Having Kids in Today’s World (Advanced Lesson)

ESL/EFL Level: Advanced
Lesson Topic: The wisdom of having children in today's world (given its issues)
Skill Focus: Speaking, Listening, Vocabulary
Approximate Class Time: 1.25 hours
Lesson Plan Download: children-in-todays-world-advanced-012023.docx
Lesson Overview:

  • After a warm-up, students watch a short (3:30 min) YouTube video entitled "Should you bring a kid into this world?" The video is followed by comprehension, discussion, and vocabulary questions.
  • Next, students give a short presentation on what tools/qualities children will need in the future. Afterward, there is a short activity focusing on the idiom "That being said".
  • All lessons come with warm-up questions and discussion questions.

A baby boy sleeping

Note to teachers: This lesson is shorter than usual (two pages). I made most of it and then felt that the video, though short and sweet, didn't have many specific details for discussion. I ended up switching the input to the book Factfulness and created new lessons here. In other words, if you want a more developed lesson, see the Factfulness lessons.

ADVANCED Lesson Plan on Bringing Children into Today’s World

Warm-up Questions (Pair-work)

  1. In your opinion, what is the ideal number of children to have?
  2. What factors, either internal or external, should determine how many children a person has?
  3. Generally speaking, are you more optimistic (positive) or pessimistic (negative) about the future?

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-- Lesson plan on Having Children in Today’s World 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. He believes that looking at life from a longer perspective can help people see the great progress humankind has achieved.
  2. He calls it a “radical act of hope and courage for a better tomorrow.” In other words, it represents optimism and faith in a better future.
  3. A sandbag strategy is a short-term solution that doesn’t fix the underlying problem. He believes that such strategies lead to further problems down the road.
  4. False – He gives it as an example of a good change/decision that was not a sandbag.
  5. His father is an example of, again, the faith in progress and a better tomorrow. Despite seeing the worst of humanity in the Holocaust, he still had children.
  6. It means that gradually things get better.
  7. He means being realistic about life and giving them tools to deal with life’s problems.
  8. …
  9. …

Vocabulary: 1-awe, 2-ancestor, 3-host, 4-multitude, 5-flee, 6-exponential, 7-perpetuate, 8-underlying, 9-descendant, 10-radical

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