Level: B2 / Upper Intermediate
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Critical Reading Club 30 min
To shuffle or not to shuffle?
LifestyleIn this lesson students discuss the article they read at home about Adele’s request to remove the shuffle button on her album. They also study collocations with the words album and track.
Standard Lesson 60 min
I wish I could but I don’t want to
GeneralIn this lesson students watch a video about strategies for saying ‘no’ in English and discover some useful phrases to say ‘no’ politely. They also put them into practice through a role-play.
Critical Reading Club 30 min
Why eating locally is not enough
Global IssuesIn this worksheet students practise some language related to food’s carbon footprint. They also discuss their food choices and the factors that influence them.
Critical Reading Club 30 min
The gig economy: good or bad for workers?
BusinessThis lesson plan gives students the opportunity to learn and practise words related to freelance work and discuss pros and cons of the gig economy.
Standard Lesson 45 min
Can you figure it out? ESL vocabulary puzzles
BusinessThis is a set of ESL vocabulary puzzles rather than a typical ESL Brains lesson plan. Each of the puzzles can be used separately as a time filler, a warm-up, etc.
Standard Lesson 75 min
The right to rest and other employment laws
BusinessIn this lesson students learn vocabulary related to the topic of employment law, watch a video about a new law passed in Portugal and share their views on employment regulations around the world.
Critical Reading Club 30 min
How much control should the state have over children’s upbringing?
Global Issues LifestyleIn this lesson students engage in a discussion on the control the state should have over children’s upbringing and discover some vocabulary related to the topic.
Standard Lesson 75 min
I’m afraid that’s outside the scope of this meeting
BusinessIn this lesson, students reflect on ways to make a business meeting more productive and practise some useful phrases for business meetings. They also act out typical workplace situations.
Standard Lesson 60 min
The circular economy
BusinessIn this lesson, students discover pros and cons of the linear and circular economy and learn some new vocabulary and collocations related to the topic. They also work on a case study and come up with strategies to transform a company following a linear model into a more circular one.
Critical Reading Club 30 min
Dealing with plastic waste
Global IssuesThis lesson gives students the opportunity to discover some language related to plastic pollution, discuss the problem of plastic waste and reflect on some eco-friendly ways to deal with other types of waste.
Standard Lesson 60 min
How are new words created?
GeneralIn this lesson about the origins of new words in English, students practise their listening skills, figure out the meanings of some newly formed words and eventually create their own new words.
Critical Reading Club 30 min
Is it ‘OK not to be OK’ when you’re an athlete?
Business LifestyleIn this lesson students learn words and expressions related to mental health while talking about mental health issues suffered by athletes. They also discuss ways to promote mental health by public institutions.
Critical Reading Club 30 min
Are we lonelier than ever?
LifestyleIn this lesson about loneliness, students get the opportunity to practise word formation and reflect on changes in their relationships with friends.
Flipped Lesson 45 min
A whole new universe
Grammar TechnologyIn this lesson about Facebook’s metaverse, students learn and practise intensifiers while discussing positive and negative aspects of metaverse environments.
Flipped Lesson 45 min
Are we prisoners of our habits? (used to structures)
Grammar LifestyleIn this lesson about habits, students revise three used to structures and learn phrases with the word habit. They also watch a video about neuroplasticity and reflect on different aspects of some common habits developed by people.
Standard Lesson 60 min
Are emojis making us dumber?
GeneralIn this lesson about emojis students not only learn words to describe some common features of nonverbal communication, but they also watch a video and reflect on the role of emojis in digital communication.
Critical Reading Club 30 min
How tiny tasks become monsters
Business LifestyleIn this lesson students learn and put into practice dependent prepositions (in phrasal verbs and other expressions) while discussing reasons and ways of dealing with the common problem of procrastination.
Critical Reading Club 30 min
How to do an online job interview right
BusinessWith this lesson plan students learn and practise some useful phrases related to doing an online job interview while discussing ten tips on how to do it successfully.
Critical Reading Club 30 min
Co-living: an answer to housing and social issues
Global Issues LifestyleIn this lesson students learn and practise some interesting vocabulary related to co-living apartments, while discussing positive and negative aspects of this modern trend.
Critical Reading Club 30 min
Why do we glamourise overwork more than ever
BusinessThis lesson plan about overwork is based on an article and gives students the opportunity to learn work-related language, while reflecting on the cult of overwork.
Critical Reading Club 30 min
Turning oranges into electricity. Crazy or genius?
Global IssuesIn this lesson, students learn five pairs of verb synonyms and collocations which can be used to talk about sustainable living. They also come up with and reflect on eco-friendly solutions.
Standard Lesson 45 min
When bad means good
GeneralIn this lesson students discover different meanings as well as expressions with good and bad. They also get an opportunity to put them into practice while reacting to some real-life situations.
Standard Lesson 60 min
Today’s teens are going through a lot (cause and effect)
Grammar LifestyleIn this lesson, students learn and practise expressing cause and effect, discover new collocations and discuss problems faced by modern teenagers.
Standard Lesson 60 min
Should junk food be taxed?
Global IssuesIn this lesson about diet and obesity, students reflect on the factors contributing to the problem of obesity, listen to a news report and learn some words and phrases related to health.
Standard Lesson 60 min
Would you like to work a four-day week? (listening for details)
BusinessIn this lesson students will watch a video on a four-day work week, improve their listening for details skills and and reflect on the positive and negative aspects of working four days a week.
Flipped Lesson 45 min
How does silence make you feel?
General GrammarIn this lesson students discover the power of silence, work on improving their listening skills and focus on reported speech practice.
Standard Lesson 60 min
Unusual ways of using food
LifestyleIn this lesson about foodscape design, students practise listening, reflect on unusual ways of using food and learn several food idioms through a series of written and oral exercises.
Standard Lesson 75 min
Mastering small talk
Business LifestyleIn this lesson students practise their listening skills with an engaging video about making small talk in English, learn several phrasal verbs and sharpen their small talk skills through a series of speaking activities.
Standard Lesson 75 min
How to work with people who get under your skin
BusinessThis lesson plan is based on a video about how to deal with difficult relationships at work and includes two business English role plays.
Standard Lesson 45 min
A super-duper language phenomenon (reduplication in English)
GeneralIn this lesson about reduplication in English students discover the meaning of common reduplicatives and practise them in everyday conversations.
Standard Lesson 45 min
Do we need each other? (synonyms of the word important)
Global Issues TechnologyIn this lesson students engage in a discussion about human relationships. They discover synonyms of the word important, watch a video and reflect on the future of face-to-face interaction.
Standard Lesson 45 min
Whodunit (practise past modals with riddles)
General GrammarIn this lesson based on whodunits, students get an opportunity to practise past modals with riddles and speculate about murder mysteries.
Standard Lesson 60 min
How beauty filters are changing the way we want to look
Grammar Lifestyle TechnologyIn this lesson inspired by a video about body dysmorphia students revise and practise the different uses of Present Continuous as well as reflect on the influence of beauty filters on teenagers’ lives.
Standard Lesson 60 min
The humble hoodie
LifestyleIn this lesson about the history of the hoodie, your students will discover the origins of this iconic garment (and some others) and learn several adjectives for talking about clothes.
Standard Lesson 60 min
Do you need all this stuff? (verb formation)
Global Issues LifestyleIn this lesson based on a video about minimalism students get an opportunity to practise verb formation (exploring prefixes and suffixes) and reflect on their lifestyles.
Standard Lesson 45 min
He couldn’t have seen a ghost!
GrammarIn this grammar lesson, students learn a few idioms for expressing emotions, discover how to use past modals as well as practise them in speaking activities.
