How to Get Over an Ex

Lesson Summary

This Upper Intermediate (B2)–Advanced (C1) ESL lesson plan is designed around a short video exploring ex-partners, idealised memories and healthy recovery after a painful break-up. Adult learners discuss lost love, predict and analyse the video, develop relationship vocabulary and explore practical strategies for emotional recovery.

Learning Objectives

• Explore the themes of ex-partners and recovering from a break-up
• Expand vocabulary related to romantic relationships, separation and emotional recovery
• Develop viewing, listening, reading, speaking and writing skills
• Practise critical thinking through discussion and reflection
• Use new vocabulary in roleplay, writing and multimodal tasks

Lesson Activities

• Quotation discussion and pre-viewing speaking activities
• Video prediction, viewing and comprehension tasks
• Video analysis and critical thinking discussion
• Extended roleplay about idealising an ex-partner
• Reading and analysing an article on healthy break-up recovery strategies
• Vocabulary practice, reflective writing and multimodal homework

Learner Type

Adults

Language Level

Upper Intermediate (B2)–Advanced (C1)

Lesson Duration

90–120 minutes

Language Focus

Vocabulary related to romantic relationships, ex-partners, separation, lost love, emotional recovery, idealised memories and healthy coping strategies

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.