The happiest countries in the world
Lesson plan overview
This ESL lesson is about the happiest countries in the world and the factors that influence the overall well-being and life satisfaction of people. It can be used both as general and business English worksheet, as it introduces important economic terms. It will work well in combinations with the following worksheets:”Can money buy happiness?“, “Overpopultion“, “Phrasal verbs: happiness and well-being”, and “Idioms: positivity, optimism and hope”.
Speaking: The lesson starts with 6 discussion questions about happiness and well-being.
Speaking and reading: Students brainstorm different factors that influence happiness and then read a text about The World Happiness Report and the factors taken in consideration to create the ranking. After that students discuss which 10 countries they think would be at the top and the bottom of the list and why.
Vocabulary: Students complete common expressions and economic terms used when talking about life satisfaction (life expectancy, community engagement, safety net, purchasing power, welfare programs, parental leave, universal healthcare). Then they use the expressions to complete 8 questions and discuss the questions in pairs or small groups.
Listening: Students watch a video “Happiest countries in the world: explained”, which is broken down into 3 parts. For each part of the video, students complete a different task. In a post-listening discussion, students talk about what they learned from the video.
Vocabulary review: Students are given 6 sentences and they need to choose the correct word to complete them.
Speaking: Finally, students are asked to choose 3 countries and compare them using different indicators.
The conversation cards can be used for vocabulary review and speaking practice.
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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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