Posted in EFL Teacher Resources, Ideas, Thoughts, Concerns, Public Education

English Lesson Plans and Handouts on Holidays

Did you know that the second Monday of January is National Clean Off Your Desk Day? I just found out today and … I better start tidying these piles right away if I want to make it till Monday!!!

Anyway, this post is to inform you about the many national days we are probably not aware of and suggest their potential inclusion in EFL lessons! I bet your learners would love to celebrate and learn about Get A Different Name Day, Ice Cream Day, Fresh Breath Day, Make A Difference Day, Pancake Day, or even Get Over It Day! I know my learners would and I hereby declare that No Housework Day is my personal favourite (that’s on April 7th, though, I hope I don’t forget by then!).

Surfing the net, I came across Sean Banville’s ESL Holiday Lessons Website, which provides a list of all the national days. Clicking on each day, you have at your disposal a wonderful lesson plan for the day you have selected! Each lesson plan promotes both productive and receptive skills, and you can choose to download it in Word-Processing, or PDF format, or even as an online exercise (you can also download the audio input in MP3 format)! There is also plenty of vocabulary and grammar practice!

The moment I came across this site, the first thing that crossed my mind was all these days at school that learners are tired or do not feel like having a lesson (before/after a school trip, the last days before Christmas or Easter break, some Fridays, etc) and the days that they have begged me to do something other than the coursebook! I believe that lessons on holidays would be a pleasant, yet educational deviation from the coursebook! Perhaps it would be a good idea to keep monthly calendars on the classroom anouncement board and maybe choose one or two days per month that we would like to find more about! We can also ask learners to work in groups and find information about some of these special days!

Can’t wait to use them in class (maybe after some adaptation, as I work with beginner and elementary level learners)! If you make it sooner than me, do feel free to provide us with feedback!