How to read body language

Justa | Oct 30, 2019Dec 22, 2023

LESSON OVERVIEW

This flipped lesson plan gives you a great opportunity to talk with your C1+ students about body language, discuss some misconceptions about it and analyse different gestures. The worksheet is based on a very interesting interview with a former FBI agent and body language expert Joe Navarro. And it also includes a CAE-like Use of English activity and wide range of vocabulary to describe gestures.

PRE‐CLASS ACTIVITIES

This body language lesson plan start with some pre‐class activities, i.e. activities students should do at home. The first task includes some vocabulary from the video. Students have to match words in bold from sentences with their meanings. Thanks to this activity, it will be easier for them to understand the speaker in the video. Then, they watch the video and need to answer some comprehension questions. Some questions also include words from the previous exercise which means that students have to study the vocab very well to be able to answer questions. Of course, the idea is that they should always look up some words which they don’t understand in a dictionary. Moreover, there are many words and phrases for describing various gestures used in the video. Basically, your students will learn a few ways of describing body language before coming to the classroom.

IN‐CLASS ACTIVITIES

The in‐class worksheet of this body language lesson plan starts with a task on gestures and facial expressions. Students have to add verbs to correct photos, write a short description of each photo and analyse what these examples of body language mean in their opinion. Next, student move to reading a text about body language in the professional world. First, they read the text once and they need to match words in highlighted in green with their synonyms. You can ask your students check answers in pairs. Then, they read the text one more time and complete gaps choosing one of the four options given. This is an activity that resembles the CAE Use of English Part 1 task (multiple choice cloze).

Finally, students move to a discussion task which includes questions about the ideas from the video and the text as well as general questions about students’ own views on body language, its importance and use.

WORKSHEETS

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