Vocabulary and speaking: Diet and nutrition
Overview
In this first upper-intermediate lesson on the topic of food, students will focus on advanced vocabulary and engage in detailed discussions about diet and nutrition. They will learn new terms and expressions that describe various aspects of this topic, such as nutrients and their benefits. This lesson aims to broaden their vocabulary while encouraging them to express their thoughts and opinions about this area in more sophisticated English.
The lesson plan starts with a boardwork example that shows one way to warm up your students for this topic. Building on this, they will then engage in a couple of collaborative classroom activities. These activities involve discussing the nutritional value and benefits of different foods and sharing personal insights into their own diets. The lesson ends with a fun group game, further reinforcing the topic's vocabulary.
Classroom activities
Use of the board
Start by eliciting or adding four food-related topics to the board. Then discuss concepts and vocabulary related to each one. Use this spider diagram as a guide.

Nutrient table
Students build a table that connects the different nutrients to their benefits and the foods that contain them.

Pair discussion
The students will work in pairs and discuss questions related to their diets.

Strange foods
A pairwork activity in which students give their opinions on some of the weirdest cuisines found around the globe.

Classroom games
Charades: What am I cooking?
One student pretends to be a TV chef while the other students attempt to guess what they are cooking.

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750+ Low-prep classroom activity ideas
1100+ Printable ESL flashcards
180+ ESL lesson plans
8 Distinct language levels
Offline access through the TEFLHandbook app
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