Black Friday (A2/B1) -70%

Ex 1: Ask and answer the questions below with a partner or in small groups.

1. What is Black Friday?

2. Do you prefer shopping online or in shops?

Ex 2: Match the vocabulary to the definition below.

1. retailer n A. move quickly.

2. profit n/v B. a person/business that sells things.
3. loss n C. made cheaper.
4. rush v D. a person who buys things.
5. consumer n E. the noun of the verb lose.
6. promotions n F. offers of products/services at good/cheaper prices than usual.
7. reduced adj G. the buying of products & services, and the belief that it is good for society.
8. deals n H. advertising to encourage people to buy something.
9. consumerism n I. the money earned by businesses, after costs are deducted.

Ex 3: Complete the text with the vocabulary in the box below.

consumerism promotions deals

profit rushing retailers
consumers loss reduced

Black Friday takes place every year on the day after Thanksgiving Day and is usually the first day of the
Christmas shopping season in the United States. Many people have the day off work to go shopping and
enjoy a four-day weekend.
Traditionally, on this day, 1. _______________ open their doors for longer hours and offer their
products for sale at 2. _______________ prices. Unfortunately, because of the high number of shoppers
3. _______________ to get into the shops and fighting over products, there have been a number of injuries
and even deaths.
Nowadays, 4. _______________ are available for longer, throughout November and
December, and due to the increase in online shopping, 5. _______________ can find
bargains without leaving their couch. Black Friday was originally a U.S. event, but it
is now becoming popular in other parts of the world.

Meaning of the Term ‘Black Friday’

The term ‘Black Friday’ was first used in the 1960’s by police to describe the streets of Philadelphia which
were always busy with heavy traffic and shoppers on the Friday after Thanksgiving. However, retailers have
since brought another meaning to the term ‘black’, connecting it to the idea that this is the time of year
when retailers began to make a 6. _______________, which in accounting terms is referred to as being ‘in the
black’, whereas before this date, they would often be ‘in the red’ (making a 7. __________).

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Cyber Monday & Buy Nothing Day
Retailers soon noticed that the Monday following Black Friday was a day
when consumers would commonly shop for 8. _______________ online, so
they invented the term ‘Cyber Monday’ and used it to encourage people to
shop online instead of in person on this day.
In recent years, many people have chosen not to buy anything on Black
Friday, as a protest against 9. _______________ and overconsumption. Buy Nothing Day is marked by people
in different ways; some choose to protest publicly in shopping centres while others spend the day in nature.
Since Black Friday started, other retail days have been created over the years, such as Green Monday, Small
Business Saturday, Super Saturday and Giving Tuesday.

Ex 4: In pairs, guess the meaning of the language below from the context in the text above.
take place bargains
= _____________________________________________ = _____________________________________________
shopping season term
= _____________________________________________ = _____________________________________________
have the day off work traffic
= _____________________________________________ = _____________________________________________
for sale accounting
= _____________________________________________ = _____________________________________________
fight over encourage
= _____________________________________________ = _____________________________________________
injuries in person
= _____________________________________________ = _____________________________________________
nowadays protest
= _____________________________________________ = _____________________________________________
throughout overconsumption
= _____________________________________________ = _____________________________________________
due to mark (an occasion)
= _____________________________________________ = _____________________________________________

Ex 5: Web Quest

Work in groups to find out more about the retail holidays listed below by searching online.
Then share what you discovered with your group.

1. Green Monday 3. Small Business Saturday

2. Giving Tuesday 4. Super Saturday

Ex 6: Ask and answer the questions below with a partner.

1. Do you usually try to find bargains in the Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales?
2. Why do you think people overconsume?
3. Do you think you overconsume? If so, how could you reduce your consumption?
4. How would reducing consumerism change the planet and how we live?
5. Name one thing you bought that you didn’t need or never used.

