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Teachers Notes:

Level: A2 – Pre Intermediate

Topic: Social Media

Author: Aoife McLoughlin
Lesson Aim: To introduce students to the topic of Social Media. Students predict the topic
from mini-texts, read ‘Facts about Facebook’ and focus on lexical items in
context. Students then discuss social media in their lives before taking part in
‘mini debates’ with their partner, using phrases to give their opinions on the
topic.
CEFR Student Reading:
Learning Outcomes: I can understand short, simple texts on familiar subjects, which consists of high-
frequency, everyday language
Spoken Interaction:
I can ask for and give opinions, agree and disagree, in a simple way.
Spoken Production:
I can summarise simple stories I have read, relying on the language used in the
story.
I can say what I usually do at home, at work, in my free time

Lexical Aim: Vocabulary:

Can’t stand, unsociable, upload, to waste time, to catch up with, unhealthy,
addicted to, in ages, fake, dissatisfied.
Giving your opinion phrases such as that’s what I was thinking, In my experience,
I’m not sure about that.
Interaction Pair work, group work, whole class
Patterns:
Preparation: Photocopies of lessons

Task Time: 120 minutes.

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Lesson:

Procedure
In groups of four students, ask students to read one of the speech bubbles each and then summarise
for their group. There are four students giving their opinion on a topic. Can your students predict
what they are talking about? [Facebook]

Ask students to now focus on the bold vocabulary and with their groups, discuss the meaning of each
of the words. Gather feedback, eliciting definitions. You could also work on word stress here, boarding
the challenging vocabulary and marking the stress on each. E.g. [unSOCiable]

Facebook Facts!

Either
- Hand out the page and ask students to cover the sentences at the bottom
- Project the statistics on to the whiteboard

Tell students that there are 7 surprising statistics about Facebook. In their groups, give students five
minutes to predict what the statistics might be. Demo an example on the board – e.g. 48% of
Facebook users are below the age of 16. Ask students if they think this is true? [this is not a real
statistic but only to demonstrate the type of predictions students should be making] Encourage
students to use their imaginations with this task. E.g. – 1 in 3 Facebook users have met their
husband/wife online.

Gather feedback and compare predictions.

Now, ask groups / pairs to complete the sentences below using the statistics.

Answers:
1. Facebook has been blocked in China since 2009
2. Every minute, there are 1.8 million new ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ on Facebook.
3. 7.5 million sites have added the Facebook buttons
4. 8.7% of Facebook users are fake.
5. 1 in 13 people on Earth is on Facebook.
6. 48% of people find out about breaking news on Facebook
7. 1 in 3 people feel more dissatisfied with their lives after visiting Facebook

Are students surprised by these statistics?

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Procedure

Social Media:
In groups, students now discuss social media and how they use it in their personal/professional lives.

Mini-Debates:

Before starting, go through each of the phrases for giving opinion and ensure students understand
meaning. Write on the whiteboard ‘Facebook is great for teenagers.’
Give students two minutes with their partner to discuss this statement, using some of the phrases in
the boxes.

Ask all students now to stand up.

Explain to students that you are going to read two statements e.g.

- Social media is like a drug; it’s addictive

- Social media is not unhealthy

- Students must decide individually whether they want to be on Team A [Social media is like a
drug; it’s addictive] or Team B [Social media is not unhealthy] and move towards that side of
the room.

Students now have to debate the statement. Groupings will depend on the size of your class. If you
have a small class, you could ask students to debate in two teams. If you have a big class, you might
want to ask students to pair off / create groups of 4 students to debate, using the phrases in the boxes
for giving their opinion.

You may also find that all the class have the same opinion and move towards the left side of the room.
If this happens, you can always assign an argument to each half of the class and they must debate that
argument, regardless of their true opinions.

You could take the opportunity between mini-debates to do some ‘sandwich-correction’, correcting
errors and then offering the students another opportunity to use the same target language again
(hopefully with less errors this time)

Keep this short, approx 3 minutes for each of the four mini-debates.

Encourage quieter students to take part here. Nominate individuals if needed.

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