B1 ESL Video Lesson Plan: How to Spot a Liar

Lesson Summary:
This Upper Intermediate (B2) to Advanced (C1) ESL lesson plan is built around the short video How to Tell If Someone Is Lying to You and explores the theme of lies, liars and deception. Students examine common misconceptions about spotting lies, discuss truthfulness and trust, learn vocabulary related to evidence and judgement, and develop their viewing, listening, reading, speaking and writing skills. The lesson also includes an article titled Why We Believe Lies: The Psychology of Truth Bias, which encourages learners to think critically about why people often believe others and how balanced scepticism can help them make better judgements.

Learning Objectives:
• To introduce students to the theme of lies, liars and deception
• To expand vocabulary related to lying, truthfulness, evidence and judgement
• To develop viewing, listening and reading comprehension skills
• To develop writing skills through creative tasks and use of new vocabulary
• To improve speaking skills through roleplay, discussion and use of new vocabulary
• To improve visual representing skills through multimodal composition homework tasks
• To practise critical thinking through discussion and reflection

Lesson Activities:
• Discuss lies, liars and deception
• Explore ideas about how to spot if someone is lying
• Predict the content of a short video
• Watch and analyse How to Tell If Someone Is Lying to You
• Answer comprehension questions on the video
• Read and discuss an article on truth bias
• Perform a roleplay about judging whether someone is lying
• Complete reflective writing and multimodal homework tasks

Learner Type:
Upper Intermediate (B2) to Advanced (C1); mature teens and adults

Language Focus:
• Lying, liars and deception
• Truthfulness, trust and honesty
• Evidence, judgement and scepticism
• Truth bias and misconceptions
• Verbal cues, behaviour and communication
• Critical reflection and discussion language

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.