
How Isolation Affects the Brain

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This ESL lesson plan is designed around a short video titled What Happens to Your Brain Without Any Social Contact? and the theme of isolation and its effects on the brain and mental health. Students learn vocabulary related to isolation, the brain and mental health, discuss quotations about solitude, talk about isolation, predict the content of a short video, watch a short video, answer comprehension questions, analyse a short video, write about what they have learned from viewing a short video, develop critical thinking skills by exploring issues raised in a short video, perform a roleplay, read an article, answer comprehension questions, discuss topics raised in an article titled The Science of Loneliness and the Human Brain, write about what they have learned from reading an article, and reflect on the lesson.
Language level: Upper Intermediate (B2) – Advanced (C1)
Learner type: Mature teens and adults
Topic: Isolation and its effects on the brain and mental health
Objectives:
- To introduce students to the concept of isolation and its effects on the brain and mental health
- To expand vocabulary related to isolation, the brain and mental health
- To develop students’ viewing, listening and reading comprehension skills
- To improve students’ speaking skills through roleplay and discussions using new vocabulary
- To develop students’ writing skills through creative tasks using new vocabulary
- To improve students’ visual representing skills through multimodal composition tasks
- To practise critical thinking through discussion and reflection
Language: Vocabulary related to isolation, the brain and mental health
Time: 90–120 minutes
Watch the short video.
Lesson Summary:
This ESL video lesson plan, based on the short film What Happens to Your Brain Without Any Social Contact?, explores isolation and its effects on the brain and mental health. It offers a complete, ready-to-use lesson for mature teens and adults. Students learn and practise vocabulary related to isolation, the brain and mental health through viewing, discussion, roleplay, and writing activities.
Learning Objectives:
• To introduce students to the concept of isolation and its effects on the brain and mental health
• To expand vocabulary related to isolation, the brain and mental health
• To develop viewing, listening and reading comprehension skills
• To improve speaking skills through roleplay and discussion
• To enhance writing skills through creative tasks using new vocabulary
• To practise critical thinking through discussion and reflection
Lesson Activities:
• Vocabulary-building activities
• Viewing and comprehension tasks
• Group discussion and analysis
• Roleplay and creative writing exercises
• Reading and reflection on The Science of Loneliness and the Human Brain
• Critical thinking and multimodal homework tasks
Learner Type:
Upper Intermediate (B2) – Advanced (C1) | Mature teens and adults
Language Focus:
• Isolation
• The brain and mental health
• Emotional well-being
• Human connection
• Psychological resilience
Transform Your English Classroom with This Film English Multimodal Lesson
This ESL video 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
- 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.
Watch the short video.