| LESSON OVERVIEW
The main objectives of this ESL lesson on the subjunctive are to:
- work on useful phrases connected to open communication at work;
- learn and apply the subjunctive;
- watch a video and chat about vulnerability in the workplace.
With this lesson, students explore workplace communication, discuss common practices and learn useful expressions on communication (e.g. own up to, shy away from, take on board). They watch a video and talk about vulnerability at work. Students study and practise the subjunctive, share their views and discuss openness and respectful behaviour. They also imagine being a CEO and share rules and expectations using target phrases.
WARM-UP AND VOCABULARY
This ESL lesson on the subjunctive starts with a warm-up. Students discuss open communication at work. After that, they read descriptions of some communication practices. Then, students complete gaps to create useful phrases (e.g. bounce off, grow on, hold back). Afterwards, they match the descriptions to the practices or tools they describe (e.g. open-door policy, team meetings, regular team socials). Moving on, students say which practices from the previous task they value or would value most where they work. They give reasons. Following that, students imagine they want to practise open communication at work. They read different situations (e.g. Your superior has misunderstood a key point) and discuss how they would respond. Students use the target phrases from the lesson.
VIDEO AND GRAMMAR
In this part of this ESL lesson on the subjunctive, students brainstorm how vulnerability is connected to open communication. They then watch a video about vulnerability at work and choose the statements that are true. Afterwards, they discuss questions on vulnerability in the workplace and its impact. Moving on, students analyse pairs of sentences. They explore and analyse the structure and use of the subjunctive. Following that, students rewrite sentences about openness and respectful behaviour at work using the subjunctive. Next, they imagine they are the CEO of a marketing company, talking about expectations, rules and policies. Students complete sentence starters (e.g. I insist that…) using the subjunctive. Finally, they say to what extent vulnerability might be considered acceptable in pairs of situations (e.g. small team vs large team).
HOMEWORK/REVISION
This lesson plan also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students rewrite sentences using the target phrases from the lesson and the subjunctive. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.
WORKSHEETS
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This bizarre modern redefinition of the word vulnerability is utterly bizarre.