Staying cool when it’s not cool

The main goals of this ESL lesson plan are to:

• – expand vocabulary related to performing under pressure through gap-fill exercises in texts and definition matching activities;
• – improve comprehension skills by watching a video about staying calm under pressure and reading a text about high-pressure situations, followed by targeted questions about both materials;
• – develop critical thinking and speaking abilities through analyzing motivational speech phrases to determine their effectiveness and engaging in guided discussions using provided prompts.

In this C2 lesson plan, students will practice vocabulary related to performing under pressure.

Warm-up 

The lesson begins with students reading a short motivational speech and picking out which phrases help and which don’t in raising the spirits of the team.

Video 

Students will view a video titled “How to stay calm under pressure.” After watching the video, they will answer questions to check for comprehension.

Exercises 

Students will learn new vocabulary by picking the right word to fill the gap in a text  and matching terms with their definitions.

Reading 

In this part, the students will read a short text about high-pressure situations and answer a set of questions related to the text.

Discussion 

The lesson concludes with a discussion of three questions while using prompts provided.