Learn why Canadians celebrate Queen Victoria’s birthday and how to sing our royal anthem
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Lesson plan overview
| Task | To learn about the Canadian celebration of Queen Victoria’s birthday on May 24 and how to sing our royal anthem. |
| CLB level | CLB Stage I (CLB 3-4) |
| 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. Students understand that poetry (i.e., the words of “God Save the King”) expresses meaning in a less literal way. Students practice pronouncing the words of “God Save the King.” Use the appropriate grammar structures and vocabulary to respond personally to the reflection questions. (Encourage students to respond in full sentences.) |
| Cultural focus | Understanding basic facts about the history of Canada and our system of government may make students feel more at home in their new country. |
| Specific task learning objectives | Students will understand some background to our May 24 Victoria Day holiday (i.e., the history and the role of the monarchy in Canada). Students will understand the lyrics of Canada’s royal anthem. Students will be able to sing “God Save the King.” |
| ESL Directions original video (🎥) and audio (🔊) activities? | This lesson includes 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 will be doing two things:
- Learning why Canadians celebrate Victoria Day as a national holiday. What is a national holiday?
- Learning Canada’s royal anthem. What does “royal” mean? What is an anthem?
- Who is the “Victoria” celebrated on Victoria Day?
- Did you know that Canada has two official anthems? What are their names?
Skill-building activities
- Victoria Day: Vocabulary flashcards*
- Let’s review the vocabulary* (Pay attention to how to say the words and what they mean.) 🔊
- Who is Victoria Day named after? To understand the answer to this question, we have to learn some Canadian history: Canadian history: Timeline*
Skill-using tasks
FEATURED CONTENT
- Canada has two national anthems:
- “O Canada”
- “God Save the King” (the royal anthem). Today, we’re going to learn to sing this second anthem.
- Listen to “God Save the King” (Source: The Salvation Army, God Save The King – UK National Anthem (with Lyrics).)
- Listening to, pronouncing, and understanding each verse* 🔊
- Gap fill*
- Unjumble*
- “God Save the King”: Put the sentences in order*
Assessment/review tasks
Vocabulary review: Pair or no pair*
Word magnets* (Put the sentences in order.)
Let’s sing “God Save the King”! (Start with a few students and then add more until everyone is singing. Song source: The ManilaSongHaven, Traditional – God Save The King (UK National Anthem 2022-present.)
Reflection questions
- What can you tell us about the anthem of your home country?
- Have you heard “God Save the King” before? Where did you hear it? Were you able to sing along?
RELATED PAGES
Canada Day: Learning to sing “O Canada”
This lesson plan teaches beginning ESL students how to sing “O Canada.” The plan includes vocabulary building, understanding the anthem’s meaning,…
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Introducing Canadian citizenship
This page provides simplified and shortened lesson plans for beginner ESL students on topics related to Canadian citizenship. The page is…
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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