LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

• practise collocations with ‘need’;
• watch a video about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs;
• discuss needs and priorities from a critical perspective.

With this lesson, students can review collocations with ‘need’ (e.g. feel the need, no need to, no longer need, etc.), talk about things that are important to them and discuss different types of needs (e.g. physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, etc.). They explore Maslow’s hierarchy (theory that people should meet their needs in a particular order to be happy) and watch a video about the subject. 

This is a Speaking Class worksheet. It includes a variety of tasks that let your students practise their speaking skills. This lesson format does not focus on grammar or vocabulary. Learn more about it here.

COLLOCATIONS WITH ‘NEED’

At the beginning of this lesson, students can do an extra activity to revise vocabulary. In the task, they match sentence halves to complete collocations with ‘need’ (e.g. meet my needs, basic needs, critical needs, etc.) in statements about personal needs and priorities (e.g. I need a holiday badly or I’m going to feel burnt out.). Then, students choose the sentence that they agree with most and add more details. 

WARM-UP AND VIDEO

As a warm-up for this lesson, students think of things they can’t imagine their day without. Then, they say why they are so important to them. Following that, students rank the things they came up with into a pyramid based on their importance. Afterwards, they have the chance to practise collocations with ‘need’ and explain their choices. Next, students look at the different types of needs (e.g. physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, etc.) and add examples to each type. After that, they look at the types of needs again and complete a definition about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Subsequently, students watch a video about the topic and write down pieces of information that they have learnt or haven’t heard before. 

DISCUSSION

At this point in this lesson, students read pairs of opinions about hierarchy of needs (e.g. I agree that social needs are the most important of all. OR I think social needs were more important for people in the past.). They choose the ones they agree with more and explain their choices. After that, students read facts and discuss questions about insights and developments related to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Then, they choose an area (e.g. education, healthcare, marketing, etc.) and think about how the theory is or could be applied there. Students can use collocations with ‘need’ and different needs (e.g. safety needs, social needs, self-esteem, etc.) in any order they think is correct.