🌱 SEL Connection
Competencies: Self-Management · Responsible Decision-MakingThis lesson introduces students to a simple but important truth: doing two things at the same time usually means doing both things badly. At A2–B1, the goal is practical — students understand the concrete difference between focusing on one thing and trying to do several at once, and develop the language to talk about their own habits and choices.
📚 Cultural Connections (Teacher Only)
The idea that multitasking is efficient and modern is very widespread — it is often presented as a skill to be proud of. This lesson gently challenges that assumption without being prescriptive. The goal is not to tell students they must always do one thing at a time, but to give them the awareness that there is usually a cost — and that they can choose when to pay it. Be sensitive: some students may be managing very complex home environments where doing several things simultaneously is not a choice but a necessity.Teaching Notes
Central idea: When you do two things at the same time, your brain doesn't do both — it switches very quickly between them. Every switch has a cost: you lose time, make more mistakes, and the quality of both tasks goes down. This is the key insight. Keep it concrete and give personal examples.
Key question for the board: "Can you really do two things at the same time — or are you doing one thing, then the other, very fast?" Return to this at the end.
Reading vs Listening — no repetition: The reading ("Two Things at Once") follows Oliver, who tries to do his history essay and watch videos at the same time. Emma shows him what actually happened to both tasks. The listening follows Kate, who is trying to revise for a test, reply to messages, and listen to music simultaneously — her friend Alice helps her see why nothing is getting done.
Lesson Procedure
Listening Script — 'Why Is Nothing Getting Done?'
Kate is trying to revise for a science test, but she is also replying to messages and listening to music. An hour later, she did very little. Her friend Alice helps her work out why. Only the eight permitted grammar structures appear in this dialogue.
Alice
How is the revision going?
Kate
Not well. I sat here for one hour and I only finished one page. I don't understand.
Alice
What were you doing while you were revising?
Kate
I was listening to music. And I was also replying to some messages. But I was still looking at my notes — I can do several things at once.
Alice
Can you? Every time a message came in, what happened?
Kate
I looked at my phone. But only for a second.
Alice
And then what? Did you go back to the same place in your notes immediately?
Kate
No... I lost my place and started again. And sometimes I read the same sentence twice.
Alice
That's the problem. Your brain can't really focus on two things at once. It switches. And every switch takes time and attention.
Kate
So I wasn't actually saving time.
Alice
No. You were losing it. There was a cost every time you switched — and it was adding up. One hour of switching might give you the result of twenty minutes of real focus.
Kate
So what should I do?
Alice
Put your phone in another room. Turn off the music. Set a timer for 25 minutes and only do the revision. Then take a break. You will finish much faster — and you will actually remember what you read.
Kate
That sounds boring.
Alice
It might be. But boring and done is better than interesting and not finished.
Answer Key
H1 Task A: 1–f 2–g 3–b 4–h 5–a 6–c 7–e 8–d 9–i 10–j
H1 Task B: 1. task 2. focus 3. distract 4. at once 5. switch 6. attention 7. mistake 8. finish 9. quality 10. result
H2 Ex 1: 1. Past Continuous 2. Present Simple 3. Modal (should) 4. Modal (might) 5. Past Simple 6. Present Continuous 7. Future Simple 8. There was/were
H2 Ex 2: 1. should 2. can't 3. might 4. must 5. can
H3 T/F: 1T 2F (he was watching videos and writing at the same time) 3T 4F (he went back and rewrote two paragraphs — it took extra time) 5T
H3 Comp 1: He thought he was saving time by doing both at once.
H3 Comp 2: He made mistakes in the essay because he wasn't focused — he went back and rewrote parts, which took more time than if he had worked on one thing at a time.
