ESL lesson plan | B2 | What is gratitude

Summary

This downloadable PDF lesson plan for B2 ESL students focuses on the theme of gratitude. Students will explore the meaning and importance of gratitude through a thought-provoking video, engaging in various activities designed to enhance their listening, vocabulary, and grammar skills.

The lesson includes a warm-up discussion, a video listening exercise with gap-fill, a vocabulary matching task, and targeted grammar practice on the Present Simple Passive. Through speaking activities and contextual exercises, students will learn to express their appreciation effectively and discuss the benefits of a grateful mindset.

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Activities

A warm-up discussion to activate prior knowledge and personal experiences related to gratitude.
Listening comprehension based on a video discussing the power and different forms of expressing gratitude, including a gap-fill exercise.
A vocabulary matching activity to learn and practice key terms from the video, such as "potent," "virtue," and "deity."
A grammar focus section explaining the Present Simple Passive and providing multiple-choice exercises for practice.
Vocabulary in context exercises to reinforce understanding and correct usage of new words.
A grammar practice activity requiring students to transform active voice sentences into the Present Simple Passive.
Speaking practice with discussion questions to encourage students to reflect on gratitude, using the vocabulary and grammar points learned.

00:00:4,646 So gratitude is an incredibly potent virtue.

00:00:8,316 What gratitude does is tells us we are valued in relationship.

00:00:13,071 And we see that when people feel genuine gratitude, they indeed help others.

00:00:18,535 And it binds us to each other.

00:00:21,287 But when we practice gratitude, the devil might be in the details.

00:00:25,834 It's not just what are you grateful for?

00:00:28,711 It's to whom are you grateful?

00:00:31,005 We often express it to other humans,

00:00:33,842 but we can also be grateful to other entities, and in particular,

00:00:38,179 many people around the world express gratitude to God.

00:00:44,394 Our research team was interested in

00:00:46,980 whether gratitude, expressed in the form of prayer to a deity,

00:00:52,360 would differ from gratitude practiced kind of as a self-help exercise,

00:00:57,740 or expressing that gratitude to another person.

00:01:2,078 And so we randomly assigned participants to one of these three conditions.

00:01:6,416 And what we found is that when people prayed,

00:01:10,211 we see more health and well-being benefits

00:01:13,047 than the journaling the gratitude,

00:01:16,593 or journaling and reading it aloud to a person.

00:01:21,514 We know this from other research

00:01:22,891 that when people imbue their goals or relationships

00:01:26,352 with sacred meaning, that they exert more effort

00:01:29,564 and they benefit more from those relationships.

00:01:34,527 Some people might be wondering, well, what if I don't believe in God?

00:01:37,906 Well, you might also think about the fact of existence.

00:01:41,826 Or I'm grateful for the things that are transcendent in my life.

00:01:47,498 For a lot of people,

00:01:48,499 being connected to nature is very effective in this way.

00:01:53,463 If I see a beautiful sunset, who do I thank?

00:01:56,424 There's not a human who made that sunset for me,

00:01:58,551 but I can thank something beyond the self.

00:02:2,764 Gratitude is especially important at this moment in history.

00:02:7,936 In the United States, we have a loneliness epidemic

00:02:11,189 as declared by the Surgeon General.

00:02:13,566 But expressing and feeling gratitude

00:02:16,319 allows us to recognize we're part of something bigger.

00:02:19,948 And that feels a lot less lonely.

00:02:22,200 It becomes expands and can transform a relationship or a community.

00:02:27,914 And so gratitude,

00:02:29,082 especially when practiced in relation to God,

00:02:31,834 is really a potent force for good.

00:02:36,798 It really helps you take a step back and see the bigger picture.

Vocabulary focus

The lesson introduces key vocabulary related to gratitude and well-being from the video. Students will learn and practice terms such as "potent" (powerful), "virtue" (moral excellence), "valued" (highly regarded), "binds" (connects), "deity" (god/goddess), and "imbue" (inspire with a feeling).

Grammar focus

This lesson focuses on the Present Simple Passive. Students will learn how to form and use this grammatical structure to describe general truths, habitual actions, or facts where the action is more important than the agent, or when the agent is unknown. The structure "Subject + am/is/are + past participle" is emphasized for effective communication.

What is gratitude

Summary

Activities

Vocabulary focus

Grammar focus

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