Can you retire in your 30s? (The FIRE movement)
Lesson plan overview
With this engaging intermediate ESL lesson students will learn a lot of useful expressions to talk about retirement, discuss various aspects of the pension system and watch a video about the FIRE movement (financial independence, retire early). You can combine this lesson with the following lessons: “Start and grow your side hustle”, “The gig economy“, and “Can money buy happiness?“. You might also find the worksheet “Phrasal verbs: investing” interesting.
The lesson begins with a few conversation questions about retirement which can be discussed in pairs or with the whole class.
Collocations: Students learn useful expressions when talking about retirement (retirement age, life expectancy, set aside money for retirement). Students are given the definitions and they need to complete the collocation with the correct word. As a practice activity, students complete a few statements with the correct word and then discuss the statements in pairs or small groups.
Video: Students watch a video “What is the fire movement” and complete 2 tasks. First they answer 4 questions in their own words and then they complete a gap-fill exercise.
Speaking: Next, students are given quotes from the video and questions to answer for each one.
Vocabulary review: as a review activity, students are asked to match the synonyms and the expressions with opposite meanings from this lesson and then to choose the correct option in 5 sentences.
Debate: The lesson concludes with a debate about the FIRE movement.
The conversation cards provide an additional opportunity to practise and revise the target vocabulary from this lesson.
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Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
Pre-class activities
All video-based ESL lesson plans include online pre-class activities, which are FREE and can be completed without registration. Perfect for teachers who wish to embrace the blended learning approach. By providing students with resources and engagement opportunities before the actual class session, educators can foster active participation, enhance comprehension, and optimise in-class discussions.
The pre-class activities are optional: if you choose not to assign them, or your students don’t complete them, it will not disturb the flow of the class. You can find and review the pre-class activities for this lesson plan here:
To send the pre-class activities to your students, copy the link below.
In-class activities
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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