Lesson Topics: courage, overcoming fear
Skill Focus: Listening, Speaking, Vocabulary
Approximate Class Time: 2 hours
Lesson Plan Download: steve-gleason-speech-advanced-lesson-072024.docx
Lesson Overview:
- After warm-up questions, students watch a 4:44-minute video of Steve Gleason accepting an award for courage at the ESPY Awards. Gleason is a former NFL athlete who has ALS. In his speech, he talks about the importance of helping each other overcome our fears.
- The video is followed by recall activity, reading comprehension questions, and a vocabulary-matching activity. Next, students match vocabulary from the video to definitions and then form discussion questions using the target vocabulary.
- There are two debate topics related to fear and adversity. The lesson has one role-play scenario involving an aunt giving advice to a young teen who is facing adversity.
- The next speaking activity has students discuss what they would do if they had three years left to live. This is followed by an activity about solving the main problems people face today in the 21st century.
- Next, to review vocabulary from the lesson, students are asked to create a story related to five images about adversity.
- After famous quotations, the lesson ends with a review of vocabulary and collocations before presenting some final discussion questions.
ADVANCED (C1/C2) Lesson on Courage
Warm-up-Questions
- What does the word ‘courage’ mean to you?
- Do you consider yourself as someone with courage, i.e. are you a courageous person? What have you done or not done that shows your courageousness?
- Many people have to live with difficulties in their lives. Can you think of someone you know who has faced a great difficulty and overcame it?
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This lesson plan was created 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. ChatGPT was used to generate answer keys and some famous quotations. For questions, contact the author.
Vocabulary 1-compassionately, 2-isolation, 3-resiliently, 4-sublime, 5-lens, 6-immune, 7-alleviate, 8-diagnose, 9-adversity, 10-vulnerabilities, 11-collaborate, 12-humility, 13-triumph
Comprehension Question Answer Key
- The central topic is about courage and the central message is that all humans face adversity, and together, by sharing our vulnerabilities and collaboratively, we can help each other overcome our struggles.
- Gleason was told that he only had three years to live.
- Everyone faces fear or adversity.
- He believes our greatest strength is to have the courage to share our vulnerabilities.
- …
Collocations 1-d, 2-b, 3-g, 4-c, 5-a, 6-f, 7-e