A Korean Christmas Miracle (Upper-Intermediate Lesson)

ESL/EFL Level: Upper-Intermediate
Lesson Topic: a "Christmas Miracle" story of an American sailor saving a shipload of refugees during the Korean War
Skill Focus: Speaking, Reading, Vocabulary
Approximate Class Time: 2 hours
Lesson Plan Download: korean-christmas-refugees-upper-intermediate-122022.docx
Lesson Overview:

  • The reading passage tells a story from the Korean War of an American captain who used his ship to save the lives of 14,000 Korean refugees. The evacuation happened on Christmas and the captain believed it was a sign of the power of God.
  • Post-reading activities include a section on lifeboat ethics, a role-play about the meaning of Christmas, and a debate about accepting refugees.
  • All lessons come with warm-up questions, comprehension questions, a vocabulary section, and discussion questions.

A wavy ocean

UPPER-INTERMEDIATE Lesson on a Korean Christmas Miracle & Refugees

Warm-up (Pair Work)

  1. During the holiday season, do you try to help others? If so, how?
  2. How would you define a ‘miracle’?
  3. What’s the most uncomfortable voyage (trip) you've been on?

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-- Lesson plan on Christmas & Refugees by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. For questions, contact the author.

Suggested comprehension question answers

  1. He went to the port to save refugees of war in Korea. It was dangerous because the Chinese were arriving soon, the waterway around the port contained explosive mines, and it was winter (cold).
  2. It reminded him of the story of Mary being turned away at the inn from the Bible.
  3. …
  4. …

Vocabulary Answers: 1-d, 2-c, 3-j, 4-g, 5-e, 6-a, 7-h, 8-b, 9-f, 10-i

Endnotes

[1] Adapted from https://www.friesian.com/valley/dilemmas.htm

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