(Almost) all ESL coursebooks start with a lesson on the Present Simple, usually centred around the daily routines of an imaginary person. I was on the prowl to find an interesting video on gym routines when I stumbled upon a short interview with Mark Wahlberg discussing his unusual daily routine instead. The video is authentic, and the way the speakers talk makes it more challenging than reading a typical text about someone’s ✨normal✨ daily habits.
Whether you teach a brand new group or one of your old ones, it could be a good idea to refresh this classic lesson while putting a little twist on it. My bigger ambition is to change this plan altogether and focus completely on describing the gym routine, instead of talking about daily routines, but unfortunately, this has to wait until I find the perfect video or article. At the moment, this has to suffice – a Present Simple lesson based on an authentic video of a man talking about his crazy daily routine that went viral.
If you think that this spin on a typical Present Simple lesson interests you, go ahead and download the presentation and the worksheet including the teacher’s notes, available at the end of the post.
This video is old news (from more than four years ago!), so there are chances that your students have heard about it, but hopefully, they have already managed to forget about it. Begin this lesson by saying that you are going to look at the daily routine of a famous actor. At this point, don’t reveal who it is yet, as it may jog some of your students’ memories and ruin the surprise. Students work in pairs and write the missing times next to activities. Obviously, they will know that there is something fishy about that and may try to predict some weird hours, but I think that in general, most students will write the times they think are common for ordinary people. Use the dialogue to have a conversation and compare the answers. Listen to everyone, check their current knowledge of the Present Simple, and start paying attention to any emerging grammar issues.
Once you have compared the answers as a group, announce that you are going to watch the beginning of an interview with Mark Wahlberg. Check if the students know who he is and what he is known for. Watch the first 40 seconds of the video Mark Wahlberg’s Busy Daily Schedule by Live Kelly and Mark and verify the answers. Pause it on the screen with the breakdown of his daily routine and compare the answers. Discuss what students find unusual about his daily routine and why it went viral back in 2019.
Play the rest of the video (0:40 – 2:39) and answer three questions about his habits. These questions will serve in the later part of the class to review the use and the structure of the Present Simple.
- Does Mark shower for an hour and a half every day?
- How many hours of sleep does Mark get every night?
- Do personal trainers want to work with Mark? Why (not)?
Remind them that the listening itself at times may be a bit challenging and the vocabulary may reach level B2, but this shouldn’t stop them from listening to the majority of it and trying to understand the context. In general, the grammar used in the video is basic and centres around Present Simple. Check the answers and write down three sample answers on the board. Underline all the verbs and analyse how they differ depending on the person (singular or plural), and also whether it is an affirmative or a negative sentence, or a question. This lesson serves more as a revision of Present Simple, so I wouldn’t get into too much detail unless it is absolutely necessary.
Practise the use of the Present Simple by showing a few sentences from the listening. Students work individually and fill in the gaps with the verbs in the correct form. Before listening to the video again, compare and discuss the answers in pairs. Play the video once again in its entirety and check the answers.
Finish the class by completing this two-part task. Firstly, students write down six to eight sentences in the first person about their daily routines. Put students into pairs and ask them to present their answers to each other. At the end of this activity, students swap the answers with each other and go to a different partner. They describe their previous partner’s daily routine, making sure to use the correct form of verbs in the third form. Monitor the activity and give appropriate speaking feedback. End the class by discussing students’ daily routines and whether any of their colleagues’ routines surprised them.
Click the links below to get the presentation, the worksheet and the teacher’s notes.
What is your daily routine? Do you know anyone who has got an unusual routine? What do they do?
Thank you Joanna!