Time: 90 minutes
Activity: Talking about being alone,giving advice about being alone, watching a short film and reading a poem
Topic: Loneliness and being alone
Language: Should, shouldn’t, ought to and imperative form
Materials: Short film, discussion questions and poem
Downloadble materials: How to be alone instuctions how to be alone discussion questions how to be alone poem
Step 1
Write the following suffixes on the board:
________dom _________ness _________ment
Ask your students to come up with as many abstract nouns as they can which end with these suffixes.
Step 2
Write the following sentences on the board:
Sometimes I like to be alone.
Sometimes I like to be lonely.
Ask your students to say what the difference in meaning is between the 2 sentences.
Step 3
Put your students into pairs and ask them to discuss the questions on being alone.
how to be alone discussion questions
Step 4
Write up the following words:
alonedom
Ask your students what they think the difference is between these 2 words.
The difference is that loneliness expresses a negative emotion of being unhappy about being on your own while alonedom (a word invented by a poet) expresses a much more positive emotion about being on your own.
Step 5
Write up:
How to be alone
Put your students into small groups and ask them to come up with advice about how to be alone. Tell them to use should, shouldn’t, ought to and the imperative form. They should include the following areas:
Places to go to, things to do, hobbies and interests, learning, attitude
You shouldn’t worry about being alone, you should enjoy your freedom and travel to new places.
After 5 minutes get feedback from each group. Write up the following example sentences:
Step 6
Explain to your students that they are going to watch a short film called How To Be Alone. Ask them to watch the film and see if any of their advice in Step 6 is in the film.
Get feedback.
Step 7
Give them the poem and ask them to read it. Discuss the meaning.
You can also view the poem in the Scribd document below.
Step 8
Play the film again, but this time without the images. Students should listen and read the poem noticing the intonation.
Homework
Tell your students you would like them to write a composition titled How To Be Alone.
They should include some of the advice they liked in the poem and also read this article about how to enjoy being alone.
I hope you enjoy the lesson.
Thank you again! I do enjoy following your blog. Will you post activities that are targeted on easier level students (like A2) in the future? It would be great if you could do so. Keep up the super duper job you’ve been doing!
Hi Shutterbug,
Thanks a lot. I’ll be doing some more lessons for lower levels soon, quite a lot of the lessons can be done with lower levels especially those which have films with no dialogue.
All the best,
Kieran
Great topic! Can’t wait to use this lesson. Thank you!
Hi Mary,
Thanks a lot. If you use the lesson, let me know how it goes, please.
All the best,
Kieran