Every year on July 17th, people celebrate World Emoji Day, a holiday dedicated to the tiny icons that have become an essential part of our everyday communication. While some emojis have become indispensable, others seem to have little or no purpose at all. In this B1 world emoji day lesson, students analyse one person’s passionate argument against a particularly unusual emoji before creating and defending their own opinions about the emojis they think should disappear forever.
I wanted this lesson to be light-hearted while still developing an important communication skill. Learners are constantly asked to justify their opinions in speaking exams, discussions and real-life conversations. Rather than debating serious topics, this lesson encourages students to argue passionately about something completely harmless. After all, it’s much easier to practise persuasive language when you’re trying to convince your classmates to delete an emoji than when discussing global politics!
If you are looking for a communicative lesson that combines listening, speaking, writing and critical thinking, scroll to the end of the post to download this world emoji day lesson worksheet, teacher’s notes and presentation.
Warmer: Your Most-Used Emoji
The lesson begins with something every student already has in their pocket – their phone. Students check their three most-used emojis and draw them without revealing what they are. They then compare their drawings with a partner, reveal the actual emojis and discuss when they use them, who they send them to and what their favourite emojis might say about their personality. This opening activity immediately personalises the lesson while encouraging students to speak naturally about their everyday communication habits.
Listening: The Most Useless Emoji
Next, students are introduced to an unusual challenge. They are told that they are going to watch a video by Jeaney Collects, titled This is my least favourite emoji. Before they do so, they are asked to draw this emoji called diamond shape with a dot inside. Without seeing it, students listen to the name and draw what they think the emoji looks like. Once everyone has compared their predictions, the teacher reveals the real emoji before students watch a short video explaining why the speaker believes it is completely pointless. During the listening task, students identify the reasons mentioned in the video and compare them with their own first impressions.
Language Focus: Facts or Opinions?
After watching the video, students read the transcript and decide which statements are facts and which are opinions. Although the speaker sounds incredibly confident, learners quickly realise that most of the argument is based on exaggerated opinions rather than objective facts. For example, This is my least favourite emoji is an opinion. However, It is called ‘diamond shape with a dot inside’ is a fact.
Speaking Practice: Describe the Emoji
The next activity develops students’ descriptive language. Working in pairs, each student receives a different unusual emoji and must describe it without showing it to their partner. The partner listens carefully and attempts to draw the emoji based only on the description. Once both drawings are complete, students reveal the original emojis and compare the results. The activity naturally practises vocabulary related to shapes, colours and objects while creating plenty of humorous misunderstandings. The two emojis I selected are a mouse trap and a coral.
Group Work: Facts, Opinions and the Emoji Council
Students then work in groups and return to the emojis from the previous task. Together, they write two facts and two opinions about their assigned emoji before preparing for the Emoji Council. The class imagines that only one of the two emojis can survive. Students debate which emoji should remain and which one should disappear forever, supporting their ideas with both facts and opinions. Since neither emoji is particularly common, students should produce surprisingly creative arguments to defend their choice.
Writing: Delete This Emoji!
Now, each learner chooses their own least favourite emoji, finds its official name (if possible), and writes a short paragraph explaining why it should be deleted forever. They are encouraged to include at least one fact, two opinions, and examples that strengthen their argument. The original video serves as inspiration, but students are free to exaggerate.
Final Debate: Which Emoji Should Disappear?
The lesson finishes with a class debate. Students present their least favourite emoji and try to persuade the rest of the class that it deserves to disappear forever. After hearing everyone’s arguments, the class discusses the presentations before voting for the emoji that should officially be deleted.
This B1 World Emoji Day lesson combines listening, language analysis, descriptive speaking, persuasive writing and whole-class discussion through a topic that students immediately relate to. By the end of the lesson, learners will have practised distinguishing facts from opinions, justifying their ideas and defending their viewpoints. All while debating something as wonderfully trivial as emojis.
Which emoji would you delete forever? Why?
