What Makes You Happy?
This A2 lesson explores what makes people happy through vocabulary, listening, and personal reflection. Students learn phrases for everyday activities that bring joy, listen to three people describe their sources of happiness, and discuss their own mood-lifting strategies. The lesson provides accessible, relatable content that encourages students to talk about positive aspects of their lives.
Lesson overview
- Learn collocations and phrases for describing activities that bring happiness
- Practice listening to authentic stories about what makes different people happy
- Develop speaking skills by discussing personal sources of joy and stress-relief methods
- Explore different perspectives on happiness through photos, emojis, and guided conversations
Student's Version (Light/Dark)
Teacher's Version (Answer Keys)
Printable Classroom Version (A4)
| Level | Vocabulary | Listening Time | Lesson Time |
| A2 / Pre-Intermediate | 14 phrases | 3 min | 60 min |
Vocabulary
- help others
- watch a comedy
- spend time with friends
- try new dishes
- sing in the shower
- play with pets
- watch a sunset
- take a warm bath
- it makes me happy
- it brings me joy
- it makes me feel good
- it brings a smile to my face
- it brightens my day
- it gives me pleasure
Contents
- Lead-in
- Vocabulary
- Vocabulary Practice
- Discussion
- Agree or Disagree
- Listening
- Speaking
- Transcript
Start with the lead-in questions on page 2 about favorite parts of the day and perfect weekends. These are accessible even for weaker students since they can give short, simple answers. Question 5 about the key to a happy life often gets interesting responses. Some students will say family, others money or health. Note different answers on the board without judging.
The vocabulary matching on page 3 introduces collocations like “spend time with friends” and “take a warm bath.” Students match verbs to noun phrases. The practice on page 4 reinforces these combinations through gap-fill. Check answers together and drill pronunciation, especially “bath” which students often mispronounce.
Page 5 presents other ways to say “it makes me happy,” which adds variety to student language. The photo description activity works well in pairs where students guess what makes each person happy. There are no wrong answers, so it builds confidence. The agree/disagree activity on page 6 about buying things and success gets debate going. Students at this level can express simple opinions even without complex grammar.
The listening on pages 7-8 features three speakers talking about what makes them happy and sad. Play the audio once through, then again pausing after each speaker so students can check their notes. The questions guide listening without requiring students to understand every word. Alicia talks about friends and her dog, Ed enjoys cooking and baths, and Ryan finds joy in his morning routine and work as a doctor.
The emoji activity on page 10 is creative and fun. Students interpret combinations like music notes plus trees (listening to music in nature) or a book plus sunshine plus fire (reading by a cozy fire). Different interpretations are fine as long as students can explain their thinking.
The final speaking task on page 11 where students choose a topic and ask follow-up questions practices conversation skills. Model this first by choosing “pets” and asking a student things like “Do you have any pets?” and “What makes your pet happy?” This shows how to keep a conversation going rather than just asking one question and stopping.
