Is Social Media Killing Real Friendship?

This ESL video lesson plan is designed around a short video titled We’re Lonelier than Ever — And There’s One Big Reason and the theme of real-life versus digital friendship. Students learn vocabulary related to character, human connection and social media, discuss quotations about friendship, talk about friendship, 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 titled From Likes to Love: Can Online Relationships Thrive?, answer comprehension questions, discuss topics raised in an article, write about what they have learned from reading an article, and reflect on the lesson.

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 and representing. 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 lesson 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.