To tip or not to tip

Kinga | Jan 13, 2025Jan 13, 2025

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

• practise advanced vocabulary to talk about financial situations;
• discuss tipping from various standpoints;
• watch a video about why Americans are tipping less.

With this lesson, students talk about tipping customs and motivations. They work on advanced idioms and phrases (e.g. economic growth, take-home pay, live hand to mouth, etc.), share their opinions on different tipping practices and watch a video about tipping in the US. Students compare the situation in the US to that in their country and discuss tipping policies. They also summarize the lesson using the target vocabulary.

WARM-UP AND VOCABULARY

This lesson starts with a warm-up. Students look at the photos of different professions (e.g. a cleaner, a barista, a mechanic, etc.) and say if it’s expected to tip these people in their country. They share their personal experience with tipping in those situations and suggest other jobs where tipping is usually customary. Afterwards, students discuss tipping practices and motivations. Then, they complete the gaps in sentences about perspectives on tipping in the service industry. Students work on advanced vocabulary to talk about financial situations and use the correct forms of words to create idioms (e.g. stay afloat, live hand to mouth, break the bank, etc.). Following that, students look at the statements again and say if they agree or disagree, explaining their reasoning. 

VIDEO AND DISCUSSION

In this part of the lesson, students say what they think ‘tipping fatigue’ means. They then watch the first part of a video to verify their idea. After that, students read sentences about tipping in the US containing mistakes. They watch the second part of the video and correct them. Following that, students look at information from the video (e.g. A waiter’s base pay can be below the minimum wage.) and compare tipping in the US with their country. Next, they read about an idea from the video and discuss tipping tax policies. Then, students practise more advanced vocabulary to talk about financial situations and choose the correct words in sentences. Finally, students summarize the lesson using some points (e.g. something new you learnt) and the target vocabulary.

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This lesson plan also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students complete sentences using the target vocabulary. 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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