Summary
This ESL lesson for B1 English students explores Birthday celebrations. Using a real video as the basis for discussion, students develop reading and listening comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar skills across a 90-minute class.
The grammar focus is Gerunds (-ing) and Infinitives (to + verb). Key vocabulary includes have friends over (verb phrase), family gathering (noun phrase), ignore (verb) and more, all drawn directly from the source material. The practical English section gives students useful phrases for real-life situations: You are making and responding to invitations for a social event, like a birthday party..
Activities
- A warm-up discussion to activate prior knowledge and get students thinking about the topic before watching or reading.
- Comprehension exercises based on the video to check understanding of the main ideas and key details.
- A grammar focus on Gerunds (-ing) and Infinitives (to + verb). In English, some verbs are followed by a gerund (the -ing form of a verb, like 'cooking') and some are followed by an infinitive ('to cook'). For example, we 'enjoy cooking' but we 'decide to cook'.
- Vocabulary expansion with advanced expressions related to Birthday celebrations not found in the source material.
- Practical English phrases for You are making and responding to invitations for a social event, like a birthday party., with exercises to practise using them naturally.
- A speaking task where students role-play a real-world scenario, applying vocabulary and phrases from the lesson.
Vocabulary focus
The vocabulary section introduces B1-level words and phrases related to Birthday celebrations. Key terms include have friends over (verb phrase), family gathering (noun phrase), ignore (verb), occasion (noun), invite (verb). Students practise using these terms in context through exercises drawn from the source material.
Grammar focus
This lesson focuses on Gerunds (-ing) and Infinitives (to + verb). In English, some verbs are followed by a gerund (the -ing form of a verb, like 'cooking') and some are followed by an infinitive ('to cook'). For example, we 'enjoy cooking' but we 'decide to cook'.
