How I Stay Healthy B1 - Activity 4

How I Stay Healthy B1 – Activity 4

Aim of Activity

30 minutes

To increase students’ awareness of mental health problems that teenagers may experience, develop their listening and speaking skills within the context of mental health issues among teenagers, and provide further practice for the target language (If statements) in the context of giving advice about depression.

Steps for Students

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Watch the video and answer the six questions.
In small groups, think of what advice you would give to teenagers who suffer from depression. Think of what you could do to help them.

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This activity aims to sensitise students to the issue of mental health problems. Students will also have opportunity to discuss the issue as a whole class and think of ‘If’ sentences to advise teenagers about what they can do if they suffer from depression.

📍Start the lesson by asking students how strongly they feel about having a healthy mind, not just a healthy body. Elicit what problems teenagers may have in terms of mental health.
Prepare students for watching the video by explaining that it has a rather powerful content.
Play the video. As students are watching, the video will stop six times to ask comprehension questions. Each question starts with If/When. Give students time to answer the questions in pairs. Get students to share their ideas with the whole class. Accept different answers as long as the If statements are grammatically correct. Encourage students to paraphrase what they hear in order to complete the If statements.
📍As a follow up, regroup students and get them to think of what advice they could give to teen students who suffer from mental health issues and how they think they could help them. Encourage students to use the ideas from the video. If needed play the video again.

📍Encourage students to use the target language (If you ….) but give students the flexibility and freedom to use whatever language they want- the aim is to get students to speak, not to force them into using specific forms.

If you see a friend or a classmate struggling with depression, it could be really overwhelming.
📍accept different answers, let students paraphrase the text
If you see something, say something.
When your friend is struggling with depression, the best thing for you to do is to be supportive.
If your friend gets treatment earlier, it will lead to better outcomes/ help your friend better/ etc.
📍accept different answers, let students paraphrase the text but make sure they use ‘it will’ to start the clause.
If you notice someone struggling, talk with them.
If a mental illness touches you, talk about it and share your experiences with someone you trust.
📍accept different answers, let students paraphrase the text