Lesson plan

Title
Topic
UK Culture: Celebrating Diwali

Aims
To develop students speaking skills
To develop reading skills
To practice first conditional sentences
To practice making notes for speaking

Age group
12 - 17

Level
B1 +

Time
60 90 minutes

Materials
1. Diwali Student Worksheet
2. Internet links: http://www.diwali.co.uk/ - an excellent site giving load of information about Diwali

Introduction

These materials focus on the topic of festivals using Diwali as a starting point for talking about
festivals in your students' country of origin.

Lesson plan
Procedure
1. Word
Association

2 Speaking

3. Reading
Matching
activity

Write the following words on the board: food festival parties.

Ask students to talk about what they associate with these words. Give students some
time to talk about their associations and then ask for feedback, writing any new
vocabulary on the board.
Ask students if there are any festivals celebrated in the Autumn in their region or town
and if they are religious?

Write the following paragraph headings on the board

Celebrations in the temple

Diwali and families
Celebrations in Leicester
The meaning of Diwali
The legend associated with Diwali

Students then read the text on the worksheet individually and do task 1 - matching each
heading to a paragraph. Then compare answers in pairs.
Feedback and then ask students to answer the 3 comprehension questions in pairs.
4 Post- reading
(optional)

Tell students to look at the post reading task on the worksheet.

This task is suited to lower levels but can be skipped with higher level classes. Do the
description around the class, paying attention to their use of the Present Simple.
Encourage use of linking words/phrases like: after that, and then, next, before..ing or
after..ing, finally.
Students work in pairs to answer the questions in 3. Ask them to justify their choices.

5. Task 3 Speaking about

superstitions

This task requires use of the first conditional: If you do X, Y will happen. Students may
need prompting so give them a couple of examples of superstitions in your family or
country: If you walk under a ladder it will bring you bad luck. Guide students as much as
needed with prompts: are there any superstitions related to good luck? Bad luck?
Numbers? Weather? If your class are able and interested: are people in their country
superstitious? Is there any foundation in superstition? Old wives tales?
Write any superstitions they come up with on the board and encourage the use of first
conditional sentences.
Students can then work in pairs to discuss the questions in task 3 on the worksheet.
Feedback to class

Lesson plan

6.
Reconstructing
the Legend

Build this legend with lower levels but ask more advanced groups to do it in pairs. There
should be no referring back to the text! Students work in pairs first to retell the legend.
Ask for a volunteer to retell the legend to the class.

7. Note-taking /
Speaking

With higher levels you can enrich this activity by encouraging description of feelings,
memories associated with special times and adjectives to make their conversation more
interesting.
Encourage students to take notes before they interview their partners. Monitor and make
notes of any good use of language or errors you would like to correct.

Contributed by
Clare Lavery