H4 T/F: 1F (she finished very little — only one page) 2T 3F (Alice says she should put her phone in another room) 4T
H4 Gap Fill: 1. distract 2. switch 3. attention 4. focus 5. quality
H1 Task B: 1. task 2. focus 3. distract 4. at once 5. switch 6. attention 7. mistake 8. finish 9. quality 10. result
H2 Ex 1: 1. Past Continuous 2. Present Simple 3. Modal (should) 4. Modal (might) 5. Past Simple 6. Present Continuous 7. Future Simple 8. There was/were
H2 Ex 2: 1. should 2. can't 3. might 4. must 5. can
H3 T/F: 1T 2F (he was watching videos and writing at the same time) 3T 4F (he went back and rewrote two paragraphs — it took extra time) 5T
H3 Comp 1: He thought he was saving time by doing both at once.
H3 Comp 2: He made mistakes in the essay because he wasn't focused — he went back and rewrote parts, which took more time than if he had worked on one thing at a time.
H4 T/F: 1F (she finished very little — only one page) 2T 3F (Alice says she should put her phone in another room) 4T
H4 Gap Fill: 1. distract 2. switch 3. attention 4. focus 5. quality
Multitasking
SEL · Self-Management · A2–B1 · Student Handouts · 90 min
Name:
Date:
Class:
Handout 1
Vocabulary
Vocabulary💬 Think: Do you ever do two things at the same time while studying? What do you do? Does it help or not?
CEFR Level:
A2
B1
10 Key Words
Task A — Match the Word
Task B — Gap Fill
Word Banktask · focus · distract · finish · switch · mistake · attention · result · quality · at once
1.Oliver had one __________________ : write his history essay. But he was also watching videos.
2.When he turned off the videos, he could finally __________________ on his work.
3.The videos were a big __________________ — every few minutes, he stopped writing to watch.
4.She was trying to do three things __________________ — and doing all of them badly.
5.Every time a message came in, her brain __________________ between the text and her phone — and every time, she lost her place.
6.Because he wasn't fully concentrating, he didn't notice his __________________ until he read the paragraph again.
7.Your __________________ is limited. If you split it between tasks, each task gets less.
8.After two hours, he still could not __________________ either task properly.
9.The __________________ of the essay was poor because he was distracted the whole time he was writing it.
10.The __________________ of trying to do everything at the same time was that nothing was done well.
Handout 2
Grammar
GrammarIn this lesson we use 8 grammar structures to describe what happens when we try to do too many things at once.
Exercise 1 — Identify the Structure
1."He was answering messages while he was trying to revise for the test." → ___________________
2."Your brain switches between tasks — it doesn't really do two things at once." → ___________________
3."You should put your phone away when you are studying." → ___________________
4."Turning off the music might help you focus better." → ___________________
5."She tried to do three tasks at once and didn't finish any of them." → ___________________
6."He is writing the essay and listening to a podcast at the same time." → ___________________
7."If you focus on one task, you will finish it in half the time." → ___________________
8."There was a lot of distraction — she couldn't concentrate on anything." → ___________________
Exercise 2 — Choose the Right Modal
Fill in: should / shouldn't / might / can / must
1.You __________________ try doing one thing at a time — it usually works better.
2.You __________________ study with the TV on. It takes your attention away from the work.
3.Turning off your phone __________________ help you focus — try it for 25 minutes.
4.If you want to do good work, you __________________ give the task your full attention.
5.You __________________ listen to calm background music while you study — some people find it helpful.
Exercise 3 — Write Your Own
1."When I try to do two things at once, _____________________________________________"
2."If I want to focus better, I should ______________________________________________"
3."There is a cost when _________________________________________________________"
Handout 3
Reading
ReadingShort Story · A2–B1
Self-Management · SEL
Two Things at Once
A story about what really happens when you try to do two things at the same time
Oliver had two hours to write his history essay. He sat down at his desk, opened his laptop — and also opened a video. I can do both, he thought. I will write and watch at the same time. I will save time.
Two hours later, Emma came in. "How is the essay going?"
"Almost done," Oliver said. But he wasn't almost done. He was on the third paragraph — the same third paragraph he was writing forty minutes ago.
"Can I look?" Emma asked. She read quietly for a moment. "Oliver. There are two mistakes in this paragraph. And this sentence doesn't make sense — look at it."
