Identify the seasons and months (and what to expect in Alberta)
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Week of Sept. 28/26
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Lesson plan overview
| Task | To learn the names of the seasons and the months (and especially what these look like in Alberta). |
| 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 | 1.5-3 hours (depending on your class size and whether you do all parts of the lesson plan) |
| 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. Learn the abbreviation for each month. Complete the optional “Part B: Building Sentences” activities below to help your students move from understanding vocabulary to using that vocabulary to create 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 | Students learn that seasons in Alberta may not correspond with “official” season start and end dates. This knowledge may help them to prepare for the province’s longer winters. |
| Specific task learning objectives | Students will learn basic vocabulary for seasons and months, including the abbreviations for months. Students will learn which months fit into which seasons in Alberta. Students will use full sentences to describe each season. Students will discuss what clothes to wear in each season. Students will reflect on the weather differences between their first country and Alberta. |
| ESL Directions original video (🎥) and audio (🔊) activities? | This lesson plan includes original video (🎥) 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’re going to learn about seasons and the months in each season. We will also learn what each season and month looks and feels like in Alberta.
- What is a season? Can you name the seasons?
- What is a month? Can you name the months?
Skill-building activities
- Label the seasons* 🔊
- Months of the year: Match-up* 🔊
- Seasons and months: Fliptiles* (Vocabulary cards that will help your students to understand and complete the activities below.)
- Let’s review the vocabulary* (Pay attention to how to say the words, and what they mean.) 🔊
Skill-using activities
- Seasons and months* (A guide to the seasons and months and what these look like in Alberta.) 🎥
- Put the months of the year in order*
- Match abbreviations for months with full names*
- Answer questions about seasons and months (with a focus on Alberta weather)* (This is an open-ended speaking activity. Ask students to respond with full sentences, if possible.)
Assessment/review tasks
- Label each season* (Ask students to use full sentences, starting with “This is …”)
- Match seasons and months* (Allow for regional differences here. For example, spring does not necessarily start on its “official” date in Alberta.)
- What season is this?* (Ask students to identify the season and to describe what they see.)
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
Verb tenses
English uses verbs (action words) to talk about the past, present, and future.
Today, we’re going to talk about a verb that describes what is happening now. This kind of verb is called the present continuous verb tense.
Does anyone know how to use and make this verb tense?
Let’s practice!
- Making the present continuous verb tense*
- Complete the present continuous form of the verb*
- Present continuous verb tense explainer* (A more detailed explanation that you can 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*
- Create sentences in subject/verb/object order*
- Subject/verb/object explainer* (A more detailed explanation that you can teach in class or send home with your students.)
Assessment/review activities
- Dressing for the season*🎥 (Watch a story using the lesson vocabulary.)
Part C: Reflection questions
- Which is your favourite season? Why is it your favourite?
- What month is your birthday? What is the weather like on your birthday in your first country? What is the weather like here on your birthday?
- What ways have you found to enjoy Alberta’s long winters?
- What signs of spring do you see in Alberta?
- How are spring, summer, fall, and winter different in your first country?
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DATES AND TIME 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 “Dates and time” folder, which includes ESL Directions activities 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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