Debate and discussion
Overview
In this third advanced-level lesson on relationships, the spotlight will be on friendship. Students will explore what they think constitutes a good friendship and the attributes they look for in a friend. This lesson aims to enhance their ability to express their thoughts and experiences related to this vital aspect of human connection.
The lesson plan starts with a boardwork activity to set up a discussion that explores the concept of friendship. Students will then participate in several low-resource classroom activities where they will discuss the important characteristics of a good friend and debate some controversial statements related to the broader topic of relationships. As usual, we wrap things up with a fun group game, this time inspired by a classic UK game show.
Classroom activities
Use of the board
We use a couple of proverbs to kick off a discussion on friendship.
Start by adding the proverbs to the top and bottom of the board and having a short discussion on them:
- What is a proverb? - A short, well-known saying, stating a general truth or piece of advice.
- What do these statements say about friendship?
- Is it easy for friends to always be honest with each other?
- How should we deal with people that we deem as 'enemies'?
After that, divide the class into pairs and tell them to brainstorm positive and negative characteristics of friends.
Give them a few minutes to complete this before having a group discussion and adding the best vocabulary to the board. Use the examples here as a guide.

You've got a friend in me
For this follow-on speaking activity, the students have to create a prioritised list of friendship characteristics.

Class debate
The students will debate some controversial statements related to relationships.

Classroom games
Family fortunes: Marriage
An adapted version of a classic UK game show that can be played in the classroom.

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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
Reduce your planning time and improve the way you present and teach English grammar.
