Teaching English - lesson Plan about the first Thanksgiving

EFL Lesson Plan - The story of First Thanksgiving

The aim of the lesson is to present students the story behind the Thanksgiving celebrations. In this EFL lesson your students will learn more about British and American history and by the end of the class they will be able to explain to other students the origin of this day.

Language Level: intermediate B1

Learner: teens, adults

Activity: listening, reading

Time: 45 mins

Topic: Thanksgiving

Materials: video + woksheet

 

1.Set context - introduce the topic, pre-teach some vocab (10 mins)

On the board write 'Thanksgiving', ask students if they know anyting about this day, you should get answers about the date (27th Nov 2014 or every fourth Thursday in November), place (the USA) and food (roast turkey). 

Later you should add that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated by pilgrims (explain the word if necessary) who travelled few months for the search of a better life. Write these questions on the board:

Where did the pilgrims travel from/ to?

Why did they decide to travel?

Divide students into pairs, ask them to think about possible answers. Allow 2 to 3 mins for discussion and later elicit predictions. In order to find out if they were correct play the first part of the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFDSobNnfQs (play the video until 01min 08s) check the answers to the above questions. 

 

2. Story of the first Thanksgiving - exercises related to the video. (15mins)

So far your students found out the causes of pilgrimageage, now they'll learn more about events that happened during and after the journey.  

Divide students into groups of three, cut and distribute the sentences that when put in order create the story (worksheet exercise 1). Explain that there are two extra sentences that shouldn't be used. The correct order is:

1. Around 100 people sailed on a tiny ship called the Mayflower.

2. In November, after two months of difficult weather conditions and rough sea, pilgrims finally found the land where they settled.  

3. Almost half of the pilgrims died due to an extremely cold winter.

4. A friendly Indian named Squanto taught people how to grow barley, wheat and corn.

5.The soil in Plymouth Rock was very fruitful and crops they gathered in autumn were more then enough for the long winter that was approaching.

6. Pilgrims were very thankful to the God for all the good things he had brought.

7. To celebrate their happiness pilgrims organised the Thanksgiving party which Indian people also attended.

8. Pilgrims prepared a grand thanksgiving meal that included wild geese, turkey, duck meat plus wild deer and fish.

9. Indians who came to the meal wore special outfits consisting of deer skin,fox tails and cat fur coats.

10. Before the meal commenced both nations prayed to God for all the goodness.

Extra sentences:

11. Indians didn't come empty handed, they brought plenty of wild turkey meat. 

12. When the spring came all pilgrims were happy because they could find a lot of food the Indians grew. 

 

Once you've given your students some time to put the sentences in order, play the remaining part of the video in mute. Your student will watch the video and try to figure out if their sequence of the sentences is correct,  if not they should amend the order. Elicit the answers, play the video again this time aloud. Finally check the correct order. At the end of the activity collect the sentences from each group.

 

3. Follow-up - Rewrite the story (20 min)

Ask students to write a plan of the whole First Thanksgiving story they watched during the lesson. Allow 4mins for brainstorming and writing and later play the video. At this point learners should add any additional info. Divide students into pairs or group of three, they should compare their plans. Later their task is to write the story in their own. This task could be done individually or in pairs. Allow 15 mins for the writing process.

Alternative Follow-up - Write a recipe for the roast turkey with stuffing. (30 to 40 mins).

This task depends on how much time you have. Here's a quick plan:

1. Show a sample recipe for a roast turkey (it should be devided into ingredients and procedure)

2. Ask students to write a similar recipe using ingredients (have a list of ingredients that could be used ready) Allow 10 to 15mins to write. At the end choose the best recipe.

WorkSheet:

Exercise 1

Put the sentences in order so that they create the story of the first Thanksgiving. There are two extra sentences that don't have to be used.

 

.....Almost half of the pilgrims died due to an extremely cold winter.

..... In November, after two months of difficult weather conditions and rough sea, pilgrims finally found the land where they settled.  

...... When the spring came all pilgrims were happy because they could find a lot of food the Indians grew. 

...... A friendly Indian named Squanto taught people how to grow barley, wheat and corn.

...1.. Around 100 people sailed on a tiny ship called the Mayflower.

......The soil in Plymouth Rock was very fruitful and crops they gathered in autumn were more then enough for the long winter that was approaching.

