Crime & Punishment: Bobby Bostic’s Story (Intermediate Lesson)

ESL/EFL Level: Intermediate (B1/B2)
Lesson Topics: justice, prison systems
Skill Focus: Speaking, Reading, Vocabulary, Grammar
Approximate Class Time: 1.5 hours
Lesson Plan Download: punishment-bobby-bostic-intermediate-032023.docx
Lesson Overview:

  • After warm-up questions, students read the story of Bobby Bostic, a man who served 27 years of a prison sentence for crimes he committed as a youth. The themes of the story include forgiveness and the value of long sentences for young offenders.
  • Post-reading activities include comprehension questions and a pair-work activity in which students use vocabulary from the reading to ask each other questions.
  • The lesson is followed by a debate on the role of prisons, an activity about penal reform, and a review of the passive voice (statements in the past simple). These activities are followed by some famous quotations related to crime and punishment.
  • All lessons come with warm-up questions, vocabulary questions, and discussion questions.

A dark image of a prison

INTERMEDIATE (B1/B2) EFL Lesson Plan on Bobby Bostic

Warm-up Questions (Pair-work)

  1. When you were younger, did you make any really bad decisions?
  2. At what age do you think the human brain stops growing?
  3. What is the purpose of prisons?

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-- Lesson plan on Bobby Bostic written by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. For questions, contact the author.

Possible answers to comprehension questions:

  1. …
  2. He is referring to the friendly way in which people treat each other and more generally, living happily.
  3. He and his friend robbed some people. They also shot a gun and stole a car.
  4. He was given parole because a law changed concerning the sentences for young offenders.
  5. Boston had learned more about how the brain of teenagers is not fully developed. Also, she says she had “gotten close” with Bostic and his sister, so she probably learned that he had grown and was now a “caring adult.”
  6. He is hopeful and appreciative to be out.

Vocabulary Answers: 1-h, 2-a, 3-f, 4-j, 5-g, 6-b, 7-k, 8-e, 9-c, 10-d, 11-i

Rewrite the questions - Answers

  1. Have you ever seen a crime?
  2. Was Bostic’s punishment too much?
  3. Do you sometimes give to charities?
  4. What do you appreciate in your life?

Passive Voice Answers:

  1. A group of people was robbed by Bostic and his friend.
  2. Bostic was treated like an adult by Judge Baker
  3. Bostic was offered parole (by the government).
  4. Bostic was freed (by the government).

Footnote:

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