The paradox of choice
Lesson plan overview
This upper-intermediate to advanced ESL lesson plan is dedicated to the topic of choice overload, and how it affects decision-making and how satisfied we are with the choices we make. Students will talk about their shopping habits and decision-making processes, as well as concepts like FOMO and decision fatigue, will learn collocations with the words choice and decision, and phrases to express hesitation. You can combine it with the video-based lesson “Black Friday”, as well as the worksheets “Idioms: decision-making”, “Phrasal verbs: shopping”, and “Idioms: Black Friday (shopping)“.
Speaking: The lesson starts with a general discussion about choices and decisions. Then, students take a look at different situations in which they need to make a choice (e.g. choosing a restaurant for dinner, selecting a streaming service, shopping for jeans).
Vocabulary and speaking: Next, students look at 5 statements which contain target vocabulary for this lesson (hesitate, second-guess, weigh the pros and cons, procrastinate, narrow down). Students match the verbs to their definitions and then discuss the statements, saying whether they are true for them. After that, they answer 3 questions.
Vocabulary: collocations. Students learn common adjective+noun collocations with the words choice and decision (e.g. bold choice/decision, tough/decision choice, wise choice/decision, random choice, hasty decision). To practise, students choose the correct adjective to complete 9 sentences.
Listening: Students watch a video called “The paradox of choice – why less is more for true happiness”, which is broken down into 3 parts, and complete 3 activities. After that they engage in a post-listening discussion.
Functional language: expressing hesitation. Students take a look at 11 sentences, each one including a different way to express hesitation (e.g. I’m torn between…, I can’t make up my mind, I’m in two minds about…). Their task is to underlie the part of the sentences that expresses hesitation.
Speaking: The last activity is focused on speaking and will encourage students to use the expressions from the previous activity. They are given 4 situations to role-play. In each one, one of the participants needs to make a choice, and the other person needs to help them.
For further speaking practice and to revise the target vocabulary from this lesson. You can use the set of conversation cards.
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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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