Body Image – Vocabulary Activities

Aim:	To practice words related to body image and appearance
Interaction:	Individually or in groups
Exercise type:	Filling in the gaps, constructing sentences
Language:	B2 or C1
Time:	15-20  minutes
Materials:	Handouts, an electronic device to reproduce a youtube video

Previously, I posted an activity based on the Illusionist trailer (Kick Me Vocabulary Game – Words to talk about body image and appearance). No need to mention that  I like the trailer and the movie a lot, so much actually that I have developed two more activities based on it. One of them foocuses on collocations and another one on the sentence structure and word order.

1. Start by showing your student the first 90 seconds of the teaser of The Illusionists film and  ask them to complete the collocations in their handout.

You may choose to do an introductory activity to encourage your students to brainstorm the topic and the related vocabulary. Some ideas for the introductory activities for this trailer can be found in the post Kick Me Vocabulary Game – Words to talk about body image and appearance (will open in a new tab/window).

The _____________________ of the body

The ____________ of _______ beauty

The_________ that corporations have on our ________ of ourselves

To ____________ people’s insecurities about their bodies for profit

The ________ with  __________________ beauty is as old as time

The ________ of the ________ body has _______ the central role

75% of “normal” weight women think they are __________

The ________ of body dissatisfaction around the world

90% of women ________ their body size

Our culture’s ___________ ________ physical appearance

The _________ impact our __________________ culture has on women

An interactive online activity is available here Vocabulary – Body Image

Vocabulary workshop body image and appearance

 

Here are the answers: 

1. the commodification of the human body
2. the marketing of unattainable beauty around the world
3. the influence that corporations have on our perception of ourselves
4. to manipulate people’s insecurities about their bodies for profit
5. the pursuit of the perfect beauty has taken the central role
6. 75% of “normal” weight women think they are overweight
7. The epidemic of body dissatisfaction around the world 
8. 90% of women overestimate their body size
9. Our culture’s obsession with physical appearance 
10. The alarming impact our celebrity-obsessed culture has on women.

Make sure that everybody understands all the vocabulary from the previous activity. Provide clarification if one or more of your students are not sure about the meaning of some words or phrases.

Distribute the handout with a chart below.  The students can work individually or in groups.

Instruct the students that they need to arrange the words in each of the lines to make sentences. Remind your students about the word order in an English sentence [the subject always goes before the verb and adjectives go before the nouns that they describe (we say Happy Birthday not Birthday Happy J )]

Tell the students that there is a hint for them:  a capitalized word in each line is the first word of a sentence.

The students need to write their sentences in the space provided in each line.

1.    as  property    Commodification    body   human   treating   means   of   the   a person

2.     models      Runway     set     standards      beauty    unattainable

3.     beauty    perceptions   of    our    Magazines    influence  TV    and

4.     about    Many   bodies   teenagers   insecurities   have  their

5.     new   nothing   is   A preoccupation    beauty physical  with

6.     price    The pursuit   has    of   a  high  price   the   body   perfect

7.     develop    problems   people   Overweight   can  health  various

Both handouts with instructions for the students can be downloaded here: Body image and appearance vocabulary activities

Previously,  I also shared several ideas for speaking activities on fashion and appearance which can be found here and two activities and a matching game on adjectives to describe personality and appearance which can be found here.

Have fun learning and leading in the classroom!

Kick Me Vocabulary Game – Words to talk about body image and appearance

Aim:	To practice words related to body image and appearance
Interaction:	Whole class (any, preferably at least 3)
Exercise type:	Matching, filling in the gaps
Language:	B2 or C1
Time:	15-20  minutes
Materials:	Post-it notes or strips of paper with tape; a handout  with a chart for each of the students

Since the majority of the words that are used in the exercise can be found in the first 90 seconds of the Illusionists trailer, you may choose to do an introductory activity to familiarize your students with the vocabulary.

An Introductory Activity

Show your students the first 90 seconds of a very short teaser of the Illusionists film:

Ask the students the following questions before starting the activity:

• What do you think the film is about?
• Do you think the film approves of cosmetic surgery for vanity?
• What alarming statistics are mentioned in the teaser?
• 
• What do these numbers refer to: 
• Would you consider undergoing a plastic surgery just to change your appearance? 
• Do you know someone who has undergone a cosmetic surgery? 
• Could you name some arguments in favor and against plastic surgeries? 

Preparing for the Activity

1. Take 12 post-it notes and write the following words on them. Write each word on a separate post-it note:

Celebrity-obsessed

Unattainable

Perception

Overweight

Overestimate

Commodification

Repugnant

Rebellious

Prejudice

Epidemic

Pursuit

To take the central role

You can also use strips of paper and tape instead of post-it notes.

2. Stick a post-it note to the back of each of the students without telling your students which word they have. If you have less than 12 students, some students may end up with two post-it notes on their backs.

Alternatively, if you have very few students  (3 or 4),  you can choose to hide words around the classroom (under the chairs, under the desks) or stick them on the walls around the classroom. If you choose this option, then in the third column of the handout the students will need to write down the name of the object on which they found the word and its location in the classroom.

If you have more than 12 students, then repeat some of the words, so that each of the students has a post-it note on their backs.

3. Give each student a handout with a chart.

If you have a very large classroom, you may choose to give one handout for two or three students and allow them to work in a group.

 Activity

1. Each of the students needs to walk around the classroom, looking at the backs of other students and the words that they have.

Remind the students that they are allowed to communicate only in English.

2. Once a student finds on someone’s back a word that fits one of the gaps in the chart, the student writes down this word and the name of the student who is wearing this word.

3. The first student to complete the chart correctly wins and gets an extra point.

4. If you have several students filling in one handout, then the group that fills in their handout first wins.

The handout and the explanation can be downloaded here: Body image and appearance Kick Me Vocabulary Game

 

 

Previously,  I also shared several ideas for speaking activities on fashion and appearance which can be found here and two activities and a matching game on adjectives to describe personality and appearance which can be found here.