Learn some basic facts about Canada’s favourite sport
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Week of Sept. 28/26
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Lesson plan overview
| Task | To learn some basic facts about Canada’s favourite sport |
| 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 to 3 hours (depending on whether you complete all parts of the lesson) |
| 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. Complete the optional “Part B: Building Sentences” activities below to help your students move from understanding vocabulary to using that vocabulary to produce simple sentences. Use the appropriate grammar structures and vocabulary to respond personally to the reflection questions. (Encourage students to respond in full sentences.) |
| Cultural focus | Be able to make or understand some small talk about hockey. |
| Specific task learning objectives | Students will learn some basic facts about the game of ice hockey. Students will understand use hockey vocabulary related to hockey equipment and team members as well some hockey verbs. Students will use basic sentences to describe their own favourite sports. |
| 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. |
Part A: Vocabulary acquisition and practice
This is a self-contained, complete lesson plan (about 1.5 hours) focused on vocabulary.
Part B: Building sentences
Part B takes your students further by giving them some tools to build simple sentences (using the vocabulary they learned in Part A).
Use Part B if you want to focus on sentence production, teach for a longer time (1 to 1.5 additional hours), or break your lesson into two related parts.
Part C: Reflection Questions
These questions work at the end of either part A or B.
Lesson plan
Part A: Vocabulary acquisition and practice
Warm-up: Introducing the topic and defining our terms
- Today, we will be learning about the game of ice hockey.
- What is ice hockey?
- Does anyone know any words related to hockey?
Skill-building activities
- Vocabulary flashcards*
- Listen to the vocabulary and definitions again* (Think about how to say each word or phrase and what they mean.) 🔊
- Introducing ice hockey* (Let’s hear the vocabulary again in this video.) 🎥
Skill-using activities
Hockey equipment:
- Label the hockey player 1* (Bonus question: What is the name of this hockey player?)
- Label the player 2*
The names of the players:
Assessment/review tasks
- Vocabulary quiz*
- Spin the wheel* (Explain the words and phrases in your own words.)
Part B: Building sentences
Warm-up: Introducing the topic
In this part of the lesson, we’re going to work on creating short sentences from the vocabulary we learned in Part A.
Skill-building and skill-using activities
Parts of speech
What is a “part of speech”? Can you name any examples?
Today, we’ll look at three important parts of speech we need to make sentences:
- What is a noun?
- What is a verb?
- What is an indefinite article?
Let’s practice!
- Quick definitions: nouns, verbs, and indefinite articles*
- Identify the part of speech for each vocabulary word*
- Three parts of speech explainer* (A more detailed explanation of nouns, verbs, and indefinite articles. Teach in class or send home with students.)
Word order in English sentences
Today, we’ll look at three important parts of English sentences:
- What is a subject?
- What is a verb?
- What is an object?
Let’s practice!
- Quick definitions: Subjects, verbs, and objects*
- Unjumble the sentences* (See if you can find the subjects, verbs, and objects. Follow that order in creating your sentences.)
- Create a sentence in subject/verb/object order* (See if you find the subjects, verbs, and objects. Follow that order in creating your sentences.)
- Subject/verb/object explainer* (A more detailed explanation of a common English sentence structure. Teach in class or send home with your students.)
Assessment/review tasks
- Hockey game day*🎥 (Watch a story using the lesson vocabulary.)
Part C: Reflection questions
- Do you like hockey? Do you ever watch hockey games?
- Do you like sports?
- What is the name of your closest NHL hockey team? Do you know the names of any of the players? Can you tell us something about them?
- Do you have any questions about the game?
- What are the main sports in your home country?
- Are these sports important to your home country’s culture?
- Do you still follow these sports?
RELATED PAGES
Canadian culture and environment
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Canadian symbols: Ice hockey in Canadian culture
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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.
ABOUT ESL DIRECTIONS
Kathy Garnsworthy, the creator of ESL Directions, is an 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 an ESL teacher in Edmonton, Alberta, she specializes in teaching online classes of beginner ESL students.
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