PUNS FOR THE TIME OF A PANDEMIC – A FREE ONLINE LESSON (PHRASAL VERBS)

We’re living in curious and uncertain times, but there’s no reason not to benefit from the wealth of coronavirus-inspired puns out there.

I’ve prepared a short online lesson you can use with your B2 (or higher) students. The graphics I used all come from The Language Nerds Facebook page.

How I’d do it

• Slide 1: Students explain the pun. Teacher elicits the focus of the lesson (puns/phrasal verbs).
• Slide 2: Students work in pairs or small groups. They click on the link, which takes them to an interactive presentation. They explain the jokes. If they don’t know the meaning of any of the phrasal verbs, the interactive button takes them to a dictionary entry they can study. Teacher collects feedback.
• Slide 3: In pairs or small groups, students discuss the questions. Teacher asks follow-up questions / collects feedback in open class.
• Slide 4: Students work individually and complete the gapped sentences.
• Slide 5: Again in pairs or small groups, students create stories beginning with one of the sentences given. They can choose the beginning they like the most, or they can be assigned one. They need to use all the phrasal verbs from the previous task (in any order they want). Students share their stories with the group. Teacher provides feedback.

Materials

Click here for a view-only version of the lesson.

Click here for an editable version of the lesson.

Click here to download an interactive PDF.

You can also use this Quizlet set as a follow-up.