Social Issues Lesson Plans
For your heavy hitters. This is where you find the big, complex debates for your ESL students. We provide the structure and the academic vocabulary needed to discuss current events and tough social issues without the whole thing turning into chaos. Prep for a seriously intense class!
The Rise of Singlehood
Why are so many people single? This B2 lesson plan on the rise of singlehood uses real stats, video, and debates to get students talking.
Surviving a Power Outage
Can modern cities survive 24 hours without power? This B2 lesson explores outage preparation with debates, myths, and practical survival strategies.
Deinfluencing Your Daily Choices
B1 lesson using TikTok videos about resisting consumer pressure. Students discuss what's actually normal when it comes to phones, clothes, and money.
Where Time Really Goes
Students discover they might spend 93% of free time on screens in this B1 lesson about time management, life expectancy, and daily habits.
Gender Equality
Men hear questions women face daily in this eye-opening B2 lesson plan covering workplace bias, double standards, and gender equality vocabulary.
What Does Aging Really Feel Like?
What happens when a reporter wears a suit that makes her feel 80? This B2 lesson covers aging vocabulary, challenges, and social attitudes.
Hostile Architecture
Benches designed to prevent sitting, spaces built to exclude - this C1 lesson plan explores hostile architecture through New York's public design history.
Room 13: Mystery at the Motel
Solve a Halloween mystery at a haunted motel using 10 clues, analyze suspects, and debate crime versus prank in this B1 detective lesson.
Who Defines Normal?
Analyze design bias in "nude" products and Asian fonts, discuss representation and stereotypes in this C1 critical thinking lesson.
Why Billionaires Buy Bunkers
Read about billionaire bunkers, debate survival ethics, and pitch apocalypse hideaways in this C1 lesson on wealth and disaster prep.
How They Watch You Every Day
How do smart homes, remote proctoring, and facial recognition track you? This C1 lesson explores surveillance levels with listening and debate tasks.
What Is the ‘Gen Z Stare’?
B2 lesson on the Gen Z stare and generational communication gaps. Covers vocabulary like formative years and soft skills plus slang research.
The Spread of 3D-Printed Guns
Advanced students debate gun control, loopholes, and freedom of information in this C1 lesson on 3D-printed weapons and online blueprints.
Mini Philosophy in Daily Life
C1 lesson on everyday philosophy: Socratic dialogue, art versus artist ethics, and moral behavior. Includes listening, debate, and advanced vocabulary.
Matcha: What’s Happening?
B2 lesson on the matcha trend and production shortage. Covers cultural vocabulary, reading comprehension, and discussion about tradition versus demand.
Weaponized Incompetence
B2 lesson unpacking weaponized incompetence in relationships. Video explains deliberate task avoidance, gender roles discussion, household labor vocabulary.
Phubbing: A Modern Bad Habit
C1 students explore phubbing through relationship scenarios, screen time analysis, and a deep-dive article on phone addiction's mental health toll.
Sports Betting Apps
C1 students analyze betting app psychology through video on dopamine tricks, dark flow, and near-misses. Ethical debates and Polymarket analysis.
Spotting a Scam
Students analyze phishing emails, fake calls, and fraud tactics in this B2 scam awareness lesson featuring a police captain outsmarting a phone scammer.
Murder Mystery: Who Did It?
Eight clues, five suspects, and one killer to find. This B2 murder mystery ESL lesson plan gets students debating from start to finish.
Shrinkflation
Teach your C1 students about shrinkflation with this lesson plan. Covers 12 vocabulary items, a video on hidden inflation, and Reddit examples.