ESL Uncaged

Advanced lesson plan (B1 and above): The boy who was raised as a girl -  BUY ME A COFFEE if you like my FREE ESL content After a botched circumcision, doctors recommended baby Bruce be raised as a girl. He would be happier as a girl than as a boy without a penis, according to the family's psychologist Dr John Money. His true identity was to be kept a secret. In this worksheet, students will discuss the line between nature and nurture, the patient-doctor relationship and a mother who did her best in an impossible position.  Educational materials shouldn't be paywalled. Show your support for my ESL content by  buying me a coffee! Lesson activities: Part 1: The Accident . Students read the introduction to the medical case study. They must complete the sentences by choosing words from the purple box. There is then a discussion section, where they can practise second and third conditional structures: "If that happened to my son, I would feel devastated"; "If I had bee

Advanced lesson plan (B2 and above): Why humans are exceptional runners -   BUY ME A COFFEE if you like my FREE ESL content Learn why humans are the best long-distance runners in the world! In this B2/C1 worksheet, students will study a short video revealing the physiology hacks that make humans apex runners. In addition, they will see some running-related idioms, match jokes about running with their punchlines and study an article about how to avoid injuries. Educational materials shouldn't be paywalled. Show your support for my ESL content by  buying me a coffee! Lesson activities: 1) To warm up, students will match six running-related jokes with their punchlines. E.g. Why did the marathon runner end up in jail? ANSWER: Because he was resisting a rest! 2) Students will watch a Tech Insider video (3 minutes 49 seconds) about the unique physiological tricks that make humans awesome at long-distance running.  3) Next, students will see  six running-related idioms/phrases: running ar

  Flipped lesson plan (B2 and above): How do blood transfusions work? -  BUY ME A COFFEE if you like my FREE ESL content Learn about the life-saving science of blood transfusions! In this B2/C1 worksheet, students will learn about the development of blood transfusion technology, from experiments with sheep blood in the 1600s to the blood banks of WW1. They will also see blood-related idioms, and read a poem written by a Canadian soldier/physician who fought and died in WW1. Educational materials shouldn't be paywalled. Show your support for my ESL content by  buying me a coffee! Lesson activities: 1) To warm up, students will read 'In Flanders Field', a poem written by a Canadian soldier/physician in WW1. They will have to discuss their interpretation, as well as find the definitions of advanced vocabulary: foe, quarrel, poppies, lark, row on row.  2) Students will watch a Ted-Ed video explaining the early beginnings of blood-transfusion technology, from the discovery of bl

Flipped lesson plan (B2 and above): How do bees make honey? -  BUY ME A COFFEE if you like my FREE ESL content Explore the secret world of honey bees!  In this B2/C1 worksheet, students will learn basic insect anatomy and bee-related idioms; in addition, they will decode the fascinating 'waggle dance' language of bees.  Educational materials shouldn't be paywalled. Show your support for my ESL content by  buying me a coffee! Lesson activities: 1) As a warm-up activity, students will label a diagram of a bee with anatomical words (antennae, abdomen, stinger, thorax, etc.)  2) Students will watch a video from PBS about how bees make honey, and how they communicate using the 'waggle dance' 3) Next, the worksheet goes over six bee-related phrases/idioms, defining them and giving students a chance to see and use them in context: a police sting, the birds and the bees, a honey trap, to make a bee line, the bee's knees and bee-stung lips.  4) Finally, students will rea