C1 ESL Video Lesson Plan: How to Find Happiness

Lesson Summary:
This Advanced (C1–C2) ESL lesson plan is built around a thought-provoking video titled How I Find Happiness that explores the theme of finding happiness through awareness and environment. It is designed to help learners develop key language skills through viewing, discussion and creative activities, alongside an in-depth reading on wonder and adult happiness that encourages reflection and critical thinking.

Learning Objectives:
• To introduce students to the theme of happiness as a subjective and experiential concept.
• To introduce students to different ways of finding happiness through awareness and environment.
• To expand students’ vocabulary related to happiness, perception and mental states.
• To develop students’ viewing, listening and reading comprehension skills.
• To develop students’ writing skills through reflective and analytical tasks using new vocabulary.
• To improve students’ speaking skills through discussion and roleplay using new vocabulary.
• To improve students’ visual representing skills though multimodal composition homework tasks.
• To develop critical thinking through interpretation, evaluation and personal reflection.

Lesson Activities:
• Whole-class discussion on happiness and wellbeing.
• Analysis of quotations related to happiness.
• Guided viewing of a short video with comprehension tasks.
• Reflective writing and personal response tasks.
• Roleplay exploring awareness and environment.
• Reading and discussing an extended article on wonder and adult happiness.
• Critical thinking and reflective discussion.

Learner Type:
Advanced (C1) to Proficient (C2) mature teens and adults.

Language Focus:
• Vocabulary related to happiness.
• Vocabulary related to perception and mental states.

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.