C1 ESL Video Lesson Plan: Wanderlust

Lesson Summary:
This C1–C2 ESL video lesson plan is built around a short video titled Why do some people have wanderlust – and not others? and an article, The Psychology of Adventure: Why We Seek Thrills. It explores the themes of wanderlust, adventure, and risk-taking, helping students develop vocabulary, comprehension, speaking, writing, and critical thinking skills through engaging classroom activities.

Learning Objectives:

• To introduce students to the themes of adventure, wanderlust, and risk-taking

• To expand vocabulary related to travel, psychology, and risk-taking

• To improve listening, viewing, and reading comprehension skills

• To enhance speaking fluency through discussion and roleplay

• To strengthen writing skills through creative and reflective tasks

• To practise critical thinking and self-reflection on adventure and identity

Lesson Activities:

• Warm-up on wanderlust and adventure

• Prediction tasks before viewing

• Viewing a short video with comprehension activities

• Analysis of video content and vocabulary practice

• Discussion of quotations on adventure

• Roleplay activity on contrasting travel styles

• Reading an article and answering comprehension questions

• Critical thinking and reflective writing tasks

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

Language Focus:

• Vocabulary related to travel and exploration

• Psychology and risk-taking terminology

• Expressions for discussion and negotiation

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
• Strengthen emotional intelligence and intercultural awareness through affective engagement with multimodal texts

Watch the short video.

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We hope you enjoy this ESL video lesson plan.

Thanks for being part of the Film English community, and happy teaching!
— The Film English Team

Transform Your English Classroom with the Multimodal Approach
This ESL video lesson plan is built around a thought-provoking short video and designed using the innovative Multimodal Approach, integrating listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing, and representing. Engage learners with real-world themes, develop communicative competence, build vocabulary and foster critical thinking through dynamic, research-informed activities. Find out more about the Multimodal Approach and join thousands of teachers transforming their classrooms with Film English.