How Social Media Affects Our Emotions

Lesson Summary:
This ESL video lesson plan is built around the short video Is Social Media Messing with Our Emotions? and explores social media, its role in modern life and how it affects emotions. Designed for Intermediate to Upper Intermediate learners, it provides a complete, ready-to-use package with viewing tasks, discussion, roleplay, critical thinking activities and an extended reading text. Learners develop vocabulary related to emotions, technology and online behaviour while reflecting on the emotional impact of digital platforms.

Learning Objectives:
• To introduce students to the theme of social media and emotional well-being.
• To expand vocabulary related to emotions, technology and online behaviour.
• To develop viewing, listening and reading comprehension skills.
• To improve speaking skills through discussion and roleplay.
• To develop writing skills through reflective and creative tasks.
• To improve visual representing skills through multimodal homework activities.

Lesson Activities:
• Discussion of social media and emotional experiences.
• Analysis of quotations about social media.
• Prediction and viewing of a short video.
• Comprehension and critical thinking tasks based on the video.
• Vocabulary development activities.
• Roleplay exploring social media design and emotional well-being.
• Reading and discussion of an article on emotional well-being.
• Reflective writing and lesson review.

Learner Type:
Intermediate (B1) to Upper Intermediate (B2) mature teens and adults.

Language Focus:
• Emotions and emotional responses.
• Technology and online behaviour.
• Social media use and digital habits.

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
• 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.

Watch the short video.