Description
School: McDonald Elementary School in Rismont, Quebec is a public school for students
K-6. The school has approximately 700 students total and is located in a suburban town
on the North Shore, 45 minutes from Montreal. McDonald is the only Anglophone school
within a 20 km radius and most students (and students’ parents) are born and raised in
Quebec or Canada and come from “middle-class,” English-speaking families with
European heritage (there is not a significant ethnic diversity). McDonald has a solid sense
of community, participation, and inclusion and there are computers in every class.
McDonald tries to expose multiculturalism through education as much as possible, seeing
as the community is not very diverse.
Grade: 5
Group size: 28 students
Subject: Ethics and Religious Culture
Teacher: Emma Robertson
Unit: Religious Occasions and Festivals
Lesson (70 min): Diwali in Hinduism
Stage 1—Desired Results
Established Goals / MELS Competencies
Competency 2: Demonstrates an understanding of the phenomenon of religion.
Religious Culture Theme: Religions in society and the world.
Big Idea/Goal: To help students understand what the Diwali Festival is through roleplay, discussion, and written text by the end of the lesson, seeing as they are not often
exposed to diversity or different cultures in their community.
Essential Questions that will be covered include: What is Diwali? Who celebrates
Diwali? When is Diwali? How is Diwali celebrated? Where do people celebrate the
festival? Why do Hindus celebrate Diwali?
Students will understand what that Diwali is a 5 day festival celebrated by Hindus
(those who practice Hinduism) to mark the New Year (on the Hindu calendar, in
October/November). Students will understand that the festival has religious influence by
Hindu gods and stories, and that Hindus celebrate with different traditions.
Students will know what key terms, such as Diwali (Divali, Deepavali), Festival of
Lights, Hinduism, Hindus, Lakshmi, Sita, Rama, mendhi, Diva lamp, and Rangol pattern,
mean. Students will know how Hindus celebrate Diwali and the religious story/history
connected to the festival.
Students will be able to name forms of expression in Diwali, describe Diwali and put it
into context with other religions, make connections between Diwali and their own
traditions or religious expression, and reflect on their explorations (key feature: explores
forms of religious expression).
Stage 2—Lesson
Material: Cards for role-play, PowerPoint, projector, chalk/smart board, pictures for
role-play, and paper for making lamps. Advance preparation will include organizing
desks in groups of four, preparing for role-playing by clearing a space at the front of
class, and making cards for role-play and PowerPoint.
Motivation (10 min): I will ask students to think about light, look up to the lights, and
reflect on what light means to them. Use wait time and ask students to share during class
discussion and write key words on the board. If students hesitate, ask them to think about
darkness of lack of light. As student’s learned about Hinduism 4 weeks ago during
introduction to religions, I will introduce the essential question, what is Diwali?
Activities: As a pre-assessment, I will ask students to raise their hand if they have heard
of Diwali or the Festival of Lights and write down any elements of the festival that they
know about (how they know about it) and then ask them to share with the class. I will
collect sheets after group discussion and put them in their portfolios. I will have a group
discussion about what we remember from previous lesson about Hinduism and create a
graffiti facts board (what we knew, what we learned, what we want to learn). Students
were asked to research Hindu occasions after the class about Hinduism 4 weeks ago, so
they should have information to share during this discussion (10 minutes).
For the ongoing assessment, I will tell the students that each group will be given a
different sheet with information about Diwali (one will have the history, another will
have the practices, etc.) and they will have to present their topic as a group to the class for
one minute. Establish rules and procedures for when they present their topic: they must
be respectful, they should try to have everyone in the group present an element of the
topic, and they can choose how they are to present their topic (interview, re-enactment,
narrative actors, mimes). They can use any visual aid and are encouraged to show
pictures on the smart board (that I have provided) and look information up online.
Students will work on their role-play for 15 minutes, while I circulate to help groups if
need be, and then the students will present for 7-10 minutes, while take notes on what
they do. (25 minutes)
I will discuss and review with students about what was enacted and add to the
graffiti facts board. All key vocabulary terms should be on the board and the teaching
objectives should have been communicated (5 minutes).
Next, I will distribute paper that students will cut into a lamp and write a sentence
about what light means to them or connecting Diwali to a tradition of theirs or to another
festival they are familiar with (10 minutes).
Closure: I will ask students to start writing a reflection in their ERC journal about
something they have learned in the lesson, one element of Diwali they thought was
interesting and why, and a sentence they did not write about on their lamp (about light or
connection). Students will be given the opportunity to share with the class if they want to
(10 minutes).
Homework: Students can finish their reflection at home and can share at the beginning
of next class, if they are not finished (accommodation). I will ask students to look up
festivals of occasions in Buddhism, as we will be exploring that next class, and write
down 2 that they believe are “big” celebrations.
Stage 3—Evidence and Differentiation
All instruction will be communicated visually and verbally.
Talking Topic/Pre assessment: Students will individually write down (or draw) and
then create a concept map as a class of what they think Diwali is on the board. Students
will also start a “graffiti facts” board during group discussion including what they
remember from previous lesson about Hinduism and what they have researched about
Diwali.
Role-play: Students take on a role of explaining elements of Diwali to the class (what,
who, where, when, why) with notes. Students will be given the choice to style their roleplay as an interview, re-enactment, narrative, or mime, and can choose their level of
verbal participation. Ability grouping will be used, in order for peers to support each
other (accommodation).
Students with special needs can identify Diwali symbol and word combinations
with the pictures from the PowerPoint, while other students prepare their role-play
(modification).
Light thoughts: Students will create a lamp with sentences about light or connections to
their own or other traditions they are familiar with (adaptation- will draw a picture or
write a paragraph, depending on exceptionality).
Journal reflection: Students will write an entry about one concept of Diwali that
impacted them or that they can relate to. The students will have the choice to do a photoessay, written, or concept map reflection.
Appendix
PowerPoint
Cards- 28 students, groups of 4 students (7 cards)
Make a lamp
Pictures
Resources
Information
Barrow, M. Information on Hindu Festivals. Retrieved from http://resources.woodlandsjunior.kent.sch.uk/homework/religion/diwali.htm
Swanson, S. (2013). Retrieved from
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Diwali-The-Festival-of-Lights-957504
Wild Fims India. (2013). Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPwmXRws7FA&spfreload=1
Images
http://www.primarytreasurechest.com/images/stories/resources/Diwali%20%20Flashcards.pdf
https://www.pinterest.com/explore/paper-lanterns/