Lesson plan. How to live longer

Lesson plan

Author: Agnieszka Gałan
Topic: How to live longer? – extension of vocabulary, reading, speaking and writing practice.
Level: elementary
Language practice: vocabulary connected with healthy lifestyle, modal verb: should – positive and negative expressions.
Time allocated: 90 min. ( 2 × 45 min.)
Web site use: www. longevity.about.com/od/longevitylegends/a/blue_zones.htm
Anticipated problems: vocabulary comprehension.

PROCEDURES

Warming up (8min.)
The teacher shows a few pictures of the old people and explains to the students that there are people who live until 90 or 100. Moreover, they are active, healthy and enthusiastic, despite their old age.
Then the teacher asks the questions to draw Ss’ attention to the subject of the lesson:
- Who is the oldest person you know? How old is she/ he?
- What do you know about his/ her life?
- Why do you think they have lived so long?

The teacher helps Ss with vocabulary and checks pronunciation. He/ she puts elicited answers to the board.

Presentation
The teacher introduces vocabulary connected with the lesson.

Task 1. (10min.)
Teacher: Match a verb with the appropriate lifestyle noun or phrase.
ex. drink plenty of mineral water,

drink a low- calorie diet
give up fruit, vegetables and grains
eat optimistic
eat smoking
eat weight
be dark chocolate
do plenty of mineral water
do friends
do yoga
avoid excercises
have a strong network of advisers/ friends/ doctors
lose fatty food
meet the things you enjoy

While the students are doing this, the teacher is going round the class and monitoring Ss work, helping them if nacessary. Then the students compare the task with their partners.
Finally, the teacher asks chosen students to read the task aloud. He/ she provides feedback.

Task 2. (15min.)
Teacher: Go to web site: www. longevity.about.com/od/longevitylegends/a/blue_zones.htm.
Read the text: ” Blue Zones- Longevity Legends and Peoples” and find the information about:
- What is ” Blue Zones”?
- Which people ( tribes) are included in ” Blue Zones”?
- What is a longevity?
The teacher asks the random students to answer the questions and checks pronunciation.
The students also show the places connected with the text on the map; Japan, Pakistan, Ecuador and Georgia- country in former the Soviet Union).

Task 3. (15 min.)
Teacher: Read the text again and complete the True or False task. Write T or F in the gap.

1. In the ”Blue Zones” regions only young people are active and energetic. ..................
2. The Okinawans live longer and healthier because they secret is the cultural practice of Hari Hachi Bu. .....................
3. The Hunza people live until 90 in good health because they eat a high- calorie diet. ..........
4. In the southern region of Ecuador, some people attribute longevity to the natural mineral water. .........................
5. The secrets of longevity among ” Blue Zones” people lie in healthy diet, physical activity, and a positive attitude about aging. .............................

The teacher checks the task. One student reads one sentence. Then he/ she asks
the students an additional question, summing up the task:
- Why do you think, these people have lived so long?
The students list 6 healthy reasons of longevity.
They write down their ideas on the board. The teacher disscuses with the students. She/ he helps them with vocabulary, checks pronunciation and spelling.

Practice

Task 1. (8min)
Teacher: Read the article about the lifestyle on the island of Okinawa in Japan. Complete
the text with vocabulary in the box.

a strong network of friends,
slim,
a low- calorie diet,
stressful,
fruit and vegetables
healthy,
dancing, walking and gardening

How not to die before you get old.

Chiako is active and healthy. She gets up at 7 am every day, walks and plays gate-ball with her friends. Chiako is 102 years old. She is not alone – there are hundreds of................
old people who lead similar lives in Okinawa.
The Okinawans manage to stay.....................in old age by eating ...................................
which consists of three quarters plant food and one quarter animal food. They eat plenty
of........................................every day and stop eating when they are 80% full.
They also keep active by...................., ............................and........................
In other words they do things they enjoy.
The Okinawans deal with.......................... situations. Nobody is in a hurry, and there is always tomorrow.
The Okinawans have ........................................ When someone is ill and doesn’t come to work, a neighbour will always knock on the door to find out how they are.
There’s no magic pill. If you have good friends, and a stress- free lifestyle, you will live longer. It’s simple as that!

The teacher monitors the students work. Then Ss compare their answers with their partners.
The teacher asks chosen students to read the task aloud. He/ she provides feedback.

Task 2. (15min)
Teacher: How different is your lifestyle from the one discribed on Okinawa? Write down
3 differences.
ex.They drink plenty of mineral water, I drink coca-cola.

The teacher asks Ss to read the task aloud and puts their answers on the board.

Production

Task 1. (8min)
Teacher: Create your own recipe on longevity. You can use expressions from the previous exercises. Complete the table:
ex. I should sleep 8 hours a night.
I should not drink energy drinks.

I should I should not
1.
2.
3.

The teacher monitors the students work, helping them when necessary. Then the teacher asks random students to present their recipies, and checks pronunciation when necessary.

Assigning homework (7 min)
The teacher demonstrates some poster’s ideas on the board and asks the students to make
a poster under the title: ”How not to die before you get old?”