Give an educational lesson about cosmetics not how to apply them. History, chemical makeup (some dangerous ones), animal testing and unrealistic beauty standards. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cosmetics

I already use the topic of cosmetics to engage them. We are language teachers, so make LANGUAGE the focus, cosmetics as a topic is just a means not an end.

For example,

Foundation Day. The students learn the name of the holiday not by my telling them, but by my elliciting the idea from them (CELTA training taught me to "ask, not tell").

- i say long long time ago a tiger and a bear go into a cave. The tiger runs out and the bear stays and becomes what?
(a student says "human" or "person")

I then draw a horizontal short line on the board: "first person", then another line above it "second", and third and so on up to ten or so, point at the top and ask who is it? "Hint" the first person, 2nd is their child, 3rd their grandchild, 4th great grandchild,... so the top NOW is.... (a student says ' us ' or 'me'). That is the holiday. I then put a line around the lines of the board to frame what now looks like a tall building. I then ask what is put into the ground to make the ground strong. I draw a line under the building and poibt beneath it. What goes first here? (Extra hint is to mention the tower of Pisa, show elbow forearm slanted so students could see it leaning and i ask why the building is no good. What should be under the ground to keep a building up straight and strong.)
Student says cement or concrete. I write on the board that it is the: "f _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ of the building"

The f word is the name of the holiday in english. What is the f word?

I then get to cosmetics. By now the idea of the word and why the holiday is called it is known to the students but then have yet to know what word represents that idea.

I then get to cosmetics. Before a wman puts on powder (i pat my cheeks) or blush, sge puts on cream. What kind of cream? I point at the f ---------- on the board. I repeat it if needed. Some middle schooler always comes up with "foundation". DING DING DING i cheer. That's it. You are right. Foundation if make-up. Foundation if a building. Foundation of korean people. What is the name of the holiday. "Foundation day" students then say.

I have done this with dozens of classes over the years successfully. Tweaking it, it works like a charm.

Cosmetics helps in other lessons...

A mouth opening has two parts: the top and bottom what? Hibt: women put what makeup here on the outside part of their mouth? Students say " lipstick. " Yes, a stick for the...." lip," yes you are right. One lip, two.. (hint: one desk, two... i point... they say "desks" so one lip two.... ) "lips". Yes , you are right.

Then i ask students what is the difference between lipstick and lip balm and on the board ellicit: dry, looks good...

I also use cosmetics in learning body parts: what makeup goes on eye lids? (I point at them, mention lid as cover like a pot has a lid to cover the soup pot) eye brows? Cheeks? Pimples! Forehead.

Have a quiz at the end to review the target language of the lesson.

There ate plenty of language lessons informed by the topic of cosmetics.

I already use the topic of cosmetics to engage them. We are language teachers, so make LANGUAGE the focus, cosmetics as a topic is just a means not an end.

For example,

Foundation Day. The students learn the name of the holiday not by my telling them, but by my elliciting the idea from them (CELTA training taught me to "ask, not tell").

- i say long long time ago a tiger and a bear go into a cave. The tiger runs out and the bear stays and becomes what?
(a student says "human" or "person")

I then draw a horizontal short line on the board: "first person", then another line above it "second", and third and so on up to ten or so, point at the top and ask who is it? "Hint" the first person, 2nd is their child, 3rd their grandchild, 4th great grandchild,... so the top NOW is.... (a student says ' us ' or 'me'). That is the holiday. I then put a line around the lines of the board to frame what now looks like a tall building. I then ask what is put into the ground to make the ground strong. I draw a line under the building and poibt beneath it. What goes first here? (Extra hint is to mention the tower of Pisa, show elbow forearm slanted so students could see it leaning and i ask why the building is no good. What should be under the ground to keep a building up straight and strong.)
Student says cement or concrete. I write on the board that it is the: "f _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ of the building"

The f word is the name of the holiday in english. What is the f word?

