The benefits of being in nature
Lesson plan overview
This is an intermediate video-based lesson plan which will encourage students to talk about the benefits of being in nature and ways they can spend more time in nature. The lesson is focused on speaking. The topic is related to the topics of stress and relaxation, and mental health. You can combine it with the following lessons: “The beauty of spring flower gardens“, “The healing power of art”, “Self-care”, “How we get tree planting wrong”, “Time to take a mental health day?”, as well as the worksheets “Phrasal verbs: rest and relaxation” and “Phrasal verbs: mental health”.
Speaking: The lesson starts with 2 photos. Students compare the photos and say how the people might be feeling as well as what is causing them to feel that way. After that, students complete a mind map related to nature and are asked to write down as many words and expressions related to 3 categories: activities, sounds, and benefits. After they have finished, students are given a list of words which they have to put into the correct category. Then, students discuss 10 questions given, and are encouraged to use the words and expressions from the previous activity.
Vocabulary: Students learn common collocations with the verbs alleviate, boost, soak in, brighten up, and soothe (these verbs will later appear in the video). To practise, students complete 6 questions and discuss the questions in pairs and small groups.
Listening: Students watch a video called “The mental health benefits of nature” and complete 2 activities: the first one is a True/False exercise. In the second one, students are asked to answer 5 questions.
Speaking: After watching the video, students engage in a post-listening discussion about the information presented in the video. Finally, students are given 2 situations and they are tasked with creating a project related to 1 of them.
As usual, there is a set of conversation cards included, which can be used to revise the target vocabulary from this lesson and to develop the topic further.
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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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