Power outages
Lesson plan overview
This Breaking News ESL worksheet is designed for intermediate learners (B1–B2) and focuses on the nationwide blackout that recently affected Spain and Portugal. Perfect for adult or teenage learners, the lesson helps students build vocabulary, improve speaking fluency, and develop listening and critical thinking skills while exploring a real-world issue.
Speaking: The lesson begins with guided speaking activities related to power outages and their impact on daily life, transport, hospitals, and infrastructure.
Vocabulary: Students learn useful expressions to talk about power cuts (e.g. come to a halt, cause disruption, get stuck, reliance, restore power).
Listening: Learners then watch a news video about the blackout in Spain and Portugal called “Power returning to Spain and Portugal after a blackout“, answering comprehension questions and discussing key takeaways.
Speaking: Additional speaking tasks promote deeper reflection on energy dependency, emergency preparedness, and trust in government responses.
For more speaking practice, you can use the printable speaking cards.
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Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
Pre-class activities
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In-class activities
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Additional resources
Each video-based lesson plan includes links to additional resources (videos and articles), which are FREE can be found online (in the pre-class activities page. These links aim to extend the learning experience, enabling students to connect classroom knowledge with real-world applications.
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Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
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