Category: Class

Cuddlers Help Babies

B1 – Intermediate

Cuddling has loads of benefits on people, including newborn babies. Cuddlers are very helpful in hospitals’ neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Newborn babies need to be taken care of and cuddled, but parents are not allowed to stay there 24/7. And the NICU staff could only do it so much.

So a hospital in Chicago, USA thought of having people to volunteer to cuddle babies in the NICU.

Listen to this audio and read the transcript about the volunteer cuddler program at an American medical center.

Listen to this audio and read the transcript about the volunteer cuddler program at an American medical center.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/cuddlers-help-babies-level-1/

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are your thoughts on the volunteer cuddler program?
  2. What are the benefits of cuddling a baby/a person?
  3. Would you like to be a volunteer cuddler? Why or why not?

Young People Lose Hearing

B1 – Intermediate

What would the world be without music? Well, what would your world be without any sound? Or how would it be like if you couldn’t hear quite well?

According to studies, young people’s sense of hearing are getting worse. This could be because the volume on their headphones is too high or the sound at bars or clubs or concerts they go to is too loud.

Listen to this audio and read the transcript about how more and more young people are having problems hearing well.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/young-people-lose-hearing-level-1/

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your reaction to this news?
  2. What are the reasons people’s sense of hearing is deteriorating? 
  3. What do you think about loud noises/music/places/people?
  4. What is your favorite sound and why?
  5. What would you do if or how would you feel if you had lost your ability to hear properly?

Smart Plaster

B1 – Intermediate

Waiting for a wound to heal could be a little stressful. But taking the plaster off to check it every so often isn’t a good thing.

So, three Polish students thought it would be a good idea to invent a plaster that has a sensor. This tells you and your doctor exactly how the would is healing.

Listen to this audio and read the transcript about smart plaster.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/a-smart-plaster-level-1/

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your opinion about this smart plaster?
  2. What do you think could be the good and bad things about the smart plaster?
  3. Would you be interested to use this plaster? Why or why not?

Hygiene Poverty

B1 – Intermediate

In the UK, more and more people can no longer afford to buy basic hygiene products like soap, deodorant, toothpaste, and others.

This is mainly due to the constant increase in the cost of living.

Read the lesson on hygiene poverty and be ready to answer the questions that follow.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2211/221107-hygiene-poverty-4.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your reaction to this, “Millions of people can no longer afford essential hygiene products.”?
  2. In your opinion, how serious is this “crisis”?
  3. How important is proper hygiene?
  4. What are the effects of hygiene poverty on people?
  5. Are hygiene banks necessary? Why or why not?
  6. What are other things people can no longer buy or do because of inflation?

Developing a Growth Mindset

B2 – Upper Intermediate

People have polar opposite reactions when they are confronted with a difficult challenge.

Some tend to react to it in a positive way and think it’s a great opportunity to learn. And then, there are those who instantly think that it is nothing but a test to shake their core intelligence.

Watch the video about the difference between the growth mindset and the fixed mindset perspective.

Discussion Questions:

  1. How do you normally react to a challenge? How do you take on difficult challenges?
  2. What are the benefits of growth mindsets?
  3. What are ways to develop a growth mindset?
  4. How does growth mindset affect people?
  5. What else do you want to learn at this point?

Grit: Passion and Perseverance

B2 – Upper Intermediate

If one is put in a situation where they have to go after an impossible dream, how do they keep pushing through?

In the face of very challenging situations, how can one say they are successful? What might have been the key factors to this success? Is it their stamina to keep going or their innate talent?

Watch the video about grit or the power of passion and perseverance.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Share your thoughts on this statement, “Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
  2. What is your opinion on this, “Grit is unrelated to talent.”?
  3. Talk about your biggest professional challenge. What did you learn from the experience?
  4. Share about a goal that you’ve worked toward, personally or professionally and how you got there/you’re getting there?
  5. How do you decide if and when to stop pursuing a goal?

Draw Electrical Wires with Conductive Paint

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Liquids and electricity are probably the last thing you’d think you could pair up. 

Bare Conducive has created a paint that conducts electricity.

Watch the video about conductive paint.

https://mashable.com/video/conductive-paint-studio-london

Discussion Questions:

  1. Describe the conductive paint. What are its good and bad points?
  2. What are your thoughts on this 
  3. Which groups do you think could benefit the most with these bare conductives?
  4. Would you be interested to use this paint? Why or why not?

Effort Matters More than Talent

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Effort involves hard-work and perseverance, while talent comprises of abilities and skills.

One can say that talent beats hard work. People who persevere in reaching their dreams are overpowered by those who have the innate skills already.

However, as time passes by, effort can be more powerful than talent.

Watch this video on why effort matters more than talent from the link below.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Does effort really matter more than talent?
  2. What can you say with “talent counts but effort counts twice”?
  3. How were you able to get your job? Is it through effort or talent? Explain further.
  4. At this moment, which do you think matters more? Effort or talent? Why?

Brain is Wired for Negative Thoughts

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Have you ever noticed that whenever you do something, you tend to focus a lot more on the negative things?

Although this is useful in helping us solve problems, it can also be a burden.

As an example, if you got a new shirt and wore it, if one person were to say something bad about it, you would probably focus more on that negative instead of the positive feedback.

This is called the negativity bias, but why does it happen? And what is the extent of this bias?

To find out more, let’s watch this video.

Discussion Questions:

  1. How has negativity bias affected your life?
  2. What are other ways to lessen the effects of negativity bias?
  3. What do you think of negativity bias? Is it mostly good or is it mostly bad?

Buy Nothing Day and Stop Over-Consumption

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Will you accept the challenge of buying fewer things?

Look at a popular online magazine headline and talk about your shopping habits and how they could influence your life and our planet.

Greenpeace campaigner Bonnie Tang said: “Hong Kongers love buying clothes and, apparently, throwing them away as well. At the rate they are entering our landfills we have to wonder why they are buying so many outfits only to throw them into trash bins. This level of wasteful consumption is ultimately a heavy burden on the environment.”

A Greenpeace study on the amount of textiles discarded in Hong Kong over the past 10 years found that the weight of discarded clothing averaged 100,000 tonnes annually. Although the amount of clothes being thrown away remains high, the government fails to collect and provide statistics on the environmental costs of public consumption or wastage of clothing.

“The issue of clothing waste has many mini-solutions including recycling, upcycling, and donation, however the thread that is woven throughout this issue is overconsumption,” Tang added. “Overconsumption is fueled by consumer demand and met all too enthusiastically by the fast fashion industry.”

Greenpeace calls on the Hong Kong public to acknowledge the impact that high consumption levels have on the environment. Consumers are urged to reduce unnecessary spending and adopt more environmentally-friendly consumption habits, such as buying clothes made from non-toxic materials, wearing second-hand clothes, repairing worn clothes, and not discarding old clothes.

Facts retrieved from https://www.greenpeace.org/

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you have a lot of clothes or do you have a small wardrobe?
  2.  What can people do to minimize the negative effect of their shopping habits?
  3.  Have you ever thought about changing your shopping habits?