Summary
This downloadable PDF lesson for English teachers explores the true history of Black Friday. This ESL class material is perfect for B2 students to practice listening, speaking, vocabulary, and grammar in a fun, cultural context.
This engaging ESL lesson uncovers the real story behind Black Friday. Students start with a warm-up discussion about shopping, then learn key vocabulary related to the topic. They'll watch a short video to check their comprehension, practice vocabulary in context, and review the difference between the past simple and present perfect. The lesson culminates in a speaking activity where students use specific phrases to debunk common myths, making it a practical and interactive class.
Activities
- Students begin by discussing their opinions on Black Friday and big sales events in a warm-up discussion. They then move on to a vocabulary matching exercise to learn key terms from the video, such as 'frenzy,' 'congestion,' and 'to turn a profit,' preparing them for the listening task.
- Learners watch a video about the surprising origins of the term 'Black Friday' and complete a true/false comprehension task. This is followed by a focused grammar practice on the past simple vs. the present perfect tenses based on the video's content.
- The lesson introduces useful phrases for contrasting popular beliefs with facts (e.g., 'The story goes that...' vs. 'Actually...'). They then apply this language in a final discussion activity, first debunking the Black Friday myth and then other common misconceptions.
Vocabulary focus
This lesson focuses on vocabulary related to business, history, and social phenomena. Key terms include verbs like "to derive from," "to precipitate," and "to dread," and nouns such as "congestion" and "frenzy." Students will also learn idiomatic phrases like "to turn a profit" and "to make inroads," which are useful for discussing business and trends.
Grammar focus
The main grammar point is the distinction between the past simple and the present perfect. The lesson provides clear examples from the video context, explaining when to use each tense. Students will complete a gap-fill exercise to solidify their understanding of how to describe completed past events versus actions with present relevance, a common area of difficulty for B2 learners.
