B1 ESL Video Lesson Plan: We’ve All Been There
This B1-level ESL video lesson plan is built around a thought-provoking video that explores the theme of empathy. It is designed to help learners develop key language skills—listening, viewing, speaking, reading, writing and visually representing—through guided discussion, roleplay, vocabulary building, and engaging classroom activities.
Check out the lesson planThis ESL video lesson plan is designed around a moving short film titled We’ve All Been There by Nicholas Clifford and the theme of empathy. Students write a story, watch a short film and speak about empathy.
Language level: Intermediate (B1) – Upper Intermediate (B2)
Learner type: Teens and adults
Time: 60 minutes
Activity: Watching a short film, speaking and writing
Topic: Empathy
Language: Present perfect, narrative tenses and language connected with empathy
Benefits for Teachers:
- Save hours of preparation with a fully developed, flexible lesson plan
- Engage students through compelling stories and real-world themes such as emotional intelligence, character, values, empathy, personal development, identity, relationships, global issues and social issues
- Build classroom routines that integrate multimodal literacy naturally and progressively
- Foster more inclusive and differentiated learning by using varied modes of input
- Rely on a trusted methodology backed by educational research and grounded in the theories of Vygotsky, Kress, Mayer and Krashen
Benefits for Learners:
- Develop communicative competence and confidence through integrated skill-building
- Expand vocabulary and improve listening and reading comprehension through repeated, meaningful exposure
- Think critically and creatively while exploring powerful social and emotional themes
- Strengthen emotional intelligence and intercultural awareness through affective engagement with multimodal texts
Watch the film.
Check out the lesson plan
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Transform Your English Classroom with the Multimodal Approach
This ESL video lesson plan is built around a thought-provoking short video and designed using the innovative Multimodal Approach, integrating listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing, and representing. Engage learners with real-world themes, develop communicative competence, build vocabulary and foster critical thinking through dynamic, research-informed activities. Find out more about the Multimodal Approach and join thousands of teachers transforming their classrooms with Film English.
Captivating video, great lesson plan!
Hi Jasmina,
Thanks for commenting. grea to know to know you like the lesson so much 🙂
All the best,
Kieran
These are really nice videos – thanks for taking the time to do all this.
Glad you like them, Blair 🙂
Loved the short film “We’ve all been there”.
I think I’ll use the lesson you suggest very soon in one of my classes.
Thank you!!
Cristina
Hi John,
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I hope your students enjoy the lesson.
Kieran
I saw your site mentioned on the TESOL Facebook page. I visited and was so impressed! I plan to use this lesson plan with my Level 3/4 class next week. We just finished a lesson on idioms and proverbs, so this fits in perfectly. I can think of another idiom that fits here, too…”Play it forward.” Thanks for a great site.
That should be “Pay it forward”…oops!
Now I understand, Linda 🙂
Hi Linda,
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I’m really happy you like the site. I hope your students enjoy the lesson.
All the best,
Kieran
I love it!! that’s really true 🙂
Hi Lidia,
Great to know you like it so much!
All the best,
Kieran
I liked it so much! I’m waiting for another one.Thank you a lot!
Hi Cristina,
Thanks a lot for commenting. Great to know you liked it so much. I hope you like the next lesson as much.
All the best,
Kieran
Great lesson plan, as usual. I was looking for ideas for something a bit lighter after my lessons on social conscience and the use of conditionals (what would you do if you saw someone…). So when I think of something more enjoyable for my students, I always end up here. And this lesson fits in so PERFECTLY! Thank you soooo much for all this great work and also for making me discover such gems.
So sad I can’t attend the Image Conference in Barcelona.
Hi Marie,
It’s a pleasure; I’m just happy other teachers find the lessons useful. Shame you can’t attend The Image Conference, it’s going to be a great event.Maybe next year!
All the best,
Kieran
Fantastic video! Thanks for posting them and making this site one of my absolute fav. Cheers!
Hi Cystal,
Thanks a lot for commenting and for your kinfd words about the site; I’m really happy you like it so much.
All the best,
Kieran
Incoming link: April Round-up | Creativities
Thank you Kieran for this wonderful lesson plan, and for the site in general.
I used this lesson on Monday with my upper intermediate course. They loved it.
I also used the film for a speaking practice using second conditionals:
If I were the elderly woman I would feel….
If I were the 8 month pregnant waitress I would….
I’m a teacher and an actor, so I really love your site. It’s the perfect balance for cinema enthusiasts and EFL teachers!
Thanks!
Hi Tom,
Thanks alot for taking the time to comment and for your kind words about the site; one of the things I’m I’m trying to do with the site is to combine film ananlysis with language learning so you’v ehit the nail on the head there! Great ideas for using the second conditional.
All the best,
Kieran