Do IQ tests measure our intelligence?
Lesson plan overview
This ESL lesson plan for upper-intermediate and advanced students explores the topic of intelligence, and whether IQ tests are a good tool to measure it. Students learn useful vocabulary to talk about intelligence and the phrases they need in order to talk about talents and skills with plenty of opportunities for discussion and speaking practice.
Vocabulary: After an initial discussion about students’ personal experience with IQ tests, students learn important adjectives to describe intelligent people (e.g. wise, sharp, gifted) by looking at and talking about the meaning of a few quotes.
Functional language: Students learn a few useful phrases they can use to talk about their skills and talents (e.g. to have an eye for, to be hopeless at, to have a gift for) and then change the sentences in order to make them true for them.
Video: Students predict the answers of 7 multiple-choice questions and then watch a video “The dark history of IQ tests” to check their answers. Discussion is encouraged after watching the video. The lesson concludes with a speaking practice exercise where students use the questions given to start a conversation on the topic of intelligence.
Homework: 3 research topics are suggested which aim to develop the topic further. The topics, combined with the additional resources provided on theenglishflows.com provide plenty of extra opportunities for contact with topic-related vocabulary in order to reinforce and enrich it
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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:
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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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