LESSON OVERVIEW

This ESL lesson gives students the opportunity to learn useful phrases to talk about memory, watch a video, learn facts on how our memory works and have a fascinating discussion. 

WARM-UP & VOCABULARY

The lesson starts with a fun warm-up in which students look at the picture for 30 seconds and remember as many things as possible. After that, they list the things they can remember. Students talk about what helped them and discuss more things related to memory. Then, students move on to a vocabulary part of the lesson. First, they read some facts about memory and complete them with one word each. Students also discuss these facts and say which of them might be useful for them when learning English. Then, students match the facts with follow-up statements. The follow-up statements include useful phrases to talk about memory (e.g. on the tip of your tongue, ring a bell, slip your mind, etc.). 

PRACTISING PHRASES TO TALK ABOUT MEMORY

In this part of the lesson, students watch a video and practise the vocabulary. First, they complete the sentences so that they are true for them. They can also go into detail and ask each other follow-up questions. Then, students watch a video about memory and make notes. After that, students discuss the questions about tricks that memory plays on people and other things related to the topic. Students also read the text about the Mandela Effect and fill in the gaps with one word. Then, students look at some comments and choose the right word to complete functional language phrases to talk about memory. As a final activity, students look at the sets of pictures and discuss questions. 

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This lesson also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students practise the use of the vocabulary from the lesson, including the phrases to talk about memory. 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.