LESSON OVERVIEW

Do you think you will change a lot in the future? Or maybe not at all? This idioms lesson plan based on the short TED talk by the psychologist Dan Gilbert will give your students many occasions to talk about their attitude towards change and their future selves.

VOCABULARY

The lesson on the basis of the talk entitled “The psychology of your future self” focuses on speaking about changes using the vocabulary from different tasks. Firstly, students acquire some synonyms of the word change, such as transform, modify, evolve, etc. Then, engage them into a short discussion on their own attitude towards changes. After that, you can move to idioms connected with changes.  These are perfect to describe their own personal experiences. Students need to match idioms to the situations that can describe. Next, encourage your students to choose three idioms and use them while talking about situations from their lives.

VIDEO AND DISCUSSION

Finally, students should watch the talk and discuss questions related to Dan Gilbert’s ideas. The worksheet finishes with two tasks on vocabulary from the video. This idioms lesson plan should take around 60 minutes (including the talk which takes 7 min). In addition, before giving students worksheet, it is a great idea to elicit synonyms of the word change.