S9E1: Lesson Materials to Try with Your Adult Learners
Teacher and materials writer Silvina Mascitti shares three lesson plans from her library of free materials at EFL Creative Ideas. Silvina walks through the various lesson stages for each lesson and shares insights into how she uses the materials with her adult learners.
Key talking points
Lesson Structure
Silvina outlines her typical lesson structure: before, while, and after framework focusing on meaningful language points.
Each lesson includes engaging activities such as discussion questions, visuals, and follow-up tasks to reinforce learning.
Lesson 1: Are you a Foodie? (A2 Elementary level)
Silvina introduces a relatable lesson on food, utilising an advert and visual elements to engage low-level students. Lexical focus includes phrases like "sounds fancy" and "looks good," with a follow-up task on discussing dining experiences.
Lesson 2: The Power of Surprise (B1 Intermediate level)
This lesson adapted from Psychology Today encourages discussion on surprise, with activities including mind maps and reading comprehension tasks. Lexical focus includes words related to self-confidence, with a follow-up role-playing scenario.
Lesson 3: Memories (B2 Upper-Intermediate level)
Designed for higher levels, this lesson integrates visual elements and discussions on memories. It includes excerpts from Marcel Proust's work and connects to Maroon Five's song "Memories," with activities including vocabulary mind mapping and discussions on childhood memories.
About Silvina
Silvina Mascitti is an enthusiastic, qualified teacher of English and materials writer from Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has worked in ELT for more than 20 years. She taught English in schools and companies in Argentina. She got a Fulbright scholarship and taught Spanish at a university in the USA. Currently, she lives in Spain and teaches adults online. She also creates materials for her own lessons and shares them for free on her website EFL Creative Ideas. Silvina also works as a freelance materials writer for highly-recognised platforms and language schools.
References
Links will direct you to each of the lesson plans and materials Silvina refers to in this episode.
Are you a foodie? A2 Elementary level lesson material.
The Power of Surprise. B1 Intermediate level lesson material.
Memories. B2 Upper-intermediate level lesson material.
Highlights
“That’s an important aspect; to be able to represent our students in the materials.”
“Learning English or teaching English is not always about gap-filling...there are other ways”
Watch the video with closed captions or refer to the transcript below.
Transcript
00:00:00:01 - 00:00:18:15
Laura
TESOL Pop season nine, episode one. Hello! Welcome to TESOL Pop, the mini podcast for busy teachers. My name is Laura and joining me today to talk about three lessons that you can try out with your adult learners is Silvina Mascitti. Now, the lessons that we're walking through today are actual lessons that you can download for free and use for yourself.
00:00:18:21 - 00:00:26:05
Laura
You can find these links in the show notes as we walk through them in today's episode. Let's jump to where I asked Silvina how she structured each of these lessons.
00:00:26:07 - 00:00:58:13
Silvina
So I usually follow like a before, while and after either reading or listening or watching. and then I usually pick like a meaningful grammar point or lexical items from the resources that I use. So I have a focus on lexis or focus on language or on pronunciation as well. And finally, I include a follow-up task so that students can put into practice, this meaningful language or lexis that I chose
00:00:58:15 - 00:01:01:12
Silvina
in a communicative task at the end of the lesson.
00:01:01:14 - 00:01:09:09
Laura
Well, fantastic. Shall we talk about the first one? I'm actually quite hungry when I was looking at this lesson about Foodies. Yeah, let's talk about that one.
00:01:09:12 - 00:01:36:22
Silvina
That's a super relatable topic. I think that everyone loves to talk about food. and especially when we are teaching low level students so that that's one of the first topics we usually teach apart from likes and dislikes. So they are like kind of together. In this lesson plan, I chose, a commercial: Heinz the ketchup Heinz commercial starring, Ed Sheeran, the singer.
00:01:36:24 - 00:02:02:09
Silvina
So in this case, students at the very beginning, they have very visual, elements to start with. So they can use these visual support, for meaning, for scaffolding. That's something I usually do. So they start with discussing some questions about their own experiences with food. So we activate schemata. We activate prior knowledge of the topic. We relay the topic to their own experiences.
00:02:02:11 - 00:02:26:05
Silvina
I use the video as it's for, as I said, low level students. What I do is, first of all, students watch the video without any kind of sound so that they only focus on the visuals, and then I have like, a listening comprehension activity mainly focusing on decoding skills. So I want students to learn how to understand linking, how to understand how words are connected.
00:02:26:07 - 00:02:54:17
Silvina
So this is what I did here. so once they finish watching, they, they discuss some questions. They react to the video, they express their opinions, using very simple language. For this lesson, I chose a focus on lexis. So I chose some, interesting chunks: sounds fancy, looks good, etc. So that they can use all of them in the follow up stage later.
00:02:54:19 - 00:03:14:24
Silvina
And the follow up stage is talking about the last time they went out for dinner or lunch so they can talk about, their favorite places and use very simple language, but in a contextualised way. That's what ‘Are you a foodie?’ is about. And it's pretty popular on my website. One of the most viewed lessons.
