How I Stay Healthy A2 - Activity 4

How I Stay Healthy A2 – Activity 4

Aim of Activity

20 minutes

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

Steps for Students

Click the link: Activity 4

Watch the video and answer the three 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.

Click the link: Activity 4

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 three times to ask comprehension questions. Give students time to answer the questions in pairs. Q3 calls for a discussion. Encourage students to share their opinions.
📍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 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.

1. Which of these problems does the girl mention in the video? 📍She is sad / stressed / tired / ugly / too fat.

2. ‘I’m just having a really hard time.’

3. What message did she send and why? 📍I’m depressed.