I N T R O D U C T O RY L E SS O N

W R I T I N G & V O C A B U L A RY
Goals for this lesson: 2havo
The student:
- A2: Can write descriptions of actions in daily life about abstract or cultural topics such
as music and films.
- Has an understanding of the concept of popular culture and its components

What is Pop Culture?

(10 min)

Students watch the video about things that went viral in 2015. When theyre done they
will have to answer these questions:
Have you heard of any of these popular culture items in 2015? If so, how many?
Own answer. The students pick something they know from the video and talk
about how theyve seen it.
Can you think of more possible Pop Culture items that you have heard of? (for example:
Adele's new album or Starbucks)
Own Answer. They can ask fellow classmates if they want. They might name a
book or a song, anything is possible as long as its related to Pop Culture.
They will now use a dictionary to find the meaning of the following words: EnglishEnglish is preferred. Online dictionaries are allowed.
Pop Culture - cultural activities or commercial products reflecting, suited to,
or aimed at the tastes of the general masses of people.
Mainstream - the principal or dominant course, tendency, or trend.
Media - the means of communication, as radio and television, newspapers,
and magazines, that reach or influence people widely.
Phenomenon - a fact, occurrence, or circumstance observed or observable.
Western Culture -the modern culture of western Europe and North America
Fads a style, activity, or interest that is very popular for a shortperiod of time.
Trends - a general development or change in a situation or in the way that
people are behaving.
Mass culture - the culture that is widely disseminated via the mass media
Celebrity someone who is famous, especially in the entertainmentbusiness.
Icon - a very famous person or thing considered as representing a set of
beliefs or a way of life.

Making a Pop Culture Mindmap

min)

(20

Here, the students will create a mindmap on Pop Culture.

https://www.mindmeister.com/nl will be used for this.
Pop culture will be in the middle. Make groups of 4, in these groups they will need to
write down everything they think about when they think of Pop Culture. They should at
least write one thing about: Themes, Brands, Technology and Sports. All mindmaps
should be uploaded through the form on the website by sending in the URL. They should
make the mindmap as big and colourful and as broad as possible.

Writing a 24-hour journal (20 min)

For the final part of the lesson, the students will write a journal to list all their encounters
with Pop Culture in the past twenty-four hours. They will use the mindmap they made to
help them think of all the possible things they might have, seen, read, or experienced
that have to do with pop culture. They can find appropriate images on the web to make it
flashy. They will see this example on the website;

Their journals should also look like this. If they have found their own creative way to
make a journal, the teacher should encourage this as long as its a correct way of writing
down their experiences.
At the end of their twenty-four hour journal they have to answer this question using
examples from their journal:
1. Is there a difference between American Pop Culture and Dutch Pop Culture?

Own answer. They will have knowledge about the subject on both sides,
because they have learnt about American pop culture in the video, and
know Dutch pop culture because they have written about it in their journals.