Healthy Lifestyle

This is a completely optional step and can be taught before or incorporated into the lesson later on if needed as students progress in the activity. 

Refer to Teacher Toolkit: A collection of resources that can be used as aids or listening texts can be found in the Teacher Toolkit. 

Activity: Grammar Practice

Time: This will vary as it will depend on the level of the students and how long the teacher desires the lesson to be as this is completely optional. 

1. Introduce students to the concept of suggestions and recommendations using modal auxiliaries. 

2. Students should practice speaking and constructing sentences related to suggestions and recommendations using single-word modal auxiliaries and phrasal modal auxiliaries. 

Warm Up Activity: Discussion

Time: 10 minutes

Materials: 

1. • Students require access to notebooks or scratch paper 

   • Writing Utensils for Teacher and Student Use; Markers and/or Pencils and/or Pens

1. Tell students that today we will be discussing how to live a healthy lifestyle and we will be listening to a dialogue between a husband and wife that talks about ways to live a healthier lifestyle. 

1. Briefly spend 5 minutes discussing with students what a “lifestyle” is and encourage students to think about what a “healthy lifestyle” would look like as they are lead into the next activity. 

Note To Teacher: For the purpose of this lesson, a “lifestyle” is a series of habitual actions that defines the way in which a person or a group of people live. 

Listening Activity: ESL Lab Listening Activity 

Pre-Listening: Gallery Walk

Time: 30-40 minutes (depending on number of groups) 

Materials: 

• Access to whiteboard, chalkboard, or poster board 

• Students require access to notebooks or scratch paper 

• Poster (Butcher) Paper OR Poster Board for Gallery Walk

• Writing Utensils for Teacher and Student Use; Markers and/or Pencils and/or Pens

• Tape

Refer to Teacher Toolkit: For more information on what a gallery walk is, how it functions, and what it's designed for, please refer to the Teacher Toolkit for resources on this activity specifically. 

1. Instruct students that the purpose of this activity is to brainstorm words related to the lesson theme: healthy lifestyle. These words can be healthy and unhealthy food, actions, healthy and unhealthy behaviours, and anything else they think relates to the idea of a healthy (or unhealthy) lifestyle. 

Note to Teachers: Optionally, you can assign groups of students "Categories" and have them brainstorm ideas for those categories. A list of premade categories have been listed below. However, it's also fine to have students brainstorm without the assistance of categories and see what information they can create. 

• Healthy Food

• Exercise

• Healthy Actions

• Unhealthy Food

• Unhealthy Actions

2. Divide students into groups of 2-4 and have them brainstorm a list of activities, food, and behaviours that could make up a healthy lifestyle. Within their groups, students will create a poster that organizes the information they list they should have created. Students should brainstorm for 5 - 8 minutes with their group. 

Comprehension Check Questions (CCQ’s) To Check Students' Understanding: 

• What are you brainstorming? 

• What are you doing after you brainstorm? 

Note to Teacher: Students should work in different parts of the room, if possible. If space is limited, there should be at least enough space for each group's poster to be displayed either on a desk, the floor, or the wall. 

3. Once all groups have created a poster, instruct students how to display their work either on a desk, the floor, or the wall. Students will mill around the room in their groups, visiting their peers' posters, at their stations around the room. 

4. Students will have a limited amount of time to read, reflect on, and add to the words that their peers have brainstormed. Students should spend 5 minutes visiting each station (the poster that their peers have created). 

5. Once every group has rotated to every station, allow students to return to their own poster and reflect on what they have read. Allow them time to discuss among themselves and to read what others wrote on their poster. This should take 5 - 8 minutes to complete.  

While Listening: ESL Lab Listening 

Time: 15 - 20 Minutes

Materials: 

• Teacher requires access to a computer

• Teacher requires  access to internet connection

• Teacher requires access to audio equipment; an internal computer audio system will suffice

• Students require access to notebooks or scratch paper 

• Information Gap Activity (Appendices A and B) 

• Writing Utensils for Teacher and Student Use; Markers and/or Pencils and/or Pens

Listening Text:  https://www.esl-lab.com/intermediate/healthy-lifestyle-script/

1. Inform students that they will be listening to the following conversation at least three times and it can be played more times if needed. 

