ESL-plans

Dealing with Change

Level	Category	Format	Duration
B1	General English	Video	90 min

What's the "Dealing with Change" ESL Lesson About?

B1 · General English

Main Objectives

• Explore the psychological and emotional stages of coping with significant life changes and transitions;
• Practice targeted vocabulary related to emotions, collocations with the word "firm," and idioms for adapting to new situations;
• Evaluate personal attitudes toward change and discuss practical strategies for managing uncertainty.

About This Lesson

In this lesson, students begin by discussing their personal experiences with change and analyzing philosophical quotes from figures like Abraham Maslow and Alan Watts about embracing uncertainty. They then expand their lexical range by matching words like resentment, pessimistic, and disorientation to their definitions, followed by a focused grammar task on collocations with the word "firm" (e.g., firm belief, stand firm, firm handshake). The core features a video outlining the "Four Stages of Coping with Change" — from initial shock and disorientation to anger, coming to terms with the situation, and finally acceptance. Students answer comprehension questions about managing strong emotions, seeking reliable information, and avoiding gossip. Afterward, learners evaluate true/false statements about the nature of change before learning six practical idioms (e.g., a blessing in disguise, roll with the punches, weather the storm). They apply these expressions in gap-fill exercises and conclude with personal discussion questions about times they had to start fresh or adapt to difficult circumstances.

This lesson is designed to fit within a single 90 min session. The video component works well as homework before the live session.

Watch the Video

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