ESL Uncaged

Advanced lesson plan (B2 and above): Why do we eat cake on our birthdays? -  BUY ME A COFFEE if you like my FREE ESL content "Make a wish and blow out your candles", your friends and family tell you every year. But how did lighting a confectionery on fire on your birthday become the "normal" thing to do? And why - just why - would somebody pay $75 million dollars for a birthday cake?  In this B2+ worksheet, students will  Study a video about the origin of the birthday cake tradition Match cake-related pictures with phrasal verbs Create mixed conditionals  Learn six cake-related idioms See advanced adjectives used to advertise a cake Practise  adjective ordering using a news article about the world's most expensive cake   Educational materials shouldn't be paywalled. Show your support for my ESL content by  buying me a coffee! Click HERE  for the worksheet answers. Lesson objectives: 1) To match six phrasal verbs based on "CUT" to cake-related pict

Advanced lesson plan (B2 and above): Can dogs smell cancer in humans? -  BUY ME A COFFEE if you like my FREE ESL content It's no secret that our four-legged friends are highly attuned to us. Dogs can tell when we are sad or scared, and they can alert us to the presence of intruders. In recent decades, scientists have found they can even detect the odours cancerous cells give off.  In this B2+ worksheet, students will  Study a video about a cancer survivor whose dog saved her life Match action shots of dogs to six phrasal verbs (to GET away with, to GET up, to GET rid of, etc.) Create dog-related sentences containing causative verbs "to get" and "to have" ( get/have + object + past participle) Learn six nose-related idioms See advanced adjectives used to describe a pet dog Read an article about the science of cancer-smelling canines Educational materials shouldn't be paywalled. Show your support for my ESL content by  buying me a coffee! Lesson objectives: 1)

Advanced lesson plan (B2 and above): Did Coca-Cola really use to contain cocaine? -    BUY ME A COFFEE if you like my FREE ESL content Coca-Cola is available in every country of the world, excluding Cuba and North Korea. Most people have sipped the saccharine, bubbly content from its iconic scarlet can, but few realise Coca-Cola contains coca leaf extract - the very same leaf from which cocaine is derived.  In this B2+ worksheet, students will  Study a video about Coca-Cola's links with cocaine Match Coke-related pictures to four phrasal verbs (THROW away, THROW on, THROW at, THROW up) Practise inversions with negative adverbials, using Coke-related sample sentences Learn six can-related idioms See advanced adjectives used in the marketing of Coca-Cola Read an article about Coca-Cola's 1985 public relations meltdown Educational materials shouldn't be paywalled. Show your support for my ESL content by  buying me a coffee! Lesson objectives: 1) To match four phrasal verbs bas

Advanced lesson plan (B2 and above): Do giraffes with longer necks get more sex? -  BUY ME A COFFEE if you like my FREE ESL content These megaherbivores look like gentle giants, but when it comes to competing for mates they are formidable warriors. Male giraffes swing their sledgehammer-like heads into their rivals' bodies until a victor emerges. Some zoologists have even argued their noodle necks evolved not to help them reach high-up vegetation but to give them a competitive advantage in these brutal battles. In this B2+ worksheet, students will  Watch a giraffe fight and give a blow-by-blow account Match goofy pictures of giraffes to four phrasal verbs (to stand by, to stand for, to stand up to, to stand out) Practise forming tag questions using giraffe trivia Learn six neck-related idioms See three pun-ny jokes about giraffes Read an article summarising the controversy over how giraffes evolved their long necks Educational materials shouldn't be paywalled. Show your support

Advanced lesson plan (B2 and above): Why you sometimes have trouble opening doors -   BUY ME A COFFEE if you like my FREE ESL content Have you ever pushed on a pull door, even when it was clearly marked as such? Or pulled at a push door? According to Don Norman, a distinguished professor of technology, you shouldn't feel bad about it: it's actually the designer's fault.  In this B2+ worksheet, students will  Study a video about "human-centred design"; Learn door-related idioms;  Match phrasal verbs based on "SHUT" to pictures; Practise the definite article (and exceptions to the rule: "go to town" and "go to the town"); Find the correct punchlines for pun-ny jokes about doors. Educational materials shouldn't be paywalled. Show your support for my ESL content by  buying me a coffee!     Lesson objectives: 1) To match six phrasal verbs based on "SHUT" to pictures (to shut up, to shut away, to shut down, to shut off, etc.)