2025-09-11 Life’s Simple Pleasures: What Makes You Happy?

Lesson Overview:

• Target Audience: CEFR B1 Japanese Adults (Middle-aged/Older), mixed returning/new.
• Time: 90 minutes
• Topic: Discussing and ranking simple, everyday things that bring joy.
• Main Goal: To enable students to confidently discuss personal preferences, justify their opinions, and negotiate with partners to reach a group consensus using appropriate B1-level vocabulary and discourse strategies.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• Express and justify opinions on the importance of various “simple pleasures.”
• Use target vocabulary related to feelings and satisfaction in conversation.
• Practice discourse strategies for agreeing, disagreeing politely, and negotiating to form a group ranking.
• Present their group’s final choices and reasoning to the class.

Target Language:

• Focus: Vocabulary for expressing feelings, phrases for ranking and negotiation.
• Phrases/Vocabulary: (These are B1 level words that expand on basic “happy/good” vocabulary)
  • Satisfying (adj.): Making you feel pleased by providing what you need or want.
  • Nostalgic (adj.): Feeling happy and also slightly sad when you think about things that happened in the past.
  • Refreshing (adj.): Making you feel less tired and giving you new energy.
  • “We ranked this as number one because…”
  • “For us, [X] is more important than [Y] since…”
  • “That’s a good point, but have we considered…?”

Materials:

• Whiteboard & Markers
• Projector & Computer
• Obsidian Slides (see outline below)
• Handout: “Simple Pleasures Ranking Sheet” (one per student)
• Small pieces of paper & pens for Exit Tickets

Lesson Procedure:

Getting Started (Warm-up) (10 minutes):

• Purpose: To activate students’ personal connection to the topic in a low-pressure way.
• Activity: Think, Pair, Share
  1. Think (1 min): Project the question: “What is one small, simple thing that made you happy this week?” Ask students to think about their answer silently.
  2. Pair (4 mins): Put students in pairs. They take turns sharing their “simple pleasure” from the week and asking their partner one follow-up question.
  3. Share (5 mins): Ask for 3-4 volunteers to briefly share their partner’s story with the class (e.g., “Keiko-san said that seeing the beautiful hydrangeas in her garden made her happy.”) This encourages active listening.
• CCQs: “Are you talking about a big or small thing?” (Small). “Do you share your own story or your partner’s story with the class?” (My partner’s). “How many volunteers will we ask?” (3 or 4).

Introducing the Topic/Language Focus (10 minutes):

• Purpose: Introduce the lesson theme and pre-teach key B1 vocabulary and phrases to support the main activity.
• Activity: Vocabulary & Phrase Preview
  1. Introduce the lesson title: “Life’s Simple Pleasures.” Briefly explain it means “small, everyday things that bring us joy but don’t cost much money.”
  2. Use the Obsidian slides to introduce the target vocabulary: satisfying, nostalgic, refreshing. For each word, show the word, then the definition and a clear example sentence. Elicit or provide another example.
  3. Introduce the key phrases for ranking and negotiation on another slide. Model the pronunciation.
  4. Distribute the “Simple Pleasures Ranking Sheet” handout. Explain that it has the vocabulary, phrases, and a list of simple pleasures they will use in the main activity.
• CCQs: “What does ‘nostalgic’ mean? Happy about the past?” (Yes). “Will you use these phrases in the next activity?” (Yes). “Is the list of pleasures on the handout?” (Yes).

Let’s Talk! (Main Activities) (45 minutes):

• Purpose: Provide structured, extended practice for students to use the target language to negotiate and justify opinions in two different group configurations.
• Activity 1: First Ranking (25 minutes)
  1. Put students into groups of three.
  2. Explain the task: “Look at the list of 15 simple pleasures on your handout. As a group, you must first discuss and choose your Top 7.”
  3. “After you agree on your Top 7, you must then rank your Top 3, from #1 to #3. You must all agree on the final ranking.”
  4. “Use the ‘Useful Phrases’ on your handout to help you discuss. One person should write down the group’s final Top 3.”
  5. Circulate and monitor, providing support and taking notes for delayed error correction.
• CCQs for Activity 1: “Are you working alone or in a group?” (In a group). “First, how many items do you choose?” (Seven). “Then, how many do you rank?” (Three). “Does one person need to agree, or everyone?” (Everyone).
• Activity 2: Mix & Re-Rank (20 minutes)
  1. Ask students to stand up. Re-form them into new groups of three or four. Ensure they are with new partners.
  2. Explain the new task: “First, take turns sharing your previous group’s Top 3 ranking and explain the reason for your #1 choice.”
  3. “Next, as a new group, you must discuss everyone’s ideas and create one FINAL Top 3 ranking. This might be the same or different from your first list. Everyone must agree.”
  4. “Choose one person in your group to be the presenter. They will share your final #1 choice and the main reason with the class.”
• CCQs for Activity 2: “Are you in your old group or a new group?” (A new group). “What do you do first?” (Share our old group’s Top 3). “What do you do next?” (Make a new Top 3 list). “Will one person present at the end?” (Yes).

Wrapping Up (Presentations & Feedback) (25 minutes):

• Purpose: Consolidate learning through sharing, apply error correction, and gather feedback.
• Activities:
  1. Group Presentations (15 mins): Go group by group. Ask the presenter from each group to stand up and share their final #1 simple pleasure and the main reason why they chose it. Keep presentations to about 2-3 minutes each. Applaud each group.
  2. Error Correction Slot (5 mins): Briefly write 3-4 anonymized sentences on the board that you heard during the activities, containing common B1-level errors (e.g., misuse of target vocab, common grammatical slips). Ask the class to correct them together.
  3. Final Q&A (2 mins): Ask if anyone has any questions about today’s vocabulary or activities.
  4. Exit Ticket (3 mins): Distribute the paper slips for the Exit Ticket questions.