Learn about a traditional Canadian Christmas dinner and discuss other cultural traditions
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THIS WEEK’S FEATURED POST
Week of Dec. 15/25
Teach your beginner ESL students about preparing for a traditional Canadian Christmas and encourage them to share their own cultural traditions.
The lesson includes interactive vocabulary activities, a short video, and reflection questions to…
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Lesson plan overview
| Task | To learn about a traditional Canadian Christmas dinner and to encourage students to discuss their own cultural traditions. |
| CLB level | CLB Stage I (CLB 1-3) |
| Delivery method | Online |
| Class size | 10-15 students (vary the number of activities according to your class size) |
| Estimated time | 1.5-2 hours (depending on class size) |
| CLB Skills and Competencies | Speaking: Interacting with others Sharing information Listening: Interacting with others Comprehending information Reading: Comprehending information |
| Language focus | Learn the vocabulary needed to understand this topic. Use the appropriate grammar structures and vocabulary to respond personally to the reflection questions. (Encourage students to respond in full sentences.) |
| Cultural focus | Students will understand the Christmas dinner they will see celebrated in Canadian media, ads, and public spaces. |
| Specific task learning objectives | To familiarize students with the vocabulary for a traditional Canadian Christmas dinner. To encourage them to talk about the traditions of their own Christmas or other special festivals. |
| ESL Directions original video (🎥) and audio (🔊) activities? | This lesson includes original video (🎥) and audio (🔊) activities. |
| Resource attribution | ESL Directions original resources are marked below with an asterisk (*). Feel free to use these, but please give credit to ESL Directions. |
Lesson plan
Warm-up: Introducing the topic and defining our terms
- Today, we’re going to learn about a traditional Canadian Christmas dinner.
- What do you know about a Canadian Christmas (the one you see in movies and ads and in the malls at this time of year)?
- What are some words associated with this Christmas celebration?
Skill-building activities
FEATURED CONTENT
- ESL Directions: Christmas dinner vocabulary tip tiles* (Click on the tiles for more information or short video clips.)
- Listen to the vocabulary again* (Think about how to say the words and phrases and what they mean.) 🔊
- A Christmas dinner* 🎥
Skill-using tasks
- Video quiz* (A quiz based on the video above.)
- Listen and learn* (Listen to and read the video transcript. Ask students to read the words to work on their pronunciation. Ask stuents to answer the “Bonus questions” in their own words at the end.)
- Christmas dinner pair-matching game*
- Christmas fill-in-the blank activity*
- Unjumble the sentences*
- Additional resource: Games for ESL, Christmas guessing game
Assessment/review tasks
- Christmas food random images* (Ask students to identify each type of festive food.)
- Pair or no pair* (Are the two images a pair? Identify the food each time.)
Reflection questions
- How many people here celebrate Christmas?
- How is your Christmas different from the one you see celebrated by many Canadians?
- If you don’t celebrate Christmas, what is the most important festival in your home country? When is this festival, and how do you celebrate it? Do you celebrate it in a different way here than in your home country?
RELATED PAGES
Preparing for Christmas
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Following a recipe: Making Christmas shortbread
This lesson plan teaches basic recipe vocabulary, using the example of Christmas shortbread. Aimed at CLB Stage I learners, the plan…
Keep readingCANADA YOUTUBE PLAYLIST
Click the small arrow at the top right of this video to play the videos or go to the YouTube Canada Playlist.
CANADA WORDWALL ACTIVITIES
Wordwall is a very useful interactive lesson-creation site. If you sign up for a free Wordwall account, you will be able to see our “Canada” folder, which includes ESL Directions activities that you can add to your lessons.
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ESL teacher, movie buff, constant reader, and former editor and communications pro. Now a graduate of the Teaching English as a Second Language program at the University of Manitoba and a TESL Canada certified ESL teacher in Edmonton, Alberta, I specialize in teaching online classes of beginner ESL students.
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