Category Archives: "Rabbie Burns"

The 25th of January is Burns Night in Scotland. As such, I thought I would put together a simple lesson plan for teens and adults to practice English and also to teach about Scotland. I hope you enjoy the lesson plan. Don’t forget to leave any comments or suggestions. Happy Burns Night to all in Scotland.
Activity Time:  30 + Minutes (In total) Materials required: Lesson plan notes ,Student printable handout Skills practiced: Speaking, listening and Vocabulary. Level: Intermediate +
1. Introduction (5 – 10 minutes)
Tell the class they are going to watch a video. Ask them to watch the video and answer what the significance of the 25th of January is. Answer: Burns night is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, author of many Scottish poems. It is held on or near the poet’s birthday, 25 January. 2. Robert Burns Poetry. (10 + minutes) Write or project the Robert Burns quotes on the white board one at a time. Remind them that the poetry was written in the 1700’s. Tell them that you want them to explain what they think each sentence means. Tell them that there are no wrong answers. Original Version                                                      Idiomatic Translation                     

“Oh my love is like a red red rose that is newly sprung in June”

“Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim’rous beastie,    Small, crafty, cowering, timorous little beast, O, what panic’s in thy breastie!”                              O, what a panic is in your little breast!“The rank is but the guinea’s stamp,             The rank is but the guinea’s stamp, The man’s the gowd for a’ that.”                               The man’s the gold for all that.“Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,                        Nice seeing your honest, chubby face, Great chieftain o’ the pudding race!”                      Great chieftain of the sausage race!
3. Watch the video again. (5 minutes)
Tell the students that they are going to watch the video again. This time they have to listen and fill in the missing words. Explain that there are between one and two words missing. They don’t have all the text so they must listen carefully. Hand out the text.
Before they watch again, ask the students in pairs to predict the missing words.
4. Brainstorm (5 Minutes) Write Scotland on the board and ask the class to brainstorm what they know about Scotland. Ask them if they know of any inventions that have come from Scotland.5. 10 Things Invented In Scotland.http://youtu.be/So4mlHiFxec Tell the class they are going to watch another short video. Tell them it’s about some of the things invented in Scotland. They must watch and complete the following activity.   10. ___________________ – Robert William Thompson & John Boyd Dunlop
9. ____________________ – J. M Barrie
8. ____________________ – James Braid
7. ____________________ – Robert Watson-Watt
6. ____________________ – Alexander Cummings
5. ____________________ – Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle
4. Telephone                            – ____________________
3. Bicycle                                 – ____________________
2. ___________________   – ____________________
1. _________________     – __________________
 

Robert Burns Night

The 25th of January is Burns Night in Scotland. As such, I thought I would put together a simple lesson plan for teens and adults to practice English and also to teach about Scotland. I hope you enjoy the lesson plan. Don’t forget to leave any comments or suggestions. Happy Burns Night to all in […]