Fashion!

Today I officially retired a nice lesson that I am proud of. Seeing as Paris is the capital of fashion and teenagers are always interested, I centered an English lesson around fashion. I am especially proud because my lesson was rather popular, and even went over well in my class today which was six 20 year old boys.

Lesson: Fashion

1. First, I would put the terms Fashion Icon and Fashion Victim on the board. I ask the students if they know what the terms mean, and then ask them to come up with a definition of each word.
Then, I use characteristics that I've found online to enhance the definition of Fashion victim: they wear unflattering trends, go "overboard" on trends, wear has-been trends, and wear age-inappropriate clothes. I kind of explain each of these (unflattering, overboard) and ask them for their own examples.

2. Then, I ask them for celebrities who fit these 2 descriptions, and write those in the respective columns. Then, I have pictures of some celebrities and ask them to help me categorize them. I was always amused, b/c they don't always have the same opinion. The celebs are: Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, The Beckhams (David and Victoria), Pete Wentz, Lady Gaga, Michelle Obama and Rihanna. I think I came up with a few more victims than icons, but whatevs.

3. Then, I ask them to help me write advice on How to Avoid Being a Fashion Victim. This didn't always go as planned, but was important b/c it made them invent in English.

4. Next, I ask them where they get ideas for fashion, and ask them to be specific. Magazines, brands, etc.

5. Lastly, I have them weigh the advantages and disadvantages of being a fashion model. And, I usually finish by asking them to state their opinon: "If a modeling job was offered to you tomorrow, would you take it?" For the most part, I would say 80% of my students said no. I wonder what their american counterparts would say? Would they be so strongly against it too?

There you go, that's my 55 minute lesson plan for fashion, just to give you an idea of what I do. Feel free to use/adapt this plan for yourselves (if you have the outlet).
ps. I always felt the need to be semi well-dressed when I taught this lesson, so my students wouldn't ask themselves why I'm trying to teach them about fashion (haha).