13 - 17
Adults
B1
60
In this lesson, students learn about Nelson Mandela. They begin the lesson by preparing for and reading a text about the life of Nelson Mandela and create a timeline of his life. They also learn about Mandela Day which takes place on July 18th each year. On Mandela Day, people give their time to make a positive impact in their own communities. Learners end the lesson by working together to prepare a presentation of things they could do for Mandela Day. You could take this forward with your class so that they actually choose one idea and do it, then write about it later.
The lesson can be used on Mandela Day or at any time of the year.
Lesson outcomes
- Read a text about Nelson Mandela and identify the key events of his life
- Explain what Mandela Day is
- Discuss and present ideas for Mandela Day
Materials
The materials can be downloaded in PDF format below. You can choose to use either a presentation or a student worksheet for this lesson.
- Lesson plan
- Presentation
- Student worksheet
Procedure
Stage
10
Task 1: Pre-teaching vocabulary and prediction
- Show slide 2 of the presentation or refer learners to Task 1 of the student worksheet.
- Learners work individually or in pairs to match words and meanings. They can share ideas or use dictionaries if available.
- Check the answers with the class and check pronunciation of the words.
- Explain that the words are from a text about Nelson Mandela. If learners are familiar with Mandela, you could invite them to say/guess how the words are related to his life.
Answers: 1g, 2c, 3h, 4b, 5a, 6i, 7d, 8e, 9f
10
Task 2: Lead-in discussion
- Show slide 3 of the presentation or refer learners to Task 2 of the student worksheet.
- Ask learners to discuss questions 1-7. They can do this as a whole class or in small groups. If you are using the presentation, ask learners to make notes. If learners discuss in groups, collect some suggestions.
- At this point, don’t say if the suggestions are correct or not. Learners will find the answers in the text.
10
Task 3: Read for main meaning
- Show slide 4 of the presentation or refer learners to Task 3 of the student worksheet.
- Ask learners to read the text quickly to see if their suggestions for questions 1-7 (Task 2) were right. You could give them a time limit for reading.
- Then tell them to discuss the answers to the questions in pairs/small groups. If you are using the presentation, you may need to show slide 3 again.
- Check the answers with the class.
Answers:
1. South Africa’s first black president
2. He was arrested for his work with the ANC (a political group campaigning for black people’s rights).
3. 28 years
4. Nobel Peace Prize
5. He died in 2013.
6. 18 July (his birthday)
7. People take 67 minutes of their time to do something for other people.
10
Task 4: Read for more detail
- Show slide 5 or refer learners to Task 4 in the student worksheet. Ask them to read through the text again and to add events from Mandela’s life to the timeline. They can compare answers in pairs.
- Check the answers with the class.
Answers:
1918 – Mandela was born
1944 – joined the ANC
1960 – demonstration against apartheid (69 people killed)
1962 – arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment
1990 – released from prison
1993 – awarded Nobel Peace Prize
1994 – became first democratically elected president of South Africa
2013 - died
20
Task 5: Follow-up discussion and presentation
- Show slide 6 or refer learners to Task 5 in the student worksheet.
- Put learners into small groups and explain the task. In groups, they should think of some ideas to celebrate Mandela Day. Remind them of the number 67 – the ideas should involve this number. They should choose the three best ideas and be prepared to present them to the class.
- Walk around as learners work and help where necessary. Give them a time limit and remind them to choose the three best ideas.
- When groups are ready, ask them to present their best ideas to the class. If you have a large class, put groups together to present their ideas.
- Learners vote for the best ideas.
60
Follow-up (optional)
- Choose one idea and get the class to work together to put it into practice. Get them to write a report about it.
Downloads
File attachments
Lesson plan335.37 KB
Presentation (PDF)230.63 KB
Presentation (PowerPoint)491.29 KB
Student worksheet249.67 KB
When I went through this lesson content, I discovered that it was possible to write great lesson contents that appealed to the affective domain.