Breaking the scrolling habit

Digital detox: -ed & -ing adjectives

Exclusive

60-90 min

Standard

Intermediate

Overview

This intermediate (B1) lesson is built around an engaging vlog detailing a creator's seven-pillar digital detox experience. Students will use this real-world context to explore adjectives ending in -ed and -ing, focusing on the functional distinction between describing personal emotional reactions and the situations or objects causing them.

During the lesson, students evaluate screen time habits, answer video comprehension questions, and practice target adjectives through sentence transformations and guided scenario discussions. They then broaden the conversation by ranking ethical gray areas in tech design and participating in a role-play government debate on banning social media for under-16s, concluding with a reflective essay homework assignment.

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Media & Worksheets

Lesson PDFs

e-lesson Version

Our standard lessons follow a consistent six-stage flow: warm-up, a presentation based on real content (video, text or images), a contextual language focus stage, controlled practice, a free practice session, and a final homework task.

Each lesson includes a printable student worksheet and teacher’s guide with answer keys. For digital classrooms, we provide an editable Google Slides e-lesson, that is also compatible with PowerPoint.

The purpose of this stage is to activate your students' existing knowledge and prepare them for the lesson's theme.

Activity 1: Students guess their top five smartphone apps and daily screen time, verify their predictions on their devices, and discuss their usage habits in pairs.

During this part of the lesson, we will introduce the main content, presenting new language and concepts through video, text or images.

Activity 2: Students match key terms and informal expressions from the video to their definitions before watching.

Activity 3: Students watch the video and answer comprehension questions about the creator's lifestyle choices.

Activity 4: Students discuss questions related to the video content and share their personal opinions.

This stage of of the lesson includes a contextual, interactive activity designed for presenting the target language.

Activity 5: The students compare sentences about the video and digital habits to discern the difference between -ed and -ing adjectives.

To reinforce their understanding of the new language or concepts introduced in the lesson, the students will work on a couple of controlled practice activities.

Activity 6: The students read sentences describing smartphone habits and digital situations and circle the correct target word in brackets.

Activity 7: The students will rewrite sentences about digital habits to change the focus from the personal feeling (-ed) to the cause (-ing), or vice versa.

Activity 8: The students discuss how different digital scenarios would make them feel.

We move into free practice for this stage, where the students apply the language in more open-ended, communicative activities.

Activity 9: Students review modern scenarios involving digital technology and habits, rank them from most to least ethical, and justify their reasoning.

Activity 10: Students participate in a role-play debate as members of a government department deciding whether social media should be banned for children under 16.

Finally, we'll encourage students to extend their learning outside of the classroom to reinforce the language and concepts covered during the lesson.

Homework task: The students will write a reflective essay on their personal relationship with technology, evaluating the health of their digital habits and habits they wish to change.