Day 15: Folk remedies. TBL-based lesson
December is cold and flu season, and staying healthy is a real challenge. This is a speaking activity where students share home remedies for common winter ailments.. Students discuss what works, what doesn't, and why people still believe in these remedies. Inspired by “Activities for Task-based Learning".
Goals: develop speaking fluency through personal experience; practise expressing advice, cause and effect, and evaluation, practise topic-specific vocab for illnesses and remedies.
Timing: 15-40 minutes.
If you only have 10 minutes: Ask students to share one remedy they swear by for each picture.
Timing: 15-40 minutes.
If you only have 10 minutes: Ask students to share one remedy they swear by for each picture.
This lesson focuses on emergent language, meaning you need to be ready to support students with vocabulary they don't know, especially at lower levels. Be prepared to provide words on the spot. I've included some language options to teach in the teacher's notes.
With this task, you can choose to offer language support before the main task (pre-teaching useful phrases), during the task (supporting students as they fill in the table), or after the task (as part of language feedback).
With this task, you can choose to offer language support before the main task (pre-teaching useful phrases), during the task (supporting students as they fill in the table), or after the task (as part of language feedback).
Lesson ideas
If you're like me and have already caught the flu this winter (lucky, I know…), this can be a very personal way to start the lesson. If you've been luckier, begin by showing the pictures.
Elicit what the people are dealing with by asking students to describe what they see. You may wish to include additional situations if they fit your group, but here's what I included: cold/flu; winter slump, overeating, low motivation; feeling sleepy or low-energy; sore throat.
Ask:
"When I was a kid, my grandmother always told me to drink hot lemon with honey when I had a sore throat. She said it would help. I still do it now!"
Elicit what the people are dealing with by asking students to describe what they see. You may wish to include additional situations if they fit your group, but here's what I included: cold/flu; winter slump, overeating, low motivation; feeling sleepy or low-energy; sore throat.
Ask:
- What's wrong with them?
- What advice do people usually give in this situation?
"When I was a kid, my grandmother always told me to drink hot lemon with honey when I had a sore throat. She said it would help. I still do it now!"
Say: "Think of advice or remedies you've heard from parents, grandparents, friends, TikTok, or the internet." You may write down any language you deem important / useful at this stage
As I've said, you may do this stage before, during, or after the main task. Be ready to provide vocabulary as students need it. Circulate and help!
Possible language to teach:
Possible language to teach:
- Topic specific vocab
- Giving recommendations
- Conditionals
- Expressing uncertainty
Give students sufficient time to complete the table. Be ready to provide lexis they might need.
For group classes:
Students mingle and talk to as many classmates as they can. Their goal is to:
For 1-to-1 lessons:
Take turns sharing remedies for each problem.
For group classes:
Students mingle and talk to as many classmates as they can. Their goal is to:
- Share their own remedies
- Listen to others' remedies
- Note down ideas they like the sound of and think will work
For 1-to-1 lessons:
Take turns sharing remedies for each problem.
After sharing, discuss:
- Which remedies do you both know?
- Which ones sound new or interesting?
- Which ones do you think actually work?
You might want to discuss it further. Choose questions based on your students' level:
Lower levels:
Lower levels:
- Which remedy sounds the best?
- Which remedy sounds the strangest?
- Do you think home remedies really work?
- Why do you think people still use folk remedies even when modern medicine exists?
- Are some folk remedies actually effective, or are they just placebo?
- Why do you think certain remedies get passed down through families?