1,204,986 Votes Decided: What Is The Best Thing? – Tom Scott

1,204,986 Votes Decided: What Is The Best Thing? – Tom Scott

In this video from Tom Scott, he surveyed over 1.2 million people to find out what was the best thing! After making a long list of things to rank (7,188) he got people on the internet to vote for items in head-to-head battles. Things that were voted for many times moved to the top of the list. Things that didn’t get voted for got moved to the bottom. Simple! 

The speaking is very fast in this but the questions and transcript are fairly simple. Students will have a good opportunity to talk about their favourite things.

This lesson uses the third part of the video from 5:45

Note : If using this in class please note there is a brief mention of sex and orgasms around the 8:30 mark. Easily skippable. Use this skip to pause and ask the students what they think the number one thing is. This part of the video is missing from the transcript.

<object class="wp-block-file__embed" data="https://esl-tube.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/1204986-votes-decided-what-is-the-best-thing-tom-scott-.pdf&quot; type="application/pdf" style="width:100%;height:600px" aria-label="

The Best Thing? – PDF
Download

Eating Dandelions from NPR

 In this short documentary for NPR Debbie Naha talks about, collects and cooks dandelions. A “weed” she considers delicious and nutritious. What do you think? This is an upper beginner level lesson. The video will help students find the answers with its fun visuals and text. The narrator has a clear and slow way of talking that will also be easy to understand. There are warm-up questions, listening questions, a transcript and answers. Enjoy!

By the way, I have been getting good feedback on my lessons recently. If you have anything to say please leave a message or send me an email!

The Lonely Goalkeeper by Dress Code Films

This animated short documentary is about how it feels to be a professional football (soccer) goal keeper. It is narrated by Bob Wilson who was a very successful goal keeper. 

This lesson has a short introduction, listening questions and a transcript. It is a pre-intermediate and above level but is short so can be watched many times in one class. There are no subtitles with this one but the transcript I have made is accurate (about 90% I hope!). The answers to the questions are on the last page. I suggest this worksheet can be a good supplement to any lesson about sports or about being nervous. Enjoy!

Most romantic spots in Paris 

from Lonely Planet

 

In this video from Lonely Planet the narrator introduces three of Paris’s most romantic places. Students will listen and watch the video to choose the correct details for each of the locations. There is also a discussion about cities and people’s favourite places in them. This is an easier lesson suitable for beginners.

Can I Trust my weather APP – BBC

This video from the BBC talks about where weather apps get their information and how it is presented to people. The video also talks about why weather apps can be wrong sometimes. 

In the lesson students will talk about using apps, percentage and odds and, of course, bad weather! The listening questions are true and false and the speaking is very clear, so pre-intermediate level students should be able to handle the material. If you are studying alone the answers are at the bottom of the third page.

The world’s Most expensive thing (By weight) – Tom Scott

 This video, from Tom Scott, talks about the history of what is the most expensive object in the world by weight. It is very small and very expensive.

More importantly it is ‘non-fungible’ – things means it cannot be split up into smaller parts and keep the same value. 

In this lesson students discuss the things they own. How the history of an object is important and if they collect anything. The PDF has comprehension and discussion questions and transcript of the video with answers highlighted. This video is definitely intermediate level English and above.

How to Live to 100!

Want to know how to live to 100? Watch this video from The Infographics Show to hear a summary of research on the subject of living to a ripe a old age.

In this simple lesson plan students will watch the video and read its transcript to answer questions on health and old age. This is followed by a series of discussion questions brought up by the video.  The video has embedded subtitles that students can read along with.

Please like and subscribe to The Infographics Show. They have a lot of great content that can be used in classrooms.

how to live to 100 worksheet100 transcript

How to live to 100 – Transcript – PDF*

How to live to 100 – Lesson – Word

How to live to 100 – Lesson – PDF

Health and Old Age Questions:

What exercises should you do?

How can you fight stress?

Why is loneliness bad for you?

In Sweden, what do they think are the secrets to a long life?

How much sleep is too much?

How much alcohol, should you drink alcohol if you want to live a long life?

 

 

*Taken from the Transcript available on the video.

 

 

GUDETAMA

In this video from Vox they discuss what has made the Japanese Sanrio character Gudetama so popular, They talk about how and why Japanese Kawaii culture developed and how the Japanese notion of cuteness isn’t as simple as the ideas of good and evil in American culture.

Students will discuss characters, cuteness and the stress of modern life.

Gudetama -PDF

Gudetama-Word

Gudetama Transcript – PDF

Gudetama Transcript – Word

Gudetama

Continue reading “GUDETAMA”

Goosebumps – NPR

In this lesson based on a video from NPR Skunkbear they talk about why we still get goosebumps although they have no purpose. Students will talk about fears and react to quotes from famous people on the subject of fear.

Why Do We Get Goosebumps PDF

Why Do We Get Goosebumps WORD

Why Do We Get Goosebumps – Transcript WORD

Continue reading “Goosebumps – NPR”

For Kids, How Much Screen Time is Too Much?

In this video, from NPR advice is given on how to best use smart phones with children. However, the advice is good for people of any age. In the lesson plan students will discuss differences in life over the past five years, how they use time and their relationships with screens. Enjoy!

Screen Time Lesson-Word

Screen Time Lesson-PDF

Screen Time Transcript-PDF