Thanksgiving

Introduction

Thanksgiving, which is celeberated on the second Monday of October, is only a few days away. It is a time when people give thanks for their fortunes in the past year and Canadians have been celebrating it for over 50 years now.

Reference: http://cutlerish.tumblr.com

In this lesson, we are going to learn about this interesting holiday in Canada as well as complete a number of tasks to not only get more familiar with it, but also improve our reading comprehension skills and vocabulary.

Reference: http://www.elllo.org

Task

In this lesson,

1) you will first answer a number of questions about Thanksgiving by surfing the net,
2) then read short passage on Thanksgiving and answer a number of questions,
3) review some new words from the passage and complete some vocabulary exercises,
4) and finally write a short paragraph (100 words) to summarize what you learned from this lesson using the 6 new words on the table.

Process

Part 1 - Warm-up Questions

Your answers should not exceed 40 words and should be typed, in Times New Roman, 12 point font.

Question 1:
In what year did Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving for the first time? You may also use the following link or any website of your choice to answer the question.

https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/canada/thanksgiving-day

Question 2:
How is Thanksgiving celebrated in Canada? Your response needs to be at most 40 words long and you may discuss the food and customs. You may also use the following link or any website of your choice to answer the question.

https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/canada/thanksgiving-day

Question 3:
If this is your first Thanksgiving or one of the firsts, what do you think you would like to give thanks for and why? Write a response of 40 words maximum.

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Part 2 - Reading Comprehension

Now click on the following link or copy-paste it into your address bar and read a passage on Thanksgiving in Canada. Please spend no more than 6 minutes on reading the passage.

http://eslfreepress.typepad.com/the_esl_free_press/canadian-thanksgivin…

Now answer the following questions:

Your answers should not exceed 40 words and should be typed, in Times New Roman, 12 point font.

1) What is the main dish on Thanksgiving and what are the ingredients?

2) Who was the first person to celeberate Thanksgiving in Canada according to the text and why did he do that?

3) Why was Thanksgiving moved to the second Monday of October?

4) Is Thanksgivng a religious holiday? Why or why not?

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Part 3 - Vocabulary
Your answers should be typed in Times New Roman, 12 point font.

New Word	Part of speech (Verb, Adverb, Adjective)	Meaning	Example
Traditional
Explorer
Ceremony
Harvest
Religious
Celebrate

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Part 4 - Paragraph Writing

Now write a paragraph summarizing what you learned from today's lesson. You should use the 6 words on the table.

Your answers should be typed in Times New Roman, 12 point font.

Evaluation

As a CLB level five learner, you should be able to write short, simple to moderately complex descriptions, narrations, and communications about familiar, concrete topics related to daily life and experience.
Reference: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/pub/language-benchmarks.pdf

Your writing sample will be evaluated based on the following rubrics.

1) Paragraph organization: main idea and supporting ideas,
2) Range of vocabulary, correct usage, and spelling,
3) Correct usage of intermeduate level grammar,
4) Content.