.....  Indians didn't come empty handed, they brought plenty of wild turkey meat. 

..... Indians who came to the meal wore special outfits consisting of deer skin,fox tails and cat fur coats.

..... Pilgrims were very thankful for the God for all the good things he had brought.

.... Pilgrims prepared a grand thanksgiving meal that included wild geese, turkey, duck meat plus wild deer and fish.

..... To celebrate their happiness pilgrims organised the Thanksgiving party which Indian people also attended.

..... Before the meal commenced both nations prayed to God for all the goodness.

 

Teaching English Lesson plan with video

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How to write advantages and disadvantages essay Part 2 writing task IELTS exam

As an example, here is the IELTS essay topic that you are required to write about:

“Many young people today leave their own countries to work abroad. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of working abroad and give your own opinion.”

The first thing to do when considering your response is to underline the keywords in the sentence. What areas should you focus on?

Many young people today leave their own countries to work abroad. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of working abroad and give your own opinion.

Incorporate your own experience. Think about why you are taking the IELTS exam; do you want to go abroad (to leave your own country) to work or study? What are the advantages for you in going abroad, and are there any disadvantages? What might happen while you are in a foreign country? Make some notes under the headings Advantages and Disadvantages. These will help when you come to write your essay.

Which style is appropriate, formal or informal? The IELTS exam tests students' abilities to deal with advanced level material and academic texts. A formal writing style is, therefore, essential.

The essay will have at least four paragraphs and you need to understand how to move smoothly from one paragraph to the next. Basically, each time you begin a new topic you start a new paragraph. If you are writing about different times, you begin a new paragraph when the time you are writing about changes.

The outline or plan for this essay could look like this:

Paragraph 1: Introduction

Paragraph 2: Advantages for young people working abroad

Paragraph 3: Disadvantages for young people working abroad

Paragraph 4: Conclusion in which you sum up and give your own opinion

Introduction: Paragraph 1

In the Introduction you use the same key words that are in the rubric (the question). You can paraphrase them, or simply change a few words and the word order. For example, you might begin like this:

It is now fairly common for young people to leave their own countries in order to find work abroad.

This is stating the topic of the essay and it is the “topic sentence” for this paragraph. You should continue to point out that there are advantages and disadvantages in this situation:

As with most important decisions, there are both advantages and disadvantages in the choice that is made.

So, these two sentences introduce the topic of the essay and are all you have to write. The introduction doesn’t have to be long.

It is now fairly common for young people to leave their own countries in order to find work abroad. As with most important decisions, there are both advantages and disadvantages in the choice that is made.

Paragraph 2: Advantages

What advantages did you think of? You may have thought about money. There is a strong chance that a young person who migrates is hoping to secure better paid employment. Furthermore, many migrants to the UK and US want to help out their families by sending remittances (money sent from abroad), thereby taking advantage of working in a country with a strong currency.

Financial reasons are perhaps the most significant when deciding to work in a foreign country. But what other reasons motivate young people to leave their own countries?

It is often said that travelbroadens the mind as you meet people from a culture which is different to your own. This is a point that can easily be expanded on. Think of your own experiences.

So here are two points for a young person to leave his or her own country and go to work abroad.

You should begin paragraph 2 with a topic sentence (i.e. talk about advantages) and then expand on it with concrete examples. Using a topic sentence keeps you focused on what should be included in the paragraph.

Topic sentence: There are several advantages of moving to another country to work.

Give one advantage, followed by a second (and third if you wish). So you could write something like this:

The financial aspect to migrating might well be the most important. A young person who lives in a still-developing country can earn more if he or she works in a country with an advanced economy. Currencies in such countries tend to be stronger than in the migrant's homeland and so money can be sent back to families in the form of remittances. Theses will enable the family to have a better standard of living.

A second advantage to working abroad is that one gets to meet new people and make new friends from different cultures. This can be exciting and it will broaden one’s horizons and outlook.

You might want to continue this line of argument and say that when you meet people from different cultures you can become more tolerant and understanding of people from cultures other than your own.

Other lines of thought could also be included. A young person will gain work experience and learn new skills, which will be useful if they decide to return to their homeland. Moreover, they will (probably) have learned a new language and become proficient in its use, which will also benefit them later in life.

