Lesson Topics: education, Finland, teaching
Skill Focus: Reading, Speaking, Vocabulary
Approximate Class Time: 1.75 hours
Lesson Plan Download: finnish-education-intermediate-lesson-032025.docx
- The lesson begins with a quotation from Benjamin Franklin about education. Students discuss the quotation and three other warm-up questions about education.
- The reading passage is 198 words in length. It describes the merits of the Finnish education system, focusing on his teaching methods and culture.
- The passage is followed by comprehension and follow-up questions.
- Next, students review the eight vocabulary items by matching them to their corresponding definitions.
- After vocabulary matching, students form discussion questions with the target vocabulary.
- As a speaking activity, the lesson has two debate prompts: one about whether education should be free and the second about separating boys and girls in classes.
- This is followed by two roleplays. In the first, a concerned parent discusses his child's academic performance with his teacher. In the second, a husband tries to convince his wife to move his family to Finland to take advantage of their superior education system.
- Finally, the lesson ends with a review of vocabulary and collocations before presenting some final discussion questions.
- Note: This lesson was originally published in 2014 but was revised and expanded in March 2025.
INTERMEDIATE (B2/C1) Lesson on Education
Warm-up-Questions
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” - Benjamin Franklin
- What does this quotation mean? Do you think it’s true?
- Who was your favorite teacher when you were in school? What did you like about him or her?
- Which teacher did you dislike? Why?
- Why do people go to school? Make a list of ideas with a partner.
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Lesson plan updated March, 2025. This lesson plan was created by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). It was updated in March, 2025. 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.
Comprehension Question Answer Key
- Recall & Retell: …
- 4-5 hours a day.
- They learn in class instead of doing a lot of homework.
- Most schools are public.
- Parents believe they are responsible for their child's education, not just the school.
- Public education is free, including books.
- …
- …
Vocabulary: 1-d, 2-f, 3-c, 4-g, 5-a, 6-h, 7-b, 8-e
Collocations 1-e, 2a, 3-b, 4-d, 5-c