Learn the basic vocabulary used in making a Christmas treat
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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 the basic vocabulary used in making Christmas shortbread. |
| 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 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. Understand and use common cooking verbs, e.g., stirring, pouring, etc. Use the appropriate grammar structures and vocabulary to respond personally to the reflection questions. (Encourage students to respond in full sentences.) |
| Cultural focus | Students share favourite festive recipes from their own cultures. Students understand something about the dual system of measurements used in Canada, i.e., the Imperial and metric measurements used in recipes. |
| Specific task learning objectives | Students will understand a simple recipe for making shortbread cookies. Students learn vocabulary for some ingredients. Students learn the difference between recipe ingredients and instructions. Students learn common cooking verbs used in recipe instructions (pouring, stirring, etc.). |
| ESL Directions original video (🎥) and audio (🔊) activities? | This lesson includes 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 some vocabulary used in recipes.
- What is a recipe?
- What does the word ingredients mean?
- What does “recipe instructions” mean?
- What are some words you might see in a recipe?
Skill-building activities
FEATURED CONTENT
- Part 1, Ingredients:
- Part 2, Instruction verbs:
- Making Christmas shortbread* 🎥
- Try your hand at the mixed-up world of Canadian measurements* (We officially use metric measurements but also use Imperial measurements, especially in recipes. This activity focuses on the specific Imperial measurements used in this lesson.)
Skill-using tasks
- Part 1, Ingredients:
- Listen, read aloud, and answer comprehension questions* 🔊
- Deal the vocabulary cards* (Ask students to explain each term in their own words.)
- Part 2, Instructions:
- Listen, read aloud, and answer comprehension questions* 🔊
- Deal the vocabulary cards* (Ask students to explain each term in their own words.)
Assessment/review tasks
Reflection questions
- What are three words or phrases that you learned today?
- Do you like to bake?
- What are your favorite things to bake?
- Do you bake some special things for Christmas or other festivals? Tell us about the festival and how you make these special things.
- Do you use recipes when you bake? How are recipes from your first country different from the recipes you see here?
- We talked briefly about measurements used in Canada. Does anyone remember the name of the measurement system in Canada? Can you give some examples of the measurements you saw in the recipe?
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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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ABOUT ESL DIRECTIONS
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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