B2 ESL Video Lesson Plan: Blindness

Lesson Summary:
This Upper Intermediate (B2) to Advanced (C1) ESL video lesson plan is built around a thought-provoking short video titled Can (and should) we cure blindness? and explores the theme of blindness as both a medical condition and an identity. Learners engage with complex ethical questions while developing vocabulary related to medical research and genetics. Through viewing, discussion and creative activities, students strengthen their listening, reading, speaking and writing skills. The lesson also features an in-depth article, Blindness and Identity: Beyond the Medical Model, which encourages learners to reflect critically on disability, culture and inclusion.

Learning Objectives:
• Introduce blindness as both a medical condition and an identity
• Examine ethical questions surrounding medical cures
• Expand topic-specific vocabulary
• Develop integrated language skills
• Strengthen analytical and reflective writing
• Improve spoken fluency through structured discussion
• Foster multimodal and visual literacy skills
• Encourage critical thinking and empathy

Lesson Activities:
• Lead-in discussion and quotation analysis
• Vocabulary preparation tasks
• Prediction and guided viewing
• Comprehension questions
• Analytical discussion of key ideas
• Roleplay on cure-related ethical dilemmas
• Reading and analysing the article
• Reflective writing and lesson review

Learner Type:
Upper Intermediate (B2) – Advanced (C1)
Mature teens and adults

Language Focus:
• Medical and scientific vocabulary
• Genetics and research terminology
• Identity and social models
• Debate and discussion language
• Critical thinking 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
• Promote social-emotional learning (SEL)
• 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 short video.

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We hope you enjoy this ESL video lesson plan.

Thanks for being part of the Film English community, and happy teaching!
— The Film English Team

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.