald Trump PDF

And … we shouldn’t let the visit of these two politicians to our class go to waste, so the next step will be to use these talking avatars for a mediation activity, hitting several birds with one stone.

  • help students boost pronunciation
  • help students boost speaking and mediation skills
Steps:

Note:The day before, I asked my students to bring their earbuds and mobile phone s with a QR Code reader installed for the next class.

During the class, I organized the students into two groups – Republicans and Democrats – and paired them up accordingly. I handed out copies with Joe Biden to the Democrats and photocopies featuring Donald Trump to the Republicans.

Aim: engage in a mediation activity by conveying the information to the other candidate using your own words.

Instructions:
  • Scan the QR code to listen to the candidate reading the text. Repeat as many times as necessary until you feel confident in pronouncing the vocabulary correctly.
  • Take notes of what each candidate says. Note: You don’t have to copy word by word.

Joe Biden:

C1 Politics Joe Biden by cristina.cabal
Donald Trump

C1 Politics D. Trump by cristina.cabal

  • Time allotted for individual work in this part: 15 minutes
  • Finally, pair up students and ask them to retell their part, trying to use the target vocabulary. This part might take another 15 minutes.
Speaking: Retrieval Practice
  • Give students one minute to write in their notebooks all the vocabulary words they remember from this unit.
  • When the minute is up, ask the students to say their words and write the most interesting ones on the board.
  • Put the students in pairs or groups of three, underline two/three words and ask students the first questions, asking them to try to use all or some of the words underlined on the board.

 

  1. How important is it for individuals to stay informed about current political events?
  2. Do you think there’s a growing sense of disconnect between politicians and the people they represent? Why or why not?
  3. What do you think are the most important qualities for a good leader?
  4. Do you think that social media can be used to trigger political polarization? If so, how?
  5. What are the most important factors that people consider when casting their vote?
  6. Does the current political landscape adequately represent the diverse voices and needs of society? If not, what needs to change?
  7. Are there particular areas of policy you’re interested in, like education, healthcare, or the environment?

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Explaining Have Something Done and Killing Two Birds with One Stone

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Time is of the essence. I am pressed for time. There is no time to lose. Time is running out or time is ticking are some of the phrases that fit me like a glove now that I have less than a month to wrap up the course. In case you are wondering, nope, I didn’t miss a single lesson this year, so I am not making up for lost time, it is just that I feel there is so much I haven’t taught them; there is so much that still needs to be reinforced.

Anyways, last point of grammar: Have something done. Here we go!!!!

Step 1. Introducing Have Sth Done and Guided Practice

Note: Use the arrows to enlarge the presentation.

Fun: For the exercise in the last slide, put students in groups of three and vote for the most extravagant luxury within the group and then within the class. This will encourage everybody to participate and have a nice laugh while learning.

STEP 2: The killing of the two birds with one stone. Shadow Reading.

Now, you might be wondering why I have chosen the title ‘Kill two birds with one stone’ when it seems like I am just going to explain the structure ‘have something done’. Well, I am and I am not.

In a last attempt to try to improve my students’ pronunciation, I asked them to bring to class their earbuds/headphones and make sure they had a QR Code Reader installed in their phones.

I prepared and assigned them a shadow reading activity which contained, once again, an explanation of the grammar point and some clear examples.

What is shadow reading?

Shadow reading is one of my favourite activities. It is a technique used in language learning to improve students’ pronunciation and fluency. It involves students listening to an audio recording while simultaneously reading the text out loud, trying to match the speaker’s rhythm, intonation, and stress.

How I set it up
  • As you read above, I asked students to bring their earbuds/headphones to class and ensure that they had a QR Code Reader installed on their phones.
  • I gave my students a copy of the text below these lines, and asked them to scan the QR Code.
  • Then, I instructed them to step outside the class, work on the text and come back in 10 minutes.
  • Finally, I invited every student to have a go at reading parts of the text, attempting to mimic the pronunciation and intonation they heard in the video.

Note: while some students made noticeable improvements in their pronunciation, others may have been a little shy to share their progress, but that’s okay! Now they all have a clear model to follow, and they can continue to practice at home with confidence.

A more personal note: I cannot close this section without expressing my total devotion to Simple English videos and to the recently deceased Vicki, my inspirational voice, as well as her husband Jay.  I have always used their videos to warm up my voice before starting class on Monday. (I know you know the feeling)

This is the handout I shared with my students

Shadow Reading de cristina.cabal

The Practice.

Text created with ChatGPT

It was not Rocket Science but it was a Smashing Success: Conflict and Resolution

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It is not very often that I feel depleted of energy. I try to prepare my classes in such a way that they do not only engage students, but also me. I really need this spark in my lessons to keep me motivated. But some Mondays ago, I was just not feeling it and the way the lesson was laid out in the textbook was not helping either. It was mind-numbingly boring, and I was so tired that I could think of nothing to engage me or my students. But thankfully, my colleagues Paula and Alba were there to save the day, and they rushed to help with some ideas.  Want to know what came out?

First Step. Always. Revision.

We were working with these useful phrases to use in arguments.  So, first and foremost, revision. This is key.

These are some of the sentences we studied:

Using “point”

  • What’s the point you are trying to make?
  • That proves my point
  • You are missing the point
  • I take your point.
  • Please, get to the point.
  • There is no point crying over spilt milk
  • You’ve made your point

Some other useful phrases:

  • You are twisting my words
  • That’s not what I meant at all
  • We’ve got our wires crossed
  • We should clear the air
  • That came out all wrong
  • We are going round in circles
  • Can we just agree to disagree?
  • There is no need to raise your voice
Second step:Paper
I gave my students a small piece of paper and asked them to write one of the sentences above on the slip of paper, encouraging them to use their best handwriting, as this sentence was meant to be read and used by other students working with them.
To hold the pieces of paper, I gave them these tiny blue holders I bought here.  (I love props, what can I say? Does the activity work without them? Sure thing!)
Third Step: More Paper.
I asked students to form groups of four and provided four scraps of paper, each with a word written on it – two with “AGREE” and two with “DISAGREE”. The scraps of paper were placed in the middle of the table, face down. Remember: before displaying the statement, they should be face down on the table.
Fourth Step: Controversial statements.
I did a very quick search on the Internet looking for controversial statements.  Two minutes before the class started, I opened a presentation template of Canva ( I tend to always use the same) and pasted the statements.

controversial statements de cristina.cabal

Now, we are ready to start. Let’s recap.

  • Students have chosen a sentence  (step 1) and put it on display for the other students to use.
  • Additionally, on the table, there are  4 scraps of paper which, at this stage, are placed face down on the table.
Fifth Step: Speaking and Choosing a Role
  • Display the first controversial statement and ask students to choose a random scrap of paper containing  the words AGREE or DISAGREE.  Give them a minute to prepare their arguments defending their point of view regarding the statement. You might hear some ohhh, ahhh and some grumbling if they got the opposite of what they think. Just smile!!!
  • Encourage students to discuss the statement and try to incorporate some of the sentences they see displayed by their classmates in the group conversation.

Sixth Step: Change Partners
  • After 10-12 minutes of discussion, ask the students to change partners and move to different tables, bringing the sentences they have chosen with them. Display a new controversial statement and once again ask the students to randomly choose a scrap of paper with either “AGREE” or “DISAGREE”.

Note: I only had one student who is a devout Catholic and, in this case and depending on the statement being discussed,  I allowed this student to choose the slip containing either “AGREE” or “DISAGREE” that aligned with his beliefs.