Can money buy happiness?
Lesson plan overview
This intermediate ESL lesson explores the relationship between money and happiness. Students will learn useful verbs related to money and look at the correct prepositions that go with each verb. Other video-based lessons related to money are: “Taxes”, “Financial tips for athletes”, “Stealth wealth“, “Can you retire in your 30s”, “Inflation and young people”. Other lessons related to happiness are: “The happiest countries in the world”, and “The paradox of choice”. You can also take a look at the worksheets “Phrasal verbs: Money”, “Idioms: financial trouble”, “Phrasal verbs: happiness and well-being”.
Speaking: The lesson starts with 3 speaking activities. First, students discuss the top 5 things that make them happy. Then, they take a look at 4 quotes, discuss the quotes and say which quote they most agree with. Next, students are given different categories for things people spend money on, and are asked to give 2 examples for things in each category.
Vocabulary: Students are given different words (e.g. tuition fees, mortgage, streaming services, commuting costs, accommodation) and are asked to put them into the correct category (from the previous activity).
Speaking: After looking at the different expenses, students discuss 6 conversation questions. Then, they engage in a pre-listening discussion about money and happiness.
Listening: Students watch a video called Money can buy happiness if you know how to spend it. The first time they watch the video, they answer 3 questions. The second time they watch the video, they complete the transcript with the correct prepositions. After that, they summarize the correct verb + preposition structures from the video (to look at something, to spend money on something, to focus on something, to be by oneself (myself, yourself, etc.), on average).
Vocabulary expansion: Next, students learn more verb + preposition structures related to money (e.g. borrow from, invest in, owe to) by choosing the correct preposition to complete the sentences. Finally, students complete 6 questions with the correct preposition and discuss the questions in pairs or small groups.
You can use the conversation cards for some more speaking practice.
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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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