The price of fame

In this B2 Upper intermediate English lesson plan, your ESL students will:

• – discuss their opinions on fame and celebrity culture in speaking activities using new words related to celebrities and public recognition from a range of vocabulary-building activities;
• – improve reading and listening comprehension skills by completing a variety of activities such as definition matching, gap-fills, and word formation exercises, designed to be challenging enough for B2 upper intermediate students, while making use of their existing knowledge;
• – analyze various aspects of celebrity culture, using two authentic videos about the Hollywood Walk of Fame as reference, before expressing their opinions in related English discussion topics. Students will be encouraged to express their ideas fully, and to answer unscripted follow-up questions from their teacher.

In this ESL lesson plan, upper-intermediate students explore the topic of fame. Exercises introduce key vocabulary related to celebrity culture, using authentic texts and videos to boost students’ reading and listening comprehension skills, before leading into some discussion activities. The lesson concludes with conversation practice, in which students practice expressing their opinions using the key vocabulary from the lesson.

Warm-up:

Students start by discussing a selection of conversation topics about fame, to elicit vocabulary they already know and to activate their existing knowledge. The focus is on student talking time, with the teacher asking short follow-up questions to encourage students to give more detail.

Video:

Students watch two authentic videos called “The only star you can’t step on at the Hollywood Walk of Fame” and “The problem of fame”, focusing on identifying key information. After watching the videos, they complete a gap-fill exercise to check their comprehension. This part of the lesson helps students to become familiar with a range of natural expressions used by native English speakers, and also exposes them to natural pronunciation, such as the way words are stressed or linked.

Exercises:

Students complete a range of exercises which present key vocabulary, such as word-definition matching, gap fills, and word formation, then practice using it in context. Presenting and then practicing English vocabulary in this way makes it easier for students to remember the expressions. After completing the exercises, students are given the opportunity to ask the teacher any questions they have about the expressions. The teacher encourages the students to ask questions so that they feel comfortable using the key phrases in the discussion activities at the end of the lesson.

Reading:

Students read an authentic text about fame, then use what they have read to answer a series of questions. This exercise focuses on skimming, scanning, and extracting key ideas from a longer text. Students are encouraged to think about whether they agree with the text, and comment on anything that they find particularly interesting or surprising.

Discussion:

Students answer discussion questions about various aspects of celebrity culture and fame, using new vocabulary gained from the lesson. The focus on this part of the lesson is on students’ fluency, as they express their ideas and answer follow-up questions about their opinions from the teacher. In this part of the lesson, the teacher focuses on maintaining a natural flow to the conversation. Students are encouraged to paraphrase if they forget a word in order to keep the conversation going. The teacher notes down errors to briefly look at with the student after the discussion.