Paternity leave
Lesson plan overview
This FREE upper-intermediate ESL lesson plan deals with the topic of becoming a parent, parenting and gender roles, and the benefits of paternity leave. Students will learn interesting vocabulary, and will discuss the topic from various perspectives. Other video-based lessons you might find interesting are “Mental load and invisible labor”, “What is holding women back at work”, “Family traditions”, “Are playgrounds too safe?”, “Stereotypes“, and “Should we give children an allowance?”, as well as “Idioms: gender equality”, “Phrasal verbs: childhood”, and “Idioms: family”.
The lesson starts with a speaking activity: Students look at photos showing some of the joys and challenges of becoming a parent, and discuss the photos. They are also given a few expressions to incorporate (to bond with your newborn, to cuddle, sleepless nights, to juggle responsibilities). They are also asked to discuss 4 talking points given.
Vocabulary: Students look at useful words related to having a baby and match them to the correct photo (e.g. breastfeeding, formula feeding, daycare, to childproof, potty training). After matching the words to the photos, they discuss a few questions.
Speaking: Students discuss parenting and gender roles stereotypes. They are given a number of stereotypes (e.g. mothers are the primary caregivers, stay-at-home moms are less ambitious, parents must have it all together, parents of different genders have incompatible parenting styles) to talk about.
Speaking: Support systems for new parents: Students discuss what support new parents in their country receive, and possible improvements.
Listening: Students watch a video called “Why paternity leave benefits everyone”. The video is divided into 3 parts, and students complete 4 different listening comprehension tasks. After that, they engage in a post-listening discussion.
Word formation: Students learn verbs that are formed by adding the prefix en- and the suffix -en (e.g. deepen, strengthen, brighten, heighten, sadden, enrich, endanger, enforce). First, they create the verbs according to the definitions given. Then, they complete 11 sentences, using the correct forms of the words. Finally, they discuss 4 talking points, using the verbs from this lesson.
For more speaking practice, you can use the printable conversation cards.
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
Conversation cards PDF
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.
Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
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