LESSON OVERVIEW

In this ESL lesson, students practise talking about technology. They also watch two videos about a robot companion for kids, learn vocabulary related to the topic, and write short comments about the video. 

VOCABULARY & VIDEOS

At the beginning of the lesson students brainstorm how four listed words and phrases (e.g. dystopian nightmare, children, education) might be connected. Then, they watch an ad for a robot companion and compare the content to their ideas from the previous exercise. They also discuss some questions about the advertised product. The aim of this task is to get students talking about technology. After that, students need to do a vocabulary quiz in which they find collocations and synonyms. Next, they use the vocabulary to rewrite some sentences. Before watching the second video, students try to predict which of the eight statements listed in the worksheet will be mentioned. They then watch the video and check their answers. The video is an interview with one of the robot’s creators, and students can use the vocabulary from the previous exercises. 

DISCUSSION & WRITING

This part of the lesson starts with a discussion about the video. Then, students get five opinions about the video. They have to choose one of them and elaborate on it to create a comment they could post under it. They also share and compare their comments.Finally, students spend some time talking about technology presented in the videos, as well as kids’ education. Students need to decide what skills are most important for children to learn (e.g. critical thinking, communication skills, flexibility and adaptability) and whether this will change in the future. They also brainstorm how these skills can be boosted in children and discuss who would do a better job teaching the skills – a teacher or a robot companion.