The Gift-Giving Dilemma
Lesson plan overview
This lesson explores gift-giving habits, cultural expectations, and the psychology behind giving and receiving presents. Students build vocabulary related to finances, obligations, and social traditions while practising speaking, listening, and reflective skills. The lesson also connects real-world examples with personal experiences to encourage meaningful discussion. Find more Christmas lessons here, and more consumerism lessons here.
Activities Overview:
Speaking: Students talk about when people give gifts, what makes a gift good or bad, and how they feel when giving or receiving presents. This activates background knowledge and sets the context for the topic. Then, they look at statements about gift-giving that include key vocabulary for the lesson (e.g., thoughtful, meaningful, wasteful, affordable, useless). Students discuss the meaning of the words and the statements. Students share personal experiences about the best, worst, or most challenging gifts they’ve received or given. Additional pair and group discussions encourage deeper conversation about social expectations and obligations around gifts.
Vocabulary Development: Learners are introduced to key terms from the video, such as zero-sum game, tit for tat, affluent, debt, financial burden, and more. Matching exercises help reinforce meaning, while sentence-completion tasks ensure proper usage.
Listening Task:
Students watch a video titled “It’s time to ban unnecessary Christmas presents” and take notes on the speaker’s key points. Follow-up questions check comprehension and stimulate debate on topics like financial pressure, wastefulness, and sentimental value.
Post-Listening Discussion: Learners discuss the speaker’s ideas, cultural differences, and alternative ways to show care without material gifts. This segment emphasises critical thinking and personal reflection.
Role-Play Activity: Students act out “The Awkward Conversation,” negotiating a no-gift pact and practising polite but assertive language.
For more speaking practice, you can use the printable conversation 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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