How to smash distractions
Lesson plan overview
This ESL worksheet is most suitable for B2 level students. It explores the topic of distractions, how to deal with them and how they affect our work, productivity and learning. Students learn useful vocabulary, watch an informative video and talk about their personal experiences and triggers. You can combine it with “Is technology making us dumb?“, “Productivity and AI tools“, “Beyond the senses: exploring floatation tanks“, “Idioms: memory”, “Idioms: attention and concentration“, and “Phrasal verbs: time management”.
Vocabulary: After and initial discussion, students learn vocabulary to talk about common distractions at work (clutter, multitasking, gossip, micromanagement). Then they practise this vocabulary by discussing in pairs which of distractions they struggle with and how each one could be dealt with. Next, students complete 2 pre-listening activities: the first one is a multiple-choice exercise. Students look at different sentences and choose the correct meaning of the word or expression (struggle, trigger, urge). In the second exercise, students complete 5 tips with the correct preposition and then discuss how effective the tips would be.
Listening: Students watch a video “How to smash distractions”, which is divided into 2 parts. First, students take notes on the difference between external and internal triggers. Then they complete the tips with the information from the video. The listening part concludes with a post-listening discussion on the information students received form the video.
Collocations: The last activity is a vocabulary development activity. Students learn different collocations with the word “attention” (e.g. undivided attention, scant attention, centre of attention) and then talk about the statements given.
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
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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
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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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