Stop pleasing others!

The main goals of this ESL lesson plan are to:

• – learn how to use the phrases “it’s time” and “had better” for giving advice and expressing urgency through clear explanations and sentence rewriting exercises that show these structures in action;
• – understand vocabulary about people pleasing behaviors by discussing what makes someone a people pleaser, watching videos about breaking these patterns, and reading about the psychology behind always trying to make others happy;
• – develop self-reflection and discussion skills through exploring personal people-pleasing tendencies, talking critically about the costs and benefits of this behavior, and using word cloud activities to examine whether students recognize these patterns in themselves.

In this Upper-Intermediate ESL lesson plan, students learn the use of the phrases “it’s time” and “had better”. Additionally, they engage in a critical discussion about people pleasers.

Warm-Up

We kick off with a brief discussion on what students know or think about the concept of people pleasers.

Video

Students watch a video “How to Stop Being a People Pleaser” and discuss the questions that follow.

Grammar

This section explains the use of the phrases “it’s time” and “had better”.

Exercises

In this section, the use of “it’s time” and “had better” phrases is exemplified and practiced. This is accomplished through sentence rewriting exercises.

Reading

Students read a thought-provoking text on people pleasers and talk about the subject matter.

Discussion

Finally, the lesson wraps up with a discussion about people pleasers aided by a word cloud. Students are also encouraged to take a look at themselves and judge if they engage in people pleasing behaviours.