Topic: talking to strangers, conversations, random acts of kindness
Level: B1+
Objectives: - to raise awareness to the issue of isolation and encourage students to be friendlier to strangers
- to develop students’ vocabulary in connection with the topic of communication
- to encourage students to ask questions (info-gap activity)
- to develop students’ empathy
- to encourage students to take action
Equipment: projector, computer, speakers
This video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksKVVnELXHY ; Worksheets for the students - versions A & B
Activity sequence:
1. Warmer: Thinking + Pairwork: Give your students some time to think about these questions, then ask them to exchange ideas.
0. In what kind of situations do you have to talk to strangers?
1. When was the last time you talked to a stranger?
2. What was the function of the conversation? (if it had any)
3. Who started the conversation?
4. What was the conversation like?
5. What did you learn from it?
(Here the question arises what can be considered as a conversation: exchanging some words with a shop assistant? talking to someone on a train for hours? - Leave this question open for interpretation.)
Ask for some feedback.
2. First listening (and/or watching the clip)
What story does the song tell? How does the singer feel?
Give them a minute to answer the questions in pair and ask for feedback.
2. Second listening
Check the phrases that you can hear in the song:
Express yourself
Locking eyes with a silent stranger
Body language
Get your message across
Making waves of conversation
Animate the air with a stone cold question
Talk me through it
Tell the world
Every time I meet your eyes
Make contact
What do these expressions have in common?
Check them in the lyrics:
3. Vocabulary
Find the corresponding expressions in the lyrics:
1. to travel toward somebody -
2. to move slowly in a slippery way -
3. to look for a long time with the eyes open -
4. to achieve a state of mental euphoria (feeling extremely happy) -
5. to make eye contact -
6. to shock people with something new or different -
7. to fight the daily struggles of life, boredom –
What does the expression “to be high on humans” mean?
4. Jigsaw reading
Student A
Student B
5. Discussion questions
Give students some time to discuss the following questions.
1. When did you last have a lengthy conversation with a stranger?
2. How do you usually feel when you talk to strangers?
3. Can you recall any situations when you felt pressure to talk to strangers?
4. Has anyone ever told you that you should never talk to strangers? What do you think about this piece of advice or warning?
5. What benefits can conversations with strangers have?
(These can be questions for pair work or group discussion - afterwards ask the students to summarize what they were talking about)
6. Speaking
Choose the picture of a person from below. Elaborate on these questions to the person sitting next to you.
a. If you had the chance to talk to this person, what would you talk about? What would you tell them?
b. Imagine yourself in the shoes of this person. What kind of conversations do you have during a day?
You can either make students choose a picture or you can give them a picture they should work on. Choose from exercises or a or b, or give them different tasks.
Give them at least 3 minutes to talk about their picture.
7. HW task
Challenge
Give them this task: Make someone’s day by doing a random act of kindness. Be as nice as possible (or as generous as possible) toward a stranger.
You can find some ideas here: https://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicamisener/101-easy-ideas-for-random-acts-of-kindness
Next lesson, ask them to talk about what they did and how the person reacted.