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Fitting in or Being Yourself

CEFR: A2, B1 11 slides 45 min Whole class

In the slide deck

A comparison

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Fitting in or being yourself — Preview: the first 3 slides, as your students see them on the board.

Preview: the first 3 slides, as your students see them on the board.

Objective & content

Should you change to fit in with a group, or stay yourself? This 45-minute discussion lesson follows one path: the pupils first, then a story, then another story, then what the class thinks. The first story is Stella, 15, who writes songs but plays them only in her room, until an open mic night (Golden Bay). The second is Noah, 13, a new boy who loves acting but says nothing when his new friends laugh at the drama club (a short story written for this lesson). By the end, pupils can talk about fitting in and being themselves, compare two characters, defend an opinion and write a short reply with advice.

Documents to download (2)

Pupil sheet In your teacher account
Colour version In your teacher account

Pedagogical guide

Every slide asks the class to do something: choose two picture cards, read four characters' words and say who they agree with, pick three feeling words, compare Noah and Stella in three boxes, choose what they would change to fit in and what they would never change, stand on a line from 1 to 5, write a reply to a message. The words come before the talking, and each question has an A2 version for everyone and a B1 one for stronger pupils. The pupil sheet follows the slides, so every pupil leaves with something written. No question asks a pupil to say who is popular or left out in the class: they can always talk about Stella, Noah or Maya instead.

Suggested procedure45 min

2 min
Show the cover and read the big question: "Should you change to fit in?" No answers yet.
8 min
The real me: pairs choose two cards each and say why. Then read the eight words and their examples together.
10 min
Stella's story and the four voices: read the three lines and Mika's words, then the bubbles aloud; pairs choose the voice they agree with most.
12 min
Noah's secret: read the short story, pick three feeling words, then compare Noah and Stella in three boxes on the pupil sheet.
9 min
Change it, or never?, then "Where do you stand?": pupils choose alone, explain to a partner, then stand on the line from 1 to 5. Come back to the big question.
4 min
Dear Maya: pupils start the reply on the pupil sheet; finish it as homework.

Adaptations

SupportKeep the word slide on screen during the voices and the "change it" choice, and accept one-sentence answers built on the useful language. Pupils can draw what they would change instead of writing it.
ExtensionAsk stronger pairs the B1 question on the voices slide ("Tiago doesn't smile at Harper. Brave, or rude?"), and have them argue the side they do not hold on the line from 1 to 5.

Materials & prerequisitesA projector or screen for the slides (one PDF page per slide, turned with the arrow keys) and one pupil sheet (two A4 pages) per pupil. The last slide is the teacher's notes, with the timed plan and a note of care, to read before the lesson rather than project. Nothing to install. It goes further after the Golden Bay episodes Everyone Smiles Here, The List and Open Mic.

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