Free Lesson Plans for Teachers
Life as a Spy

This is one of my free lesson plans for teachers, and its about being a spy J

I would like to dedicate this lesson to my wonderful grandfather, Frank Charles Hunnibell (1917-2010), who worked for the British Secret Service (MI6). He always claimed to have an unimportant role in MI6, merely making the tea for others...but would he ever tell us WHO he made tea for, WHERE he made it, or HOW he made it? No, he did not! He remained true to the Official Secrets Act to the end.

Free Lesson Plan

Have you ever wondered what it must be like to be a spy? Do you think it's still necessary to have spies? Is the life of James Bond anywhere close to reality?

This lesson is based on interviews with 2 people who have admitted to working as spies for their countries. Hank Crumpton, who worked for the CIA, and Mosab Hassan Yousef (The Son of Hamas), who worked for the Shin Bet (the Israeli Secret Service). Listen to the interviews yourself, and decide if they are telling the truth, or if they are telling the full story.....

Free Downloadable Lesson Plan

Level

This is one of my free lesson plans for teachers and is suitable for upper-intermediate, advanced and proficiency students (B2, C1 and C2).

Language Focus

This lesson starts off with some discussion points. There is some vocabulary to learn, that is specific to the world of espionage (for a vocabulary list of words and idioms without the lesson plan, go to Spy Vocabulary). There is a link to the interview between CBS News: 60 minutes and Hank Crumpton with some comprehension questions for the students. There are also vocabulary collocations for them to learn taken from the video clip.

The students then get to interview each other for the job of being a spy, as they practise their new vocabulary. There are more idioms to learn, but in order to keep a low profile, I will now hold my tongue. This was all off the record, so please keep a lid on it J

If you enjoyed this lesson, you might also enjoy reading the biography of Osama bin Laden, written by his wife and son. Have a look at Growing up Bin Laden in Best Books.

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