Exact Instructions Challenge (no-prep lesson plan)
You can’t legitimately torture children… unless you’re a parent and it’s for the social media, it seems. At least that’s what you could think after watching Josh Darnit and his children – especially the videos on exact challenges. However, I don’t want to use his videos to write about children cruelty. I want to share one of his videos (probably the most famous one) and show you how you can use it in the classroom.
Lesson: Exact Instructions Challenge
Time: 45 mins
Age: 8+
Level: A1+
Areas covered: instructions, language precision
Introduction (10 mins)
Introduce the topic of instructions – revise how we create the sentence structure etc. Then make a short brainstorming session on instructions and their complexity: where do we most often encounter instructions (e.g. English coursebook, app manual, medication leaflet etc.) and which are the most difficult to understand – and why?
Then explain that you are going to watch a video showing how important precision is when it comes to instructing, and then your students are going to make their own instructions and test them!
Watching the video (10 mins)
Probably the most popular video by Josh Darnit is the one where he makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches following to the word instructions written by his children:
Sometimes I believe he’s unnecessarily cruel – but it’s something you can discuss with your students. What do they think about the video? Do they find the father being too meticulous? Or maybe they see the whole thing as a hilarious exercise in being precise? Whatever they say, it’s the time for them to make their own challenges!
Writing the instruction (10 mins)
You can divide the class into groups or pairs and ask them to write step-by-step instructions for a casual and simple activity that may be performed in the classroom (packing one’s things, making a note, cleaning the board etc.) – you can think of it together, or each group makes their own set of instructions in secret.
Testing (10 mins)
Mix the students in the groups and ask them to perform the activity following exactly the instructions given. It will be easier if the topic was common for all groups, but if the person performing doesn’t know what’s the final result of the performance, it may be really funny.
Summary (5 mins)
Sum up the lesson by saying how important precision in communication is – ask your students what caused them the biggest problem while creating their instructions. For homework you can ask your students to write a short instruction for making scrambled eggs or (why not?) a new English exercise!
Enjoy!
