Working graveyard shifts

The main goals of this ESL lesson plan are to:

• – Build shift work vocabulary including terms like “pineal gland” and “circadian rhythm,” plus work-related idioms like “burn the candle at both ends” and “go the extra mile.”
• – Master emphatic “do” structures in Present Simple through rule completion and mistake correction exercises in this business English lesson.
• – Improve discussion and comprehension skills by exploring pros and cons of shift work, watching videos about night shifts, and practicing idioms through Jeopardy games.

In this Business English lesson, students will talk about the pros and the cons of shift work, discuss vocabulary related to the video (pineal gland, circadian rhythm etc), learn idioms and phrasal verbs related to working hard (e.g. burn the candle at both ends, burn the midnight oil, go an extra mile etc.), as well as discover emphatic structures in Present Simple.

Warm-up

The student discusses the most common night-shift professions.

Video: Working night shifts or bouncing back and forth?

Before watching a video about shift work, the student learns some useful vocabulary that will help them understand the video better (ambient light, circadian cycles, etc.). After watching the video, they choose the best summary of the video content. Then, they complete the rest of the video comprehension activities.

Grammar: Emphatic do

Based on sentence examples, the student completes the rules related to the use of emphatic do and then practices using it by correcting mistakes.

Idioms related to work

The student decodes pictures to get idioms related to work (burn the candle at both ends, burn the midnight oil, go the extra mile, etc.). They learn what they mean and get to practice them by playing Jeopardy.

The lesson ends with a  review.