How to Think about Goals

Lesson Summary:
This advanced ESL video lesson plan is built around the short video I WAS WRONG – How I Set Goals and explores different ways of thinking about goals and how goals and systems work together. Learners engage with authentic ideas about purpose, process and success through discussion, quotation analysis, video viewing, critical thinking tasks, roleplay and an extended article reading. The lesson provides a complete, ready-to-use package for teachers looking to develop high-level language skills while encouraging reflection on personal development and goal-setting.

Learning Objectives:
• To introduce students to different ways of thinking about goals.
• To explore how goals and systems work together.
• To expand vocabulary related to goals, systems and purpose.
• To develop students’ viewing, listening and reading comprehension skills.
• To improve speaking skills through discussion and roleplay using new vocabulary.
• To develop students’ writing skills through creative tasks and use of new vocabulary.
• To improve students’ visual representing skills though multimodal composition homework tasks.

Lesson Activities:
• Introducing the theme of goals and systems through guided discussion.
• Analysing quotations about goals and success.
• Predicting the content of a short video.
• Viewing a short video and answering comprehension questions.
• Analysing ideas presented in the video.
• Reading and responding to the article Why Systems Shape Success More Than Goals.
• Taking part in structured discussions and roleplay.
• Reflecting on learning through writing tasks.

Learner Type:
Advanced (C1) to Proficient (C2) mature teens and adults.

Language Focus:
• Vocabulary related to goals.
• Vocabulary related to systems and processes.
• Vocabulary related to purpose and success.

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.