B1 ESL Video Lesson Plan: Julio Diaz
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 lesson plan is designed around a short video by Story Corps and the theme of empathy. In the lesson students talk about an imaginary situation, listen to a story, watch a video, speak, and write an account of an incident from another person’s perspective.
Language level: Intermediate (B1) – Upper Intermediate (B2)
Learner type: Teens and adults
Time: 90 minutes
Activity: Listening, watching a short video, speaking and writing
Topic: Empathy
Language: Second conditional and colloquial words and expressions
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.
Throughout the whole exercise students have to think about their attitude towards other people. Which side are you: full of prejudices or are you able to show emphathy towards others.
I really enjoyed this exercise and tomorrow I will definitely use this during my lesson.
Except for the language acquisition it also teaches me how I can/must make a difference in my own life and my students’.
Thank you so much for this lesson.
I hope you will be one of the speakers at the IATEFL conference in Glasgow. You always inspire me.
Hi Eugenie,
Thanks very much for commenting. I’m very happy that you like the lesson. Yes, one of the aims of the lesson is to get students to reflect on empathy and the empathetic response of Julio to the teenager.
Yes, I will be speaking at IATEFL in Glasgow: On Monday 3rd April I’ll be speaking at the Literature SIG Pre-conference Event at 10:30 and the Global Issues SIG Pre-conference Event at 13:55; on Thursday 6th April I’ll be speaking at the main conference at 10:30. I hope you can come.
All the best,
Kieran
thanks a lot for this lesson.
this will inspire most teachers to teach well.
Hi Suryadarma,
Thanks a lot for commenting. I hope the lesson does inspire other teachers too 🙂
All the best,
Kieran
Hi Kieran,
Another great English lesson and another fantastic lesson in empathy. Keep up the great work!
Cheers,
Sally
Hi Sally,
Thanks for commenting. Great to know you find the lesson useful.
All the best,
Kieran
Thank you so much for this lesson.The video not only inspires us to learn better but most importantly to be better people!It is the lesson that many of us should learn… Thank you!
Hi Andzela,
A pleasure. I’m just happy you’ve got so much from the lesson.
All the best,
Kieran
I really like this lesson. The content is incredibly relevant to a teaching situation with young teenagers who don’t always treat each other (or teachers) with much respect and the balance between language input and visual input seems to be just right. I prefer this to some of the silent films which you have posted in the past. I haven’t used it yet but am really looking forward to doing so.
Hi Nigel,
I’m very happy you like the lessons and I hope your students do too.
All the best,
Kieran
very attractıve, thought provokıng with vide range of language focuses, thanks for the wonderful job. ı am gonna use this ASAP.
Hi Ali,
Thanks for the kind words. I hope your students enjoy the lesson.
All the best,
Kieran
I’d like to say that the activity is amazing. All the steps are incredibly well prepared. Besides, the vídeo is very beautiful with an important message. Congratulations!
Hi Lucia,
Thanks very much for the kind words. I’m delighted you like the lesson so much.
All the best,
Kieran