I then get to cosmetics. By now the idea of the word and why the holiday is called it is known to the students but then have yet to know what word represents that idea.

I then get to cosmetics. Before a wman puts on powder (i pat my cheeks) or blush, sge puts on cream. What kind of cream? I point at the f ---------- on the board. I repeat it if needed. Some middle schooler always comes up with "foundation". DING DING DING i cheer. That's it. You are right. Foundation if make-up. Foundation if a building. Foundation of korean people. What is the name of the holiday. "Foundation day" students then say.

I have done this with dozens of classes over the years successfully. Tweaking it, it works like a charm.

Cosmetics helps in other lessons...

A mouth opening has two parts: the top and bottom what? Hibt: women put what makeup here on the outside part of their mouth? Students say " lipstick. " Yes, a stick for the...." lip," yes you are right. One lip, two.. (hint: one desk, two... i point... they say "desks" so one lip two.... ) "lips". Yes , you are right.

Then i ask students what is the difference between lipstick and lip balm and on the board ellicit: dry, looks good...

I also use cosmetics in learning body parts: what makeup goes on eye lids? (I point at them, mention lid as cover like a pot has a lid to cover the soup pot) eye brows? Cheeks? Pimples! Forehead.

Have a quiz at the end to review the target language of the lesson.

There ate plenty of language lessons informed by the topic of cosmetics.

You could have given me a billion guesses, and I'd never have guessed that a "Bear" turned into a "human" or "person". :O

You could have given me a billion guesses, and I'd never have guessed that a "Bear" turned into a "human" or "person". :O

It's a big part of the Korean creation myth.
Tigers everywhere think it's really racist!

Yesterday was Halloween, you can find quite a few amazing Halloween makeup tutorials on YouTube. You could do a lesson on the types of makeup used, techniques, as well as career opportunities for makeup artists.

You could do a lesson on how makeup varies by country or over time.

For an open class, I'd stay clear of sensitive issues like beauty standards or animal testing.

Quote from: L I on November 01, 2019, 10:06:48 am

There were warring tribes - bear and tiger. The bear tribe won and made the story about how the tiger was weaker and that the Korean people are half god half bear.

You pulled that idea out of your keister.

Bear creation stories are prevalent in many parts of Siberia.

Here's the actual Korean bear creation story:



         Back in the day, Dangun was the founder of Gojoseon, the first Kingdom in the Land of Morning Qualms. He doesn't actually figure in this story at all.
         His grand pappy, Hwan-in, was the "Lord of Heaven," while his dad, Hwan-ung, descended to earth and founded a society on the Korean peninsula. It is suspected that he might secretly have been a furry.
        When a bear and a tiger came to Hwan-ung up in the high mountains and asked to be made human, he gave them each a bundle of sacred food to eat and told them to stay in a cave for 100 days, after which time they would become human. While the tiger gave up (because the sacred foods consisted mostly of mountain herbs which she, an obligate carnivore, could not digest), the bear followed Hwang-ung's directions and was turned into a human woman named Ungnyeo (because she was a bear, which are generalists and are capable of eating a wide variety of foods, including stringy mountain weeds).
       Ungnyeo got it on with Hwang-ung and soon gave birth to Dangun, who, again, has very little to do with the creation myth. This guy then went on to rule Gojoseon for bearly (pun!) 1,500 years before becoming a mountain deity.

Yeah, if I were doing this lesson, I'd make it about various techniques and what can be done with makeup.

Would do as the others say and stay away from going over different beauty standards. I'd probably end up showing the more extravagant end results of skilled makeup artistry, including the ones where the artists create optical illusions with their makeup. I saw a crazy one where a woman made her nose look like it was in a completely different part of her face.

You could have given me a billion guesses, and I'd never have guessed that a "Bear" turned into a "human" or "person". :O

There's a movie that alludes to the Korean bear creation story.

It's super bizarre, though.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1433775/