ESL Uncaged

Advanced lesson plan (B2 and above): How salmon find their way back home -    BUY ME A COFFEE if you like my FREE ESL content Join these tenacious salmon on their epic journey from the depths of the oceans, all the way back to the rivers where they hatched. In this B2/C1 worksheet, students will learn fish-related vocabulary, see six idioms related to salmon and study an article and video about these tenacious globe-trotting fish.  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 pun-ny jokes related to fish with their punchlines. In the process, they will learn about fish anatomy and wordplay. Key vocabulary: scales, gills, hook, loan shark, borrow. 2) Students will watch a short video (4:37) about the lifecycle of a salmon, and how they help sustain an entire forest creek ecosystem. Key vocabulary: sloppy eater, perilous, influx. 3) Next, they will see  six fish-r

Advanced lesson plan (B2): Why are we afraid of clowns? -  BUY ME A COFFEE if you like my FREE ESL content Give your students a fright this Halloween with a creepy lesson plan about clowns! In this B2/C1 worksheet, students will learn how clowns morphed from friendly sideshow goofballs to the terrifying villains of blockbuster horror films.  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 pun-ny jokes about clowns with their punchlines. They will discuss their earliest memories of clowns and their own feelings about them.  Key vocabulary: juggler, to crack someone up, to have big shoes to fill.  2) Students will watch a video (10:37) entitled "Why are we afraid of clowns?" and answer the comprehension questions.  Key vocabulary: slapstick comedy, trope, down-and-out, steep price.  3) Next, students will see  six clown-related idioms: to clown around, c

  Advanced lesson plan (B2 and above): What was the Golden Age of Piracy? -  BUY ME A COFFEE if you like my FREE ESL content Arrr you ready to be transported back to the times when Blackbeard and his men terrorised merchants crossing the Caribbean sea?  In this B2/C1 worksheet, students will learn how pirates came to be associated with parrots and peglegs, as well as six pirate-related idioms and some prepositions of direction for navigating the high seas in search of plunder! 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 use prepositions of direction to guide a cartoon pirate to his treasure; in addition, they will match four pun-ny jokes about pirates with the correct punchlines. 2) Students will watch a video (7:30) about the Golden Age of Piracy (1650s-1730s).  Key vocabulary: treaty, stamp out, backfire, put an end to (something). 3) Next, students will see  six pirate

Advanced lesson plan (C1): An introduction to Shakespeare -   BUY ME A COFFEE if you like my FREE ESL content Everyone's heard of William Shakespeare, but for most of us he's not much more than a name and a few dry facts. In this C1 worksheet, we bring Shakespeare to life, discussing the sordid details of Romeo and Juliet's doomed love affair, learning how the poetic meter of the Bard's poems mimicked the BUM-BUM of the human heart, and much more!  Educational materials shouldn't be paywalled. Show your support for my ESL content by  buying me a coffee!   Lesson activities: 1) Students start by reading a short biography about William Shakespeare, filling in missing words. Key vocabulary: manuscripts, spawned, renowned, prolific. 2) Students will then read Shakespeare's most famous sonnet, 'Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?' They will be aided in their comprehension by information about archaic pronouns, modernised 'translations' of dif