| LESSON OVERVIEW
The main objectives of this lesson are to:
- discuss the importance of memes;
- watch part of a video (to 02:46) about the history of memes;
- express opinions on memes and exchange experiences.
With this lesson, students talk about memes, watch a video about the history behind them and share their experiences and opinions. They read about some popular memes and discuss the impact and purpose of memes in communication. Students can also do an optional activity where they practise vocabulary for expressing feelings and opinions on the lesson’s topic (e.g. I’m living for…, It’s gold., got me in my feels).
C2 / Proficiency45 min
60 minSpeaking ClassUnlimited Plan
This is a Speaking Class worksheet. It includes a variety of tasks that let your students practise their speaking skills. This lesson format does not focus on grammar or vocabulary. Learn more about it here.
WARM-UP AND VIDEO
Before the lesson starts, students can do an extra vocabulary activity. They match reaction phrases (e.g. hits different, is giving, I can’t with it) to their meanings in dialogues about memes. After that, students move on to a warm-up. They provide an example and a few details about their experiences with memes (a meme that made me laugh, a meme you shared with your friend and a meme that is trending now). Next, students discuss the importance of memes, what they are and what makes them popular. Following that, they watch part of a video (to 02:46) about the history of memes and listen for points that surprise them, feel relatable and are already familiar.
DISCUSSING MEMES
In this part of the lesson, students choose two statements that best represent their opinion about memes (e.g. Memes oversimplify complex issues.) and provide arguments. They then discuss the importance of memes and answer questions about their impact and purpose in communication, considering some types of memes (e.g. memes featuring politicians, memes featuring animals, memes from films and TV shows). Finally, students read about some popular memes (e.g. ‘Hide the Pain Harold’, ‘The Distracted Boyfriend’, The ‘St. Javelin’ meme) and discuss questions about how memes influence people, society and culture.
WORKSHEETS
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Good lesson but it’s for sure 45 minutes rather than 60. My students had a good laugh at the idea memes can be harmful.
Thank you for the feedback! We’re trying to include a variety of perspectives into discussion activities, so we’re happy your students found some ideas amusing. As for the duration, it’s natural that it will vary depending on the classroom. Thank you again 🙂
This is a very speaking- and teacher-friendly lesson. The task types, efficiency of text, and nearly, not completely, universal interest in the topic allowed me to easily manage the pace, in this case over 2 hours. Its content provided plenty of opportunities to scaffold for and elicit substantial output from a lower-intermediate ranged group. Thank you!
Thank you so much for your detailed and thoughtful feedback!
We’re really glad to hear that the lesson felt manageable, engaging, and adaptable across different levels. It’s also encouraging to know that the content provided enough flexibility for scaffolding and output with a slightly lower-level group.
Thanks again for taking the time to share your experience – it’s incredibly valuable!
I haven’t used this lesson yet, but I’m sure it’ll be a success, Brazilians love meme culture!
Thank you for the comment, Veronica! We hope you will also share how the lesson turns out with your students 🙂
I’m afraid to say that many of my students, of many different ages, did not like this video and lesson. Not entertaining, interesting, a bit dull really. BBC Ideas usually do have good videos which I like using in class but I’m afraid to say that this wasn’t one of them. Sorry!