Smart homes & home automation

Free

60-90 min

Speaking

Intermediate

Overview

In this conversation lesson, students will explore the topic of smart homes and home automation. They'll learn key vocabulary related to smart devices, technology, and privacy (e.g., automation, convenience, security breach) while discussing the benefits and challenges of incorporating this technology into everyday life.

The students will read about a journalist's account of living in a smart home. They'll also share opinions on privacy concerns, discuss real-world applications of smart devices, and consider their own preferences for technology in the home. The lesson concludes with a reflective homework task where students research and write about a smart home device, reinforcing vocabulary and ideas discussed in class.

View Lesson Outline

Media & Worksheets

Reading Activity

Lesson PDFs

e-lesson Version

Our speaking lessons follow a consistent six-stage structure: warm-up, presentation (with video, images, or reading), controlled practice, free conversation, deeper discussion, and a final homework task to introduce in class.

Lessons come with a printable student worksheet and a teacher version containing notes and answers. For online teaching, we provide an editable Google Slides e-lesson that can be downloaded or exported to PowerPoint.

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

Activity 1: Begin with broad questions about technology in the home, gradually narrowing to the pros and cons of home automation.

Activity 2: In this activity, students will brainstorm vocabulary related to smart homes and home automation.

The presentation material for this lesson is an article about a journalist’s experience living in a house equipped with smart devices.

Activity 3: Students discuss the article's title and images, and attempt to predict its content.

Activity 4: Students will read the article to identify the main ideas and key details, practising skimming and scanning skills.

Activity 5: Students match the words in bold from the article to their definitions on the student handout.

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: Students identify the word or phrase that does not belong in a set of four words and explain their reasoning.

Activity 7: Students will conduct a survey by interviewing each other about which smart home features they would or wouldn’t like to have in their own house.

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

Activity 8: Students discuss multiple-choice questions. The questions have no clear right or wrong answers.

Activity 9: Students will take turns pretending to be experts on different smart devices. Their task is to answer questions from their classmates as if they were knowledgeable professionals.

This stage allows students to explore the lesson’s theme in more depth, tackling complex ideas and expressing their thoughts and opinions on related topics.

Activity 10: Students will discuss a positive news story about how smart homes are improving elderly care, focusing on the impacts and implications of this technology.

Activity 11: Students engage in a structured discussion about privacy concerns related to smart homes, sharing their thoughts, experiences, and opinions.

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: For this homework task, students will research a smart home device or innovation, write a short report summarising its key points, and provide their own opinions on the technology.