LESSON OVERVIEW

With this lesson plan, students talk about gender stereotypes, watch a video and discuss the factors driving the gender pay gap. They also reflect on solutions to this problem and discover some expressions with the word root.

DISCUSSION & EXPRESSIONS WITH ROOT

To start with, students look at two photos showing a little girl and boy playing and discuss what is traditionally expected of boys and girls. They focus on multiple aspects, such as personality, behaviour, likes and dislikes, future career choices, etc. Next, students analyse eight half-phrases related to the topic of gender equality and match them with their corresponding halves (maternity leave, emulate role models, pursue a career). They read the definition of gender pay gap, look at the phrases from the previous exercise and brainstorm possible social and economic factors in the gender pay gap. After that, students analyse seven given factors contributing to the problem (e.g. upbringing, social bias, education) and engage in a discussion. The following task familiarises students with seven expressions with the word root. Students discover them completing seven gapped sentences with the words given in a box (e.g. root sth out, be the root cause).

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Before students watch a video about gender pay gap in Iceland, they take another look at the expressions from the previous exercise and predict which of them they expect to hear in the video and why. They watch it for the first time and relate to its content by discussing three given questions. The second listening activity focuses on listening for more detailed information. Students need to explain the significance of five specific elements mentioned by the speakers in the video. The listening practice is followed by an in-depth discussion about the ideas presented in the video with students sharing their thoughts. A good idea to consolidate the vocabulary at the end of this lesson (or alternatively, at the beginning of the next one) is a vocabulary revision game. You read out eight given definitions and students have to guess the corresponding words they learnt earlier in the lesson (e.g. copy someone – emulate). You might even want to make it a competition!