00:03:15:01 - 00:03:42:12
Laura
And I can see why, because it's so inclusive in the pictures and the lexical chunks that you've chosen. You've covered a whole range of settings, not just fancy restaurants - obviously is one of them. But you've got food trucks, street food. And that's such a wonderful way to kind of enable everyone a way in. And not just like when was the last time you went to a restaurant, which may not always be something that students may be able to relate to or share or feel comfortable sharing if they're from different economic backgrounds.
00:03:42:12 - 00:03:48:08
Laura
So it's really you've covered it all and you've got them really talking about food on a very kind of human level.
00:03:48:08 - 00:04:06:09
Silvina
And that's an important aspect. You mentioned to be able to represent our students in the materials, not to to talk about like, double decker busses when you live in other places than the UK, for example, you know, so trying to bring the topic, as close as possible to our students.
00:04:06:13 - 00:04:12:10
Laura
Fantastic. This is such a wonderful lesson to start with. I know you have two others that you want to talk about. Which one shall we talk about next?
00:04:12:13 - 00:04:40:24
Silvina
So now if we start increasing the level of complexity so we move to the surprise lesson plan, the power of surprise, which is aimed at B1 [CEFR intermediate level] or higher level students. And it can also be adapted to lower level students. But, this is I, I adapted a text from Psychology Today, which is a website that, talks about well-being and psychology, topics.
00:04:41:01 - 00:05:10:14
Silvina
So I wanted to talk about surprise with my students, how they feel when they are surprised, how they feel when someone surprises them. so for this lesson, also, we have some discussion questions at the beginning, some pictures, very inclusive pictures, like different kinds of people in the pictures, surprising each other in different ways. So the idea is that students can relate and can, activate their prior knowledge about surprising people.
00:05:10:16 - 00:05:38:22
Silvina
Then I have, in exercise three, I included a mind map, in which students can fill in some information about different ways of surprising people. According to their own experiences. So, as you know, my lessons are very visual, so I like playing with different mind maps and graphs and make them visually attractive, and also having some space for them to write if students or teachers decide to print them.
00:05:38:24 - 00:06:05:03
Silvina
so having some white space is also important when making our lesson plans. because they are also good for, I mean, thinking if you have a cluttered page, you are not able to think clearly. then students, read the adapted article. I mean, as I did it for B1, I adapted to an article, but, students, higher level students can use the original one.
00:06:05:03 - 00:06:30:00
Silvina
So I usually provide the link to the original resource in case they want to use it. so they talk about they read for gist, and for detail. And here I included another mind map, to work on main ideas, from different categories. and then they have some questions to answer. The typical questions, reading comprehension questions.
00:06:30:02 - 00:07:01:15
Silvina
Finally, after that, I usually like asking students how they feel or what they think about the article, how they will describe it. So sometimes I include some adjectives for them to choose from, or other times they can, choose whatever they want to say. So this is more scaffolded when you provide them with some options. and here I have another focus on lexis, but I decided to pick words starting with a prefix ‘self’ because it's about him, something about self-confidence.
00:07:01:15 - 00:07:26:08
Silvina
So that the the article had a lot of examples. So I decided to pick that lexical item, because I think that when we choose a lot of things to focus on in one lesson, students get really overwhelmed. So less is more always. That's my motto when I make materials. And finally, well, the follow up task is a role play here in which, surprising people in a good way.
00:07:26:08 - 00:07:38:03
Silvina
I think this is a good one to talk about surprises, because I think that people like surprises or they don't. Perhaps they prefer surprising others. So there you have both sides to discuss.
00:07:38:05 - 00:07:58:08
Laura
What really stands out about this material in all your materials is that point you said about space allowing space on the materials for thinking, for reflection, for taking notes, and we see this very clearly on this particular material because you have those two mind maps; very different mind map layout examples that do you give enough space for learners to actually note or doodle.
00:07:58:08 - 00:08:08:13
Laura
I like to do some little drawings sometimes to really help them make sense of the article in this case, the second one, and relate to their own experiences of surprises in the former one.
00:08:08:15 - 00:08:31:23
Silvina
Right? Yeah, yeah, I usually give them some space. In my case, I use them online. So I, I really don't know, how well the space if it's appropriate. I mean, I haven't tried them in a printed version. But perhaps I can get some feedback from other teachers who who actually print them and can tell me. No, you still have to to make more space in the the page.
00:08:32:02 - 00:08:37:24
Silvina
I mean, feedback is always welcome and I appreciate it, when it comes to making materials.
00:08:38:00 - 00:08:45:12
Laura
Yeah, exactly. That's what helps is refine our ideas. There's one more that you wanted to talk about that’s for a higher level. Let's move on to that final lesson.