Note to Teacher: This activity is a fill-in-the-blank information gap activity where students will fill in information corresponding to the listening text. Afterwards, students will fill in the “gaps” of knowledge by comparing their answers with a peer.  (Appendix C) has the full script of the listening activity for the teacher's exclusive use. 

2. Tell students that the first time they listen to the conversation, they will not need to write down or remember anything verbatim, and that during this time they’re only job is to listen to the conversation.

3. Encourage students to keep in mind the following questions as they listen:

   1. • What is the conversation about? 

      • Who is speaking? 

      • What do the speakers want? 

4. First Listen: Play the audio for the class. The audio is 1 minute and 17 seconds long. Ensure that students can hear and are paying attention to the best of their ability.

5. Answer any questions students may have related to vocabulary and context, but assure them that they will still have the opportunity to listen to the conversation two more times. 

Note To Teacher:  This should take no longer than 1-3 minutes as students will be listening to the conversation again immediately after this discussion. In preparation for the listening activity, hand out Worksheet A (Appendix A) to half of the class and hand out Worksheet B (Appendix B) to the other half of the class. There should be an equal number of students with each Worksheet in order to have students work in pairs later on. 

6. Second Listen: Explain to students that on their worksheets, there are missing words. Inform them that Worksheet A has words missing from the man’s side of the conversation and that Worksheet B has words missing from the woman’s side of the conversation. While the class is listening to the audio, it is their responsibility to fill in the missing words. 

Comprehension Check Questions (CCQ’s) To Check Students' Understanding: 

• What is Worksheet A missing?

• What is Worksheet B missing? 

• What are you supposed to be doing while the listening text is playing?

7. Third Listen: Play the audio again. Observe students as they engage with the listening text. 

8. After students have completed the activity, they will compare answers with their peers. When they finish the listening activity, and all the blanks are filled in, they should have a complete script of the listening text.

 Note to Teacher: This is necessary for completing another activity.  Assist students with the completion of the listening text, either by providing them more time with their peers, replaying the listening text, or by discussing the missing words as a class. 

Post Listening: Paired Dialogue Reading

Time: 10 -20 Minutes

1.  Instruct Student A (a student who has Worksheet A) to partner with  Student B (someone who has Worksheet B). Students will review answers by reading through the dialogue together. Student A will read the man’s dialogue and Student B will read  the woman’s dialogue. 

2. Encourage students to roleplay through the given script rather than comparing papers with each other. This will encourage students to not only listen but to actively engage with peers. 

Note To Teacher: This activity should take 5 - 8 minutes but this may vary based on the reading abilities of students. 

Exit Ticket

Time: 5-10 Minutes

Materials: 

• Access to whiteboard, chalkboard, or poster board 

• Students require access to notebooks or scratch paper 

• Writing Utensils for Teacher and Student Use; Markers and/or Pencils and/or Pens

Note to Teacher: Exit tickets are a formative assessment tool that give teachers a way to assess students ability to engage with the material. This activity can optionally be treated as an Exit Ticket that should be turned in at the end of class. Otherwise, treat this like an in-class exercise.  If students are not expected to turn this in as an Exit Ticket, Students can instead write this on scratch paper or in their notebooks and keep it themselves. 

Refer to Teacher Toolkit: A good model for goal setting activities are S.M.A.R.T. Goals which are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely goals. Refer to the Teacher Toolkit for additional resources on goal-setting using this optional method in a classroom setting.

1. Instruct the students to work independently for about 5 -8 minutes and come up with four healthy lifestyle goals for themselves. Instruct them to think not only about things they can do, but food they can eat, and people they can ask for help.

2. At the end of class, instruct students to turn this in to the teacher.