Macklemore & Sheeran: Speaking Out on Palestine (Upper-Intermediate)

ESL/EFL Level: Upper-Intermediate (B2/C1)
Lesson Topics: Israel-Palestine conflict, celebrity activism
Skill Focus: Vocabulary, Speaking, Listening
Approximate Class Time: 1.75 hours
Lesson Plan Downloads: Editable DOCX | PDF Slides
Lesson Overview:

  • Foreword: This lesson contains ideas that are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.
  • Students first warm up with questions about celebrities, celebrity activism, and Ed Sheeran and Macklemore's music.
  • Before watching the video, students preview three idioms and try to match them to their definitions.
  • The lesson's input is a CNN video (2:00 in length) that covers the key points of the controversy about the musician Macklemore being dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour for saying "Free Palestine" at a show. The video also describes the other acts that have quit and Sheeran's position. The core question of the video, and this lesson, is whether celebrities have a duty to use their platforms to be political.
  • The video is followed by comprehension questions.
  • Next, students match vocabulary from phrases in the video to definitions. This is followed by an exercise in which students ask questions to each other using some of the new vocabulary.
  • The first speaking activity is a debate that gets at the crux of the issue: Do celebrities like Ed Sheeran and Macklemore have a responsibility to speak out about political issues?
  • The next speaking activity is more light-hearted and reviews the idiom cross the line. Students review eight scenarios to decide if they cross a personal line for them. Note that some of the scenarios are a bit unconventional -- teachers: please review beforehand (as always).
  • After a few famous quotations, students review collocations and then the vocabulary from the passage.
  • Finally, the lesson ends with a few final discussion questions.

AI-image of Macklemore on stage, mic in hand.

Macklemore & Ed Sheeran Tour Controversy UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2/C1)

WARM-UP:

  1. Do you follow any musicians or celebrities on social media? Do you care about their political views?
  2. Are there brands or people you won’t support because of their politics? If so, which?
  3. Do you like Ed Sheeran and Macklemore’s music? What do you know about them?

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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. Claude AI was used to assist with answer keys and famous quotations.

 

ANSWER KEY

Comprehension Questions

  1. ...
  2. "Free Palestine"
  3. Billionaire owner of the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium; he barred Macklemore from performing at his venue, which triggered the crisis.
  4. Finneas, Aaron Rowe, Beoga, and Lukas Graham all withdrew from the tour in support. Ms. Rachel also publicly criticized Sheeran.
  5. To highlight what she sees as a double standard — Sheeran performed a benefit concert for Ukraine but considers Palestine too political.
  6. False — Sheeran said the decision was the promoter's, not his.

Vocabulary Answer Key

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

Collocation Answer Key

1-c, 2-b, 3-d, 4-a

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