Life With Cats
This B1 ESL class is all about cats and why people love them. Students build their speaking and listening skills through fun activities like describing cat memes, guessing cat facts, and learning new vocabulary from a video about a woman who built a house for rescued cats. They watch the video, discuss it, and share their thoughts about her story. The lesson also includes a creative writing task where students imagine creating their own cat rehab for cats. It’s a lighthearted, conversation-focused class that helps students express themselves more confidently in English.
Student's Version (Light/Dark)
Teacher's Version (Answer Keys)
Printable Classroom Version (A4)
| Level | Vocabulary | Video Length | Lesson Time |
| B1 / Intermediate | 10 words | 2:24 min | 60 min |
Vocabulary
- Sunbathe
- Rescue
- Rehabilitation
- Sanctuary
- Quarantine
- Abandoned
- Nutritious
- Deprived
- Fund
- Roam
Contents
- Lead-in
- Brainstorm
- Cat facts
- Vocabulary match
- Vocabulary practice
- Preview discussion
- Video
- Questions
- Comments
- Writing
- Discussion
- Homework
Teaching Guide
Lead-in, Brainstorm, Cat facts
This conversational ESL lesson about cats begins with a fun lead-in activity where students look at several funny cat memes. They describe what they see, use adjectives to talk about the memes, and guess what’s happening in each image. Next, there’s a brainstorming activity where students come up with reasons why people love cats so much. After that, they move on to a short task called “Cat Facts,” where they read several interesting facts about cats and try to identify the one that isn’t true.
Vocabulary match, Vocabulary practice
Then comes a vocabulary-matching activity. Students match words to their definitions, these words are taken from a video about a woman who rescues cats. This helps them preview and practice key vocabulary before watching. They also create their own sentences to reinforce the new words.
Preview discussion, Video, Questions, Comments
Before watching the video, students take part in a pre-viewing discussion. They answer questions that encourage them to predict what the video will be about – such as what kind of house the woman might have built for the cats, how many cats she owns, and why she decided to rescue them. Students then watch the video twice. The first viewing is for general understanding – they answer a few comprehension questions. On the second viewing, they focus on more details and complete a task on the slide. Afterward, they discuss several follow-up questions and react to comments related to the video, sharing their opinions and personal thoughts.
Writing, Discussion
There’s also a creative writing task where students imagine they could build a cat rehabilitation center. Using several guiding questions, they write 5-8 sentences describing what their center would look like and what kind of help it would offer. A pair or group discussion follows, with additional questions about cats to keep the conversation flowing.
Homework
Finally, there’s an optional homework task with four engaging topics. Students choose one, do some quick online research, and share what they learned with the class. The topics include Cat Island in Japan, Orangey the cat actor, The animated movie “Flow,” and the video game “Stray.”
