This lesson is designed to raise awareness of slavery, both historical and modern-day. The lesson begins by asking learners to consider what they know about the issue, then prepares them to read an article about the topic. Learners end the lesson by saying what they have learned and how their understanding might have changed. The lesson involves plenty of speaking, a vocabulary focus, a jigsaw reading and a focus on the passive voice.
You can use this lesson on the UN's World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, 30 July, or at any time of the year.
Note: This lesson includes sensitive topics. Introduce them with care, avoid graphic details, and set clear expectations for respectful discussion. Be aware that some learners may find the content upsetting or may have personal connections to issues such as exploitation. Remind them they can step out or not participate if necessary.
Lesson outcomes
- Discuss the issue of modern-day slavery
- Use vocabulary related to slavery, e.g. trade, force, campaign
- Develop reading and speaking skills through a jigsaw reading activity and other tasks
- Review past simple and present simple passive forms
Materials
The lesson plan and student worksheets can be downloaded below in PDF format. There is also a presentation for a low-print lesson. You can use the presentation with worksheets 3 and 4 (texts for a jigsaw reading activity).
Procedure
- Write on the board, 'Is slavery a thing of the past?' or show Slide 1. Check that learners understand both the broad meaning of slavery, and that 'a thing of the past' means something that no longer happens today.
- Put learners into pairs/small groups. Hand out Worksheet 1 (it could be shared between 2-3 learners), or show Slide 2. Ask learners to discuss the questions in Task 1.
- Ask a few pairs/groups to give some feedback. Keep it brief.
NB: The Cambridge dictionary defines slavery as ‘the condition of being legally owned by someone else and forced to work for or obey them’.
- Ask learners to look at Worksheet 1, Task 2, or show Slide 3.
- In pairs/small groups, learners discuss how how each picture might be related to slavery. Monitor, but don't give any answers or explanations at this stage. If necessary, explain that picture A shows cotton.
- Learners remain in pairs/small groups. Hand out Worksheet 2 or show Slide 4. Make sure they understand that (n) means the word is a noun, (v) means that it is a verb, and (adj) means it is an adjective.
- Ask learners to match the words and definitons.
- Elicit answers from the learners or show Slide 5: 1f; 2i; 3l; 4a; 5e; 6c; 7j; 8k; 9b; 10g; 11h; 12d
- Ask learners to discuss in small groups how the words could relate to the topic. There are no specific answers here.
Note: Many of these words are above B1 level However, they are important for reading about and discussing the topic.
- Put learners into pairs and give each pair either Worksheet 3 or Worksheet 4 to share. Distribute the two worksheets evenly throughout the class.
- Exercise 1: Ask learners to read the article and match each paragraph with a picture from Worksheet 1, Task 2, or display Slide 3. They should discuss their ideas.
- Check answers with the class.
Suggested answers Worksheet 3: 1C (Ancient civilisation), 2A/B (cotton being grown/African slaves on ships), 3E ( a child worker)
Suggested answers Worksheet 4: 1A (cotton), 2D (clothing industry), 3F (chocolate) - Exercise 2: Give the pairs of learners a few minutes to discuss what surprised or shocked them.
- Exercise 3: Put the learners into new pairs. Each new pair should have a learner who read Worksheet 3 and a learner who read Worksheet 4. Ask them to tell each other about what they read and discuss their reaction to it.
- If your learners are already familiar with the passive voice, briefly elicit from the class what they already know. For example: it is formed using the verb 'to be' + the past participle; it is used to talk about processes, or when we are focusing on the action rather than the person who did the action.
- If the passive voice is new to your learners, write on the board:
Some factories employ children.
Children are employed by some factories.
Show the difference in the verb forms, and how we use 'by' to show who does the action. Then discuss why we might choose the passive voice here (to put more emphasis on the children, rather than the factories). - Show learners a similar example using the past simple form of the passive voice, e.g.:
Slaves were taken to the Americas.
The traders took slaves to the Americas.
Discuss the fact that the passive form focuses more on the slaves and doesn't even mention who did the action because it is obvious. - Give learners Worksheet 5 or show Slide 6. Ask learners to complete the sentences from the article, using the verbs in the box in the correct form of the passive voice. If necessary, complete the first sentence with the class as an example.
- Check answers with the class: 1. were taken, 2. were sent, 3. was abolished, 4. are controlled, 5. are forced, 6. is often produced
- Then ask learners to write their own sentences using the past/present simple forms of the passive voice. They can write about the topic of historical or modern-day slavery, or about past or modern-day production/industry, e.g.
The first car was made in Germany.
Today, cars are made in many countries around the world. - Monitor and help as needed, then elicit some examples from the class.
This page has grammar information and a useful video related to the passive voice: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/passive-voice/
- Ask learners to look at Worksheet 5, Task 2, or show Slide 7. Put learners into small groups and ask them to discuss the questions. They may now be better able to see the relevance to their own lives (e.g. that they may buy products which were produced using modern-day slavery, and understand, if they didn’t before, that slavery is still very much a problem nowadays).
Note: This could also be used as an extension activity or a topic review in the following lesson