LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERSARE TEENAGERS REALLY LAZY?
May 24, 2022
Level: Intermediate (B1-B2)
Type of English: English For Teenagers
Tags: Behavior, Feelings and Emotions; Health and Well-being; Sport and Fitness; Writing Emails; Writing Reports; 13-15 Years Old; 16-18 Years Old; 18+ Years Old; Video Talk
Publication date: 05/24/2022
The topic of this lesson is the idea that teenagers are lazy and whether this is true or just a stereotype. Students will read a letter to a magazine from a worried parent and a response from the magazine’s psychologist. Students will then watch a video about what teenagers need to be more active and how adults can help them do this. Your class will then conduct a class survey to find out what is needed to increase participation in sports where they live. In addition to this, students have the chance to write a report using data they have collected about sports activities in their neighborhood (by Richard Moon).
- CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
- CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
- CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
- CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.
- CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audios (Am/Br English).
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT
Reader: Some people say that teenagers have a bad reputation for not being active enough. Older generations tell them they're lazy, are always on their phones, and aren’t as fit and healthy as they once were. But, instead of panicking about it and calling it a crisis, has anyone thought to ask teenagers what they actually want?
Well, we’ve done a survey of hundreds of teenagers, and it seems that young people have lots of opinions on this matter, and they want changes made to make it easier to stay fit. Price is probably the most important issue.
Most teenagers say they don't have an income, so cheaper or even free things would help them be more active. The next thing is that they are not happy at all with the current standard of facilities around them. Many of the teenagers who answered our questions said they're not well maintained, they’re dirty, they're old, they're unused, and they're not safe.
Because of this, young people often need to look outside of their local area. Many would really like to visit a gym but told us that gyms just don't really think about young people, and they want more specific things for teenagers. They're fed up with being told what they can't do, and they want to be told what they can do but not if this means they have to travel a long way to get what they want.
Teenagers say that activities should be local. It’s too difficult to access things that are far away because they need to get there on foot or, at the very least, by public transportation. But even though the distance might be a problem, it doesn’t mean that choice should be limited. And this should be the choice to do anything, and it’s no surprise that teenagers don't like being told what to do.
Young people want the freedom to access a lot of different activities, but they stress that this choice isn't just about structured sports, and this leads us to their final suggestion. Sports shouldn’t be seen in a similar way to a school subject; it’s not about rules. They just want to have fun. For teenagers, activity isn't about being assessed or being competitive. It's about having unstructured fun opportunities that can be done together.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Speaker: So, teenagers have a bad reputation for not being active enough. They’re told they’re lazy, that they’re on their phones too much and that they’re always playing computer games. But, instead of panicking about it and calling it a crisis, has anyone thought to ask teenagers what they actually want from activity and what could help them be more active? Because we did, and it turns out that teenagers actually have quite a lot to say about activity, and there’s a few key things they want addressed.
The first thing is they want things to be cheap. Teenagers say they don’t have disposable income, so this would go a long way to helping them be more active. The second thing is that they are not happy at all with the current standard of facilities around them. They say that they’re not well maintained, they’re dirty, they’re old, they’re unused, and they’re not safe.
So, teenagers have started looking elsewhere to be active. And they said they’d really like to go to places like gyms, but they say that gyms just don’t cater for their age group, which is why their third suggestion would be to make things more specific for teenagers. They’re fed up of being told what they can’t do, and they want to be told what they can do, but this shouldn’t mean that teenagers have to travel miles to get places. No, these activities should be local.
Teenagers stress that they just can’t access things that are far away and that they need to be able to get there on foot. But just because you limit the distance doesn’t mean you limit the choice teenagers have. And this is the choice to do anything. Surprisingly teenagers don’t like being told what to do, so they’d like to have the freedom to access a lot of different activities, but they stress that this choice isn’t just about structured sport, and this leads us on to their final suggestion.
Teenagers don’t want to learn about sport; they don’t want to learn about specific skills and rules. They just want to have fun. For teenagers, activity isn’t about being assessed or being competitive. It’s about having unstructured fun opportunities to do with your friends.
Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/english-for-teenagers/are-teenagers-really-lazy. Accessed on August 14, 2023. © 2008–2023 LinguaHouse.com. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment