Decision-Making

Lesson Summary

This ESL video lesson plan explores decision-making and how to make effective decisions through the short video A Guide to Making Better Decisions. Designed for Pre-intermediate (A2) to Intermediate (B1) learners, it combines vocabulary development, video comprehension, discussion, roleplay and reading. The follow-up article, Eight Simple Ways to Make Better Decisions, helps students explore practical approaches to everyday choices.

Learning Objectives

• To introduce students to decision-making and how to make effective decisions.
• To expand vocabulary related to choices and decision-making.
• To develop viewing, listening and reading comprehension skills.
• To improve speaking skills through discussions and roleplay using new vocabulary.
• To develop writing skills through creative tasks and reflection.
• To improve visual representing skills through multimodal homework tasks.

Lesson Activities

• Discuss decision-making and ways to make effective decisions.
• Predict the content of a short video.
• Watch and analyse the video and answer comprehension questions.
• Write about learning from the video.
• Explore the issues raised through critical thinking tasks.
• Perform a roleplay involving a shared decision.
• Read an article and answer comprehension questions.
• Discuss and write about ideas from the article.
• Reflect on the lesson and complete multimodal homework tasks.

Learner Type

Mature teens and adults at Pre-intermediate (A2) to Intermediate (B1) level.

Language Focus

• Vocabulary related to decision-making and everyday choices.
• Language for comparing options and explaining preferences.
• Expressions for giving advice and reaching agreement.

Time

90–120 minutes.

Watch the short video.

Transform Your English Classroom with This Film English Multimodal Lesson

This ESL lesson plan is built around a carefully selected short video and designed using the exclusive Multimodal Approach– an innovative methodology that integrates traditional language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) with viewing – the active process of analysing and interpreting multimodal texts – and representing – creating multimodal texts. This pedagogically rich approach mirrors how communication works in the real world, through a combination of language, image, sound, gesture and spatial design, making the lesson more engaging, relevant and effective.

This ESL video lesson plan plan consists of a complete, ready-to-use package that includes:

• A thought-provoking short video
• A detailed teacher’s guide with step-by-step instructions
• A pre-viewing vocabulary glossary to scaffold understanding
• Comprehension, discussion and critical thinking questions
• Creative post-viewing tasks such as roleplays, writing prompts and reflective activities
• A thematically linked reading text to reinforce language and deepen understanding
• A final task encouraging learners to create their own multimodal compositions (e.g. vlogs, posters, infographics or social media posts)

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
• Create authentic, personalised multimodal projects that reflect their own voice and ideas
• Strengthen emotional intelligence and intercultural awareness through affective engagement with multimodal texts

Whether you’re teaching in a secondary school, university or adult education context, Film English lesson plans offer a dynamic, research-informed pathway to meaningful language learning. Join thousands of teachers worldwide who are transforming their classrooms with the Multimodal Approach and helping their students learn English—and live through English—more fully.