Oliver looked. She was right. He was so busy switching between the essay and the video that he didn't notice what he was writing.
"I thought I was saving time," he said.
"You weren't," Emma said. "Every time you looked at the video, your brain switched away from the essay. And every switch takes time. You probably watched about twenty minutes of video — but you lost forty minutes of real attention on the essay. And now you must rewrite two paragraphs."
Oliver closed the video. He set a timer for 45 minutes. He wrote the essay — just the essay. When the timer stopped, he was finished. The quality was much better.
"Without the video, you were done an hour ago," Emma said.
"I know," said Oliver. "I thought multitasking was smart. It isn't."
Task 1 — True or False?
1.Oliver was trying to write his essay and watch a video at the same time.[ T / F ]
2.After two hours, Oliver had almost finished the essay.[ T / F ]
3.Emma found mistakes in Oliver's work.[ T / F ]
4.After closing the video, Oliver still needed two more hours to finish the essay.[ T / F ]
5.At the end, Oliver agrees that multitasking didn't save him time.[ T / F ]
Task 2 — Comprehension Questions
1.Why did Oliver think multitasking was a good idea at the beginning?_______________________________________________________________
2.What were the two problems Emma found with Oliver's essay?______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3.Emma says: "Every switch takes time." What does she mean? Explain in your own words.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Task 3 — Reflect
Oliver said: "I thought multitasking was smart. It isn't."
Do you agree? Think of a time when you tried to do two things at once. What happened to the quality of your work? Would you do it differently now?
Do you agree? Think of a time when you tried to do two things at once. What happened to the quality of your work? Would you do it differently now?
Handout 4
Listening
ListeningKate is trying to revise for a science test, reply to messages, and listen to music — all at the same time. After an hour, she has done very little. Her friend Alice helps her understand why.
First listen: What is Kate's specific problem? Second listen: Complete the tasks below.
First listen: What is Kate's specific problem? Second listen: Complete the tasks below.
Task 1 — True or False?
1.After one hour of studying, Kate had only finished one page of revision.[ T / F ]
2.Every time a message came in, Kate lost her place in her notes and started reading again from an earlier point.[ T / F ]
3.Alice tells Kate she should keep her phone nearby so she doesn't miss messages.[ T / F ]
4.Alice says that one hour of real focus might give better results than one hour of switching.[ T / F ]
Task 2 — Gap Fill
Word Bankdistract · switch · attention · focus · quality
Handout 5
Speaking
SpeakingSELDiscussion Cards
1. Oliver thought multitasking would save him time. Why do people think this? What is the reality, according to the lesson?
2. Alice says: "Boring and done is better than interesting and not finished." Do you agree? Can you give an example from your own life?
3. Are there any tasks where multitasking is okay — where it doesn't reduce the quality? Think of two examples. What makes them different from studying?
4. What do you find most distracting when you are trying to study? What could you do to remove that distraction — at least for a short time?
Return to the Opening Question
At the start: "Can you really do two things at the same time?"
Now that you finished the lesson: what is your answer? And what is the difference between doing two things at once and switching very fast between them?
Now that you finished the lesson: what is your answer? And what is the difference between doing two things at once and switching very fast between them?
🌱 SEL Reflection
Oliver and Kate both believed they were being efficient. They were both wrong — not because they were lazy, but because they didn't understand what multitasking actually does to attention.Your attention is a limited resource. When you split it, each task gets less. The result is usually more time spent and lower quality work.
This doesn't mean you must always be completely silent and phone-free to study. It means: know what you are choosing, and know the cost.
Question to think about: Next time you sit down to study, what is one distraction you could remove — just for 25 minutes?
Handout 6
Writing
WritingSELWriting Task — Choose One
Write 80–100 words. Use at least four vocabulary words from Handout 1. Use at least one modal (should / can / might).
Check: [ ] 80–100 words [ ] 4 vocabulary words [ ] one modal (should / can / might) [ ] clear ending