How to Break Bad Habits

Lesson Summary:
This ESL video lesson plan is built around a short animated video titled Why is it so hard to break a bad habit? and explores the theme of habits and habitual behaviour. Designed for Upper Intermediate to Advanced learners, it provides a complete, ready-to-use package that develops vocabulary, critical thinking and communication skills through viewing, discussion and creative activities.

Learning Objectives:
• To introduce students to the concept of habits and habitual behaviour.
• To explore the science behind habits and how they are formed.
• To expand vocabulary related to habits and behaviour change.
• To develop students’ viewing, listening and reading comprehension skills.
• To improve students’ speaking skills through discussion and roleplay using topic-specific vocabulary.
• To develop students’ writing skills through reflective tasks.
• To improve students’ visual representing skills through multimodal tasks.

Lesson Activities:
• Discuss quotations about habits and habitual behaviour.
• Engage in pre-viewing prediction and discussion tasks.
• Watch and analyse a short animated video.
• Answer comprehension questions based on the video.
• Take part in guided discussion and critical thinking activities.
• Perform a structured roleplay related to habit change.
• Read an article titled Building Better Habits Through Small Changes.
• Complete comprehension, discussion and reflective writing tasks based on the article.

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.