Learn the basic vocabulary needed to describe winter weather
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Week of Aug. 10/26
This lesson plan offers engaging activities for your first day of class, focusing on classroom rules, introductions, and cultural exchanges.
The plan includes lesson objectives, warm-up exercises, two short videos, and a range of…
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Lesson plan overview
| Task | To learn the basic vocabulary related to winter weather. |
| 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 do 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 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 will understand the importance of Canadian winter weather alerts and some ways to keep safe during extreme weather. |
| Specific task learning objectives | Students will learn vocabulary related to extremely cold weather. Students will see these words used in full sentences in a role play activity. Students will learn some of the hazards associated with this weather. |
| ESL Directions original video (🎥) and audio (🔊) activities? | This lesson plan 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
Part A: Vocabulary acquisition and practice
FEATURED CONTENT
Warm-up: Introducing the topic and defining our terms
- Today, we’re going to talk about winter weather.
- What is weather?
- What do you know about Canada’s winter weather?
- What are some words to describe extremely cold weather?
- What is Environment Canada? What does it do? What are some other weather sites in Canada?
Skill-building activities
- Vocabulary flashcards*
- Listen to the vocabulary again* 🔊 (Pay attention to how to say the words and what they mean.)
- Definition match-up*
Skill-using activities
- Winter weather* 🎥 (A role play using this lesson’s vocabulary.)
- Role play and comprehension questions* 🔊 (Listen to and read the role play you watched on the video above. Answer the comprehension questions to ensure you understood the role play.)
- Fill in the blanks*
- Matching pairs*
- Find the match*
Assessment/review tasks
Part B: Building sentences
FEATURED CONTENT
Warm-up: Introducing the topic and defining our terms
In this part of the lesson, we’re going to learn about:
- Identifying three parts of speech (nouns, adjectives, and indefinite articles). Can anyone tell me what parts of speech are? Can anyone give an example of a noun? An adjective? An indefinite article?
- Using the future simple verb tense.
- Using subject/verb/object word order to make short sentences. Can anyone tell me what a subject is? A verb? An object?
Skill-building and skill-using activities
- Three parts of speech explainer* (A simple explanation of nouns, adjectives, and indefinite articles.)
- Identify the part of speech for each vocabulary word* (Ask students to note which nouns take an indefinite article, i.e., singular and countable nouns. Ask students why “a” comes before “blizzard” but “an” comes before “alert.” )
- Put together the adjectives and nouns*
- Future simple verb tense explainer*
Assessment/review tasks
- Blizzard safety* 🎥 (Watch and read a passage using the lesson vocabulary. Answer open-ended comprehension questions.)
Part C: Reflection questions
- Is this your first winter in Canada? What do you think winter here will be like?
- Have you ever been outside in extremely cold weather in Canada?
- Were you prepared for this kind of weather (for example, in your clothing)?
- How are you keeping safe outdoors this winter?
- Any ideas on how to enjoy being outside in the winter?
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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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