Four Charts on Modern Life (Part 1) – Upper-Intermediate

ESL/EFL Level: Upper-Intermediate (B2/C1)
Lesson Topics: teen social media use, negativity in the media, aging populations, the video gaming industry, explaining charts
Skill Focus: Reading, Vocabulary, Speaking
Approximate Class Time: 1.75 hours
Lesson Plan Download: four-charts-modern-part1-upper-intermediate-072023.docx
Lesson Overview:

  • Background: This lesson is based on a longer thread of 25 significant charts that display trends neglected by the media. I've widdled down the list from 25 to eight, and then broken the eight charts into two separate lessons. This is lesson #1.
  • The lesson begins with a prediction activity, asking students to guess what trends might be included in the lesson. This is followed by three warm-up questions.
  • Next, the lesson introduces four charts about social media use, negativity in the media, aging populations, and the gaming industry. Each chart is accompanied with discussion questions.
  • Afterward, as a focus on vocabulary, students hunt for six C1/C2 level words found in the aforementioned sections.
  • For speaking activities, there is a debate about the positive impact of social media use on teens, a roleplay about becoming a YouTuber, a short presentation about increasing the birthrate in South Korea, and a pitch contest between film and video game production companies.
  • Students are then asked to brainstorm language for describing graphs. As a speaking activity, then they describe charts (found on page 2) to each other.
  • The lesson wraps up with a collocation review, vocabulary review, and famous quotations.

An image of a bar chart showing an increase

UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2/C1) EFL Lesson Plan on Four Charts on Modern Life (Part 1 of 2)

Predictions: You are about to look at some charts that show trends that are important yet the media does not talk about enough. What trends do you think might be included? Make a list of ideas with a partner.

Warm-up Questions

  1. What are the top social networking sites used by teens aged 13-17? Make a ranking with a partner.
  2. How do you receive your news? Which sources do you prefer?
  3. Do you play mobile, console, or PC games? Why or why not?

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-- Lesson plan on four charts on modern life (part 1) 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.

Vocabulary Hunt Answers: 1) neglected, 2) sentiment, 3) disgust, 4) mortality, 5) box office, 6) revenue

Vocabulary Review answers: box offices, revenue(s), analysis, ratio, highlight, news outlet

Collocation Answers: 1-b, 2-d, 3-c, 4-e, 5-f, 6-a

Footnote: [1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7834459/

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