Lesson Plan: "You Can Only Choose 2..." (Speaking & Mediation)

Lesson Plan: "You Can Only Choose 2..." 

Speaking & Negotiation

Level: 1º/2º Bachillerato (B1–B2) 

Duration: 55 minutes 

Skill focus: Speaking (justifying opinions, negotiating, agreeing/disagreeing) 

Materials: Slide deck (@teachingteacup), whiteboard, functional language handout (below)

Aims

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

• Justify a personal choice using appropriate functional language (B1–B2 level)
• Negotiate and reach agreement in pairs/small groups
• Agree and disagree politely, and defend a position under mild challenge
• Produce a short spoken or written argument with reasons and examples

Lesson Stages

1. Lead-in (5 minutes)

Write on the board: "If you could only keep two things in your life, what would they be — and why?" Take 2–3 quick answers from the class to activate interest and set the tone. Don't over-explain — let curiosity do the work.

2. Language input (8 minutes)

Hand out or project a short functional language box (see below). Drill pronunciation of 2–3 key phrases chorally, then elicit examples from students using the categories they'll see shortly (e.g. pizzas, cats, keys) so the language is primed before they need it.

Justifying a choice

• I'd go for... because...
• What really matters to me is...
• The main reason I'd choose this is...

Negotiating / disagreeing politely

• I see your point, but...
• I'm not so sure about that — what about...?
• Fair enough, but don't you think...?

Reaching agreement

• OK, let's go with...
• How about we compromise on...?
• I can live with that.

3. Main activity — "Choose 2" rounds (30 minutes)

Put students in groups of 3–4. Project or hand out 4–5 slides from the deck (pick a spread — e.g. pizzas, keys, cats, watches, potions — avoid slides needing translation support at this level, they're all fine for B1–B2).

For each round (roughly 5–6 minutes per slide):

1. Individually, students silently pick their own top 2 (30 seconds); this stops the fastest talker dominating.
2. In groups, they must agree on one shared set of 2 for the whole group, using the functional language.
3. One student from each group briefly reports the group's choice and reasoning to the class (30–45 seconds max — keep pace brisk).

Monitoring tip: circulate and note down good language use and errors for delayed correction; don't interrupt the flow of negotiation.

Differentiation:

• Stretch (B2): push for a follow-up challenge question; "Would you still choose that if it cost you X?" to extend the negotiation.
• Support (B1): allow the functional language handout to stay visible throughout; simplify to pair work rather than groups of 4 if needed.

4. Whole-class round-up (7 minutes)

Take a quick class poll on one or two of the categories (show of hands) and briefly debate the most contested one as a whole class. Highlight 2–3 nice pieces of language you heard while monitoring (delayed correction), and 1–2 common errors to correct together on the board.

5. Wrap-up / extension (5 minutes)

Set as a quick write or homework task: "Choose one category from today and write a short paragraph (80–100 words) explaining your two final choices and why." This transfers the spoken language into writing and gives you an assessable output.

Assessment / Evidence of Learning

• Informal monitoring of functional language use during negotiation (checklist or notes)
• Quality and fluency of the spoken justification during reporting-back
• Short written paragraph (optional collection) as a formative writing sample

Notes for Adaptation

• The deck has 22 categories — this plan uses only a handful, so it can be reused across several lessons without repetition.
• For a CLIL or cross-curricular twist, categories like keys, watches, or potions work well as a springboard into ethics/philosophy or science discussions in Bachillerato.