No Vulnerability, No Happiness

In this Advanced ESL lesson, the student will learn and practice vocabulary to talk about emotions and vulnerability.

Warm-up

The student needs to guess what word is hidden behind associations in the word cloud.

Video 

The student watches a short video that explains vulnerability, after which they rank situations in which people are vulnerable on a scale 1-10. 

Vocabulary: feelings

This part of the lesson starts with a sorting exercise where feelings from the list are categorized as positive or negative. The student is then shown a wheel of emotions where the task is to name six groups of feelings, which are then used to name the feelings related to different real-life situations.

Phrasal verbs, collocations , and idioms: feelings

The student fills in the gaps by using appropriate phrasal verbs (e.g. stir up, light up, tear up, etc.). 

As part of collocation practice, two collocations are to be given for each word defined in the table (e.g. weary smile, basic paradox, etc.). 

Idioms related to avoiding uncomfortable people and situations are introduced. The student tries to guess their meanings.

Video 

After watching an animated video on how vulnerability is perceived in modern society, the student discusses the video and marks statements true or false.

Reading comprehension

In a passage on the correlation between vulnerability and happiness, the student has an additional task of choosing correct options to complete the text. 

Furthermore, the student matches strategies we use to eliminate the feeling of vulnerability to real-life situations.

Their understanding of vulnerability is then checked in a multiple choice exercise.

Finally, the student discusses the ways they can benefit from vulnerability in certain areas of life (home, work, family, etc.).