Staying Friends with Your Ex: Smart Move or Slippery Slope?

The main goals of this ESL lesson plan are to:

• – explore different perspectives on relationship endings while developing vocabulary to express complex emotional concepts;
• – practice advanced language skills through synonym matching, sentence unscrambling, gap-fill exercises, and articulating sensitive personal experiences;
• – watch a video about whether exes can be friends and enhance ability to discuss cultural viewpoints around romantic relationships.

In this Proficiency ESL lesson, students explore different perspectives on relationship endings while developing vocabulary to express complex emotional concepts. Through targeted activities and discussions, students enhance their ability to articulate sensitive personal experiences and cultural viewpoints around romantic relationships.

Warm-up: 

The lesson begins with a discussion of introductory questions about breakups

Video: 

Students watch a video: “Can Exes Be Friends?” They then complete gaps in sentences based on video content.

Exercises: 

The vocabulary section builds language proficiency through several targeted activities. Students work on completing partial phrases related to breakups, engaging in synonym matching exercises to expand their vocabulary, and unscrambling sentences about relationship endings. These exercises reinforce key terminology while providing practice with sentence structure and word relationships.

Reading: 

During this section, students analyze a text about moving on from exes.

Discussion: 

The lesson concludes with students sharing diverse perspectives on post-breakup interactions and boundaries. This final conversation provides an opportunity for students to use their new vocabulary while discussing respectful ways to handle these sensitive situations.