ESL Discussion: Trump’s First Day in Office

I am so happy to have found this video which breaks down some of the major executive orders from Donald Trump on his (second) first day as president. Big shout out to NBC Chicago!

Even if you don’t plan to discuss this with your students, I definitely suggest watching the video as it is very informative and presented with zero bias and a neutral tone.

Here are my suggestions for your discussion class:

1. Warm-up question(s): “What executive order would you announce on your first day as president?” or “Name one thing you think Donald Trump announced in his record-breaking day of executive order announcements.” Compile a list and then watch the video.
2. Watch the video: Watch the video once without any subtitles. Compare the list you created with your students with what was said in the video without getting into discussions.
3. Present the vocabulary to your students and answer any questions.
4. Watch the video again (this time, you can use subtitles).
5. Break into pairs to answer the listening comprehension questions. There is an extra instruction for this worksheet: “Watch the video and answer the questions with a partner. Then, discuss with your partner which of these executive orders you agree with or disagree with and why.” Walk around the room or pop from breakout room to breakout room to collect errors for delayed error correction (DEC).
6. Break into new pairs to do the speaking activity. Walk around the room or pop from breakout room to breakout room to collect errors for DEC.
7. Break the students into groups of 3-4 to do the group activity. You do not need to collect errors.
8. Have groups present their executive orders by scenario. Other groups have the right to ask one question to the group about their executive order.
9. Vote on the best, worst, funniest etc. executive order for each scenario.
10. Spend some time doing the delayed error correction with your students.

Usually our discussion worksheets are designed for a minimum 90-minute conversation class. This one could easily be stretched to 2 hours if you take the time to oblige groups to ask questions during the group activity presentation period.

I think this is going to give you a very special conversation!