Oktoberfest ESL Lesson Plan

OBJECTIVE & OVERVIEW

This Oktoberfest ESL lesson plan contains PDF worksheets, activities, and digital materials for intermediate B1 students. By the end of the lesson, students will gain a deeper understanding of Oktoberfest,  and be able to describe its traditions. Additionally, students will be able to describe and promote festivals using basic quantifiers in English.

PREVIEW & DISCUSSION

This ESL lesson plan on Oktoberfest starts by having students describe images showing a variety of Oktoberfest traditions and activities. Students then discuss questions about Oktoberfest and other festivals. Next, students use adjectives to describe some of the traditions from the first part. Finally, students take a short quiz about Oktoberfest facts. They can refer back to this part and check their answers after watching the video.

VIDEO & LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Students engage in one more brief, preview discussion question about the importance of cultural traditions like Oktoberfest. After that, students watch a short Oktoberfest travel guide video. In the video, a man named Rick shows you inside the fairgrounds of Oktoberfest. He talks about the parades in Munich leading up to the festival, the attractions at Oktoberfest, and even inside the beer tents. The visuals supplment Rick's clear voiceover, making this video accessible for B1 intermediate students. Students listen for some key information and answer some questions about Oktoberfest. Finally, students can check the answers to the short quiz about Oktoberfest facts they took in the preview part.

DISCUSSION & EXERCISES ON QUANTIFIERS

In the viewing follow-up, there are some discussion questions prepared for students to explore the video and the topic of Oktoberfest in more detail. Then, students do an activity using quantifiers in the context of some of Rick's quotes from the video. These quantifiers include:

• about
• several
• one of
• each of
• tons of
• plenty of

In the following exercise, students choose the quantifier that fits certain usage rules. Finally, students can use the quantifiers to make more sentences about Oktoberfest in preparation for the communicative activation described below.

DESCRIBING & PROMOTING FESTIVALS

In the final, communicative activity in this lesson, students can choose between two options. In the first option, students do a role-play exercise describing a festival to a friend who is visiting them. The other option is designed for students to come up with their own idea for a new festival, and then promote it during a media press conference. In either activity, students are instructed to use some of the quantifiers they learned and practiced in the previous stages of the lesson. There are also a variety of topics provided for students to describe or talk about in regard to the festival.

Benefits of using this Oktoberfest ESL lesson Plan:

Understanding Quantifiers: Students will gain a better understanding of how quantifiers such as "about," "several," "each," "plenty of," "tons of," and "one of" are used in context. 

Vocabulary Expansion: Students will learn and practice vocabulary related to festivals, celebrations, and cultural traditions. These mainly include adjectives like "wild," "tipsy," and "huge."

Cultural Awareness: This lesson plan on Oktoberfest promotes cultural awareness and exposes students to German traditions, which could help students for a variety of travel, educational, and cross-cultural purposes.

Describing Festivals: Students get the opportunity to describe a festival in their own city or region, or even another city or region. This is an important skill to develop, especially since festivals are an integral part of many local cultures around the world.