Materials

This page is a “hub” where we collect links to posts and sites sharing lesson plans and classroom materials. A lot of these are categorised by topic (e.g. World Environment Day or Diet) and you will see a link to another page with a list of lesson plans and materials from a variety of sources.
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  • NEW Earth Day April 22: a collection of links and resources for Earth Day and every day! 
  • We love our planet: a series of blog posts on the National Geographic Learning site where Katherine Bilsborough shares ideas for creative mini-project lesson plans that encourage learners to take an interest in aspects of nature. The series will motivate learners to feel wonder, respect, and love for the natural world. Learners will develop traditional skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening and 21st-century life skills to help them grow into responsible citizens.  
  • A page with lessons and links to use for Buy Nothing Day (Black Friday)
  • A lesson from Owain Llewelyn on the ELT Sustainable blog for Halloween: Green is the new orange – a speaking lesson featuring a video and an infographic where the students write a guide to a more environmentally-friendly Halloween. You can also see the infographic here .
  • WIP Eco-heroes – stories about individuals who are making a difference in various corners of the world. Includes lesson ideas on Greta Thunberg and video clips of eco initiatives from various different countries.
  • World Food Day on October 19 – a lesson from the ELT Sustainable blog for teenagers and adults B1 and above.
  • Climate Strike September 20 – 27 – 2019- follow the link to a list of resources and classroom ideas associated with the week of climate action.
  • Plastic Bag Free Day July 3 – follow the link to the home page of the Plastic Bag Free organisation and this link to an interactive article and lesson on the British Council’s Learn English Teens site
  • Plastic Free July – follow the link to a lesson by Owain Llewelyn on the ELT Sustainable blog.
  • World Environment Day June 5 – follow the link to find a list of lesson plans, materials and resources to use on June 5
  • World Oceans Day June 8 – follow the link to find a list of lesson plans, materials and resources to use on June 8
  • Nature Photography Day June 15 – this is a link to a lesson by Kate Cory-Wright for the British Council Learning English site. Encouraging students to appreciate the beauty of the natural world.
  • Clean Air Day is celebrated in the UK on June 20. Since 2018 it is also celebrated in Europe . Here is a link to a lesson by Owain Llewelyn on the ELT Sustainable site.
  • Appreciating Nature – follow the link to find a list of lesson plans, materials and resources aimed at nurturing and giving a voice to the appreciation of nature.
  • The World’s Largest Lesson – materials and lesson plans based on the UN’s Global Goals for Sustainability.
  • Integrating global issues in the creative English classroom – a free publication with ELT lesson plans linked to the UN’s Global Goals for Sustainable Development (see above).
  • Project-based learning: some ideas for ecoTEFL – a blog post by Christopher Graham outlining a template for action-based projects in the classroom.
  • e-waste video – video (with subtitles) about the amount of e-waste we generate each year (World Economic Forum)
  • ELT sustainable – a website with Environmental English lessons for special days. It’s written by Owain Llewelyn. (see also Useful Links).
  • Climate crisis integrated skills lesson – video-based lesson for teenagers or adults (B2 and above).
  •  The online magazine at the British Council site, Learn English, curated by Jo Budden, has a number of articles on environmental issues and special days.
  • Diet and its impact on the environment – a page with resources and links on the topic of food and diet
  • Summer of Compassion: Kids’ Activity Calendar to Inspire Kindness to Animals – ideas for projects over the summer (also winter) break
  •  The Recycling Quiz – a project-based lesson for YLs by Anita Demitroff, which also featured in our first guest blog post.
  • Cutting our fashion footprinta collection of links to lesson plans, lesson materials and videos on the topic of fast fashion with a special focus on t-shirts
  • Festival footprintsa collection of resources and lesson ideas on the topic of music festivals and their footprints
  • A pack of classroom materials about saving bees to use with younger learners from the Friends of the Earth website.
  • Presenting data on the climate emergency – this lesson is on the website freeed.com – you need to log on, but the site is free and all materials are open source (thanks to Myles Klynhout for sharing)on the 
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