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 Teacher’s Notes
Lesson: Black Friday Level: A2 – B1 Time: 1 hour

Preparation:
You might also like …
- Print or display handouts.
• Let’s talk about… Clothes Shopping
• Let’s talk about… Grocery Shopping
Teaching Method:
• Black Friday (B1+/B2)
Step 1:
- Put students into pairs or small groups to discuss the questions in exercise 1.
- Elicit any information about Black Friday that came up in the discussion and add it to the board.
Note: Tell students they will learn more about Black Friday in the reading exercise.
Step 2:
- Students work individually, matching the vocabulary to the definitions in ex 2, before comparing in
pairs.
- Elicit answers, giving further definitions and examples where needed, and drilling correct pronunciation.
Step 3:
- Give the students about 10 minutes to read through the text in exercise 3, completing the gaps with the
correct words from exercise 1, before comparing with their partner.
- Correct the answers as a class.
Step 4:
- Students work in pairs to guess the meaning of the vocabulary in exercise 4.
- Correct the answers as a class, giving further explanation and examples where needed, and drilling
correct pronunciation.
Step 5:
- Explain the meaning of web quest, if necessary.
- Students work in pairs/groups to find out more about other retail days by looking up the given names
online. (Allow about 5 minutes for the web quest)
- Students share what they discover with their group. (Allow about 10 minutes for this)
Step 6:
- Students practise their speaking skills, asking and answering the discussion questions in exercise 6.

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 Answers & Pronunciation
Lesson: Black Friday Level: A2 – B1 Time: 1 hour

Answers: Pronunciation:

Exercise 2: Vocabulary: British: American:

1. B accounting əˈkaʊntɪŋ əˈkaʊntɪŋ
2. I bargain ˈbɑːgɪn ˈbɑrgən
3. E consumer kənˈsjuːmə kənˈsumər
4. A consumerism kənˈsjuːmərɪz(ə)m kənˈsuməˌrɪzəm
5. D deals diːlz dilz
6. H encourage ɪnˈkʌrɪʤ ɛnˈkɜrɪʤ
7. C fight over faɪt ˈəʊvə faɪt ˈoʊvər
8. F for sale fɔː seɪl fɔr seɪl
9. G in person ɪn ˈpɜːsn ɪn ˈpɜrsən
injuries ˈɪnʤəriz ˈɪnʤəriz
Exercise 3: loss lɒs lɔs
1. retailers mark an occasion mɑːk ən əˈkeɪʒən mɑrk ən əˈkeɪʒən
2. reduced nowadays ˈnaʊədeɪz ˈnaʊəˌdeɪz
3. rushing overconsumption ˌəʊvəkənˈsʌm(p)ʃən ˈoʊvərkənˌsʌmpʃən
4. promotions profit ˈprɒfɪt ˈprɑfət
5. consumers promotions prəˈməʊʃənz prəˈmoʊʃənz
6. profit protest ˈprəʊtɛst ˈproʊˌtɛst
7. loss reduced rɪˈdjuːst rəˈdust
8. deals retailer riːˈteɪlə ˈriˌteɪlər
9. consumerism rush rʌʃ rʌʃ
shopping season ˈʃɒpɪŋ ˈsiːzn ˈʃɑpɪŋ ˈsizən
term tɜːm tɜrm
throughout θru(ː)ˈaʊt θruˈaʊt
traffic ˈtræfɪk ˈtræfɪk
Exercise 4:
1. happen, occur. 12. cars, trucks, motorbikes, etc. moving along a
2. period of time before Christmas when people road.
shop a lot. 13. the work of recording the financial
3. not having to work on a particular day. transactions of a business.
4. offered for people to buy. 14. support or motivate someone to do something.
5. argue about something that both people want. 15. being physically present doing something.
6. physical damage or harm to someone’s body. 16. expressing your dissatisfaction publicly at a
7. in the present time in contrast with the past. meeting or refusing to work, pay for
8. from the beginning until the end. something, do something, etc.
9. because of 17. buying more than is needed.
10. something offered for sale at a cheaper price 18. celebrate.
than usual.
11. a word/phrase given to describe something.

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