Paragraph 3: Disadvantages

In this paragraph you should mention the advantages you have listed in paragraph 2 and say why there could be drawbacks to each of them.

If we first consider the financial aspects of working abroad, the disadvantages are that the cost of living might be much higher than expected. That would mean that there would be little money to send back home and this disappointment might lead to feelings of regret and guilt about having left the family. There will be taxes to pay and social security too, which may not have been taken into consideration. Accommodation costs could also be much higher than expected.

Moving to a different country can also cause culture shock. After an initial period of excitement, the young migrant might be left with the impression that everything is strange, alien and unpleasant.

Neither is there any guarantee that the migrant will be accepted by the host country. Sadly, many people resent migrants, who are accused of taking jobs, pushing up rents and undermining the native culture.

Now you have to write a topic sentence for this third (or fourth) paragraph.

However, there could be disadvantages for a young person who decides to work abroad.

Continue to mention what these disadvantages are:-

First of all a young person might find that although wages are higher than in their own country, so is the cost of living. It might, therefore, be difficult to make ends meet. This might mean that no (or very little) money can be sent home, and this might lead to feelings of regret and guilt at having left.

Secondly, while it may be that at first a young person might be excited about being in a foreign country, ultimately he or she might suffer from culture shock, which can be extremely unpleasant. The person might wish to return to their own country but perhaps this is financially impossible. Homesickness is a very common feeling.

These negative feelings might also occur if the young person meets people, perhaps colleagues, who are racist and resent foreigners. Although people are generally tolerant, some people are not.

Note: “To make ends meet” is an idiom and is used to mean that you earn and spend equal amounts of money, so that you don’t get into debt.

Conclusion

Now you have to sum up what you have written and give your opinion. Do you think that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

Do you remember what we did in the first paragraph? We used some of the words from the rubric and we will do this again in the conclusion in the topic sentence.

There are both advantages and disadvantages for young people who work abroad. 

Now you give your opinion:-

However, I believe that the advantages by far outweigh the disadvantages, as the experience a young person gains from working abroad and becoming independent will be invaluable.

This is a positive opinion, stating that there are more advantages than disadvantages and it gives a new reason for believing this - experience and becoming independent.

Now here is the opposite opinion which would come after the topic sentence:

I personally believe that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Young people who have never left their families before might well suffer from homesickness, and if they encounter difficulties while in the foreign country this could lead to a state of despair. I think young people should try to work in their homeland and stay close to their families.

Here is the complete essay

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Crucial strategies to use for building and improving reading fluency for FCE or IELTS exam

How to improve your reading comprehension- 3 steps to get a better score on your Cambridge exam 

1. Read extensively – the more you read, the better reader you become. Try to read on variety of topics so that you build your vocabulary. Extending your vocabulary will allow you to spend less time trying to understand unfamiliar words and more chances to understand the material presented in the text.

2. Read challenging materials – There is no point reading things that are easy for you, challenge yourself by reading a text that contains more difficult material e.g. books in original versions, articles, technical books, etc.

3. Read fast – getting used to reading English fast is a key to passing the exam. Do not spend ages trying to figure out the meaning, most of the time you can guess its definition by reading the whole sentence.

Remember practice makes perfect- read an hour a day

NOTE: These 3 above tips are only to be practised when reading a text e.g. book or newspaper,  but not the paper that is going to appear on the exam!

What NOT to do!

During the FCE, CAE or IELTS exam your natural instinct might tell you to spend time reading the text and trying to understand every single word. WRONG! Do not do this! You do not have enough time, so just read each question, then look at the text or even just the paragraph to find the connection and eventually the answer you need. Avoid spending too much time on each question. If you are not sure about the answer, go to the next question. Later, if time allows, you can go back and try the question again.

More detailed strategies and tricks on how to improve your reading skills necessary to pass the test are included in our e-book, which is going to be published by the end of July 2014. Follow us so that we will keep you posted on the release date. In the meantime, do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions regarding the reading part of your exam.

Useful Links :

Extensive Reading: Why? and How? http://iteslj.org/Articles/Bell-Reading.html

Guide to Extensive reading :http://erfoundation.org/ERF_Guide.pdf

Extensive reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensive_reading

Reading difficult material: https://student.unsw.edu.au/reading-difficult-material

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