00:08:45:12 - 00:09:08:12
Silvina
Yeah, that's an experiment I, I was talking about before; well my website is my whole big experiment. And sometimes I like mixing topics that are not kind of related. And in this case this is called Memories. And it's for higher level students like B2, C1. again it starts with a visual part, some pictures and a question.
00:09:08:12 - 00:09:38:13
Silvina
What memories do these images, smells, tastes and sounds evoke? And then I have a lot of phrases in bubbles like it reminds me of. It takes me back to. So some scaffolded phrases and useful phrases to use when when describing the pictures, and talking about memories. Then I included a box, kind of a glossary, with some information about the Proust effect, which is actually the phenomenon of a memory triggered by a smell or taste.
00:09:38:13 - 00:09:41:06
Silvina
This is something typical that would relate to.
00:09:41:12 - 00:09:44:15
Laura
I didn't know that. That's something new for me to learn.
00:09:44:17 - 00:10:21:13
Silvina
Right. And it comes from Marcel Proust’s book. He he was a French writer, in the in the early 1900s, 1900s. And he wrote about how a piece of Madeleine, a piece of cupcake, brought him back to his childhood. So I wanted to connect that idea. So I added some excerpts, in the lesson for students to read and to analyse, and to draw because he describes how he was like, taken to the streets, from his neighborhood when he was a kid.
00:10:21:18 - 00:10:42:00
Silvina
And he described it, he makes a very visual description of the place. So I added a box for students to, to draw, some of the places describe a Proust, and then they have to compare with their classmates. And I try this with a student and he he draw. He drew. Sorry. Like, a cup of tea with a madeleine.
00:10:42:06 - 00:11:02:15
Silvina
And all the smoke, led to the different buildings. I mean, he connected to the cup of tea and the food with the memory itself, and I, I kept a picture because it was really, really nice. and if you teach a group, I mean, you can compare what, students imagine out of this text.
00:11:02:20 - 00:11:22:05
Laura
What I just love about that example you just gave there is that you're enabling students to use other mediums in other ways to express memories which are really complex and abstract, and often you need other ways to describe things to get them from your kind of abstracts of your mind, and how blurry a memory can be in the senses.
00:11:22:11 - 00:11:26:17
Laura
And you really made that accessible by creating that drawing space, which I absolutely love.
00:11:26:19 - 00:11:49:13
Silvina
That's a good idea - that was the first time I included this, and I tried it in class as well. So then I was I heard this song by Maroon Five called Memories. I wanted to connect both, texts, let's say. So what I did was, included in an excerpt the very beginning of the song. the lyrics on the third page of the lesson plan.
00:11:49:15 - 00:12:16:17
Silvina
And I wanted students to read it and to tell me whether it's from a poem or a book or, what else did I write a blog or a song? So they had four options. Perhaps they are familiar with the song, but they are not very familiar with the lyrics. So it was a prediction activity there and then the while listening stage is like when they listen to the song, they watch the video and they check their predictions.
00:12:16:17 - 00:12:49:12
Silvina
Oh no. Yes, I know this song. This is from, from Maroon Five. It's a very popular song. and then when we work, they are in that, with that song we work with, they can either draw some main ideas or they can write down in another box that I included some white space there. Then that's like the, the listening for gist let's say, then we get into the song itself and the lyrics, we work on rhyme, we work on figures of speech like comparisons and metaphors.
00:12:49:12 - 00:13:14:22
Silvina
That's why it's more for higher levels, I would say. And then some there is some mind mapping which students have to complete, some vocabulary from the lyrics like related to feelings to celebration. There are four categories: fire. Words related to fire and time. And the after listening again, it's a discussion about their reaction to the song, to the topic, how they feel about it.
00:13:14:24 - 00:13:23:14
Silvina
And the follow up task is, of course, talking about their childhood, and I include some categories for them to talk about their memories, in their childhood.
00:13:23:17 - 00:13:43:04
Laura
With all these lessons that you just share, there's an integration of different language points, skills both language skills, and also what we call soft skills, like creativity, critical thinking. There's so much that teachers can sample or use the entirety of this lesson, depending on what they need for their students. Right?
00:13:43:06 - 00:14:12:12
Silvina
Yeah. Of course. And what I want to highlight is that learning English or teaching English is not always about gap filling, you know, because when I, when I was a kid and I started learning, it was all about gap filling. And there are other ways more creative, more engaging ways. Of course, sometimes we need to include the gap filling, to practice some grammar or some vocabulary, but we can do a lot of other different things to keep our students engaged.
00:14:12:12 - 00:14:15:09
Silvina
So that's the point in my lesson plans as well.
00:14:15:11 - 00:14:34:01
Laura
And it really shines through. Silvina, thank you so much for sharing these three lesson plans are for making them freely available for teachers as well. For those listening, I'm going to put those links to those lesson plans are in the show notes, so you can download them and try them with your students, which I think is absolutely superb. Thank you very much.
00:14:34:03 - 00:14:37:06
Silvina
Thank you very much for the invitation. It's been a pleasure.
00:14:37:08 - 00:14:54:20
Laura
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