Getting to know you: Identity & Personality

Students explore identity and personality in English — from self-introduction games to a reading based on Thomas Erikson's bestseller Surrounded by Idiots and its four colour-based personality types.

Icebreakers and self-introduction

The lesson opens with personalised speaking: learners create true/false statements about themselves and discuss habits, beliefs and personal traits in pairs — a natural warm-up for talking about identity at an advanced level.

Video and listening on personality

Students watch a video about introverts and extroverts and answer comprehension questions. A follow-up listening task explores how identity changes over time, and learners reflect on how mood and environment shape the way we express ourselves.

Reading: Surrounded by Idiots

An adapted text introduces Erikson's four personality colours — red, yellow, green and blue. Students analyse communication differences and behaviour patterns, and discuss why people with different types sometimes clash.

Discussion and homework

Learners decide which colour best describes them, analyse real conflicts through the lens of personality types and compare how their behaviour shifts in different social settings. Built-in homework includes matching traits to personality colours and summarising key insights from the lesson.