Coming-of-age ceremonies

Joe | Apr 21, 2025Apr 18, 2025

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this ESL lesson on becoming adults are to:

• talk about adulthood and coming-of-age ceremonies;
• practise vocabulary to discuss becoming an adult;
• watch a video on a tradition marking the transition to adulthood.

With this lesson, students think about adulthood, read summaries of coming-of-age stories and explore vocabulary to discuss growing-up journeys (e.g. milestones, momentous, rite of passage). They watch a video about a coming-of-age ceremony in South Korea and discuss the impact of rites of passage on becoming adults. Students also work in pairs and create a new tradition or ceremony for young people entering adult life. 

WARM-UP AND VOCABULARY

This ESL lesson on becoming adults starts with a warm-up. Students look at the word ‘adulthood’ and think of words connected to it. Afterwards, they choose the correct words to complete story summaries about coming-of-age journeys (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Catcher in the Rye, Harry Potter series). Following that, students discuss coming-of-age stories and their impact. They then complete statements with words or phrases related to becoming an adult (e.g. adolescence, coming-of-age, fully fledged). Next, students read the statements again and discuss to what extent they agree or disagree with them. 

VIDEO AND DISCUSSION

In this part of this ESL lesson on becoming adults, students watch a video about a rite of passage in South Korea. They watch it and make notes considering points presented in the video (e.g. when it’s celebrated, when it started, what activities it involves). Then, students discuss questions about the meaning and impact of coming-of-age ceremonies. Following that, they read statements about views on events marking the transition to adulthood. Students say to what extent they agree or disagree. Finally, they work in pairs to create a new tradition or ceremony for young people entering adulthood. Students use the target vocabulary from the lesson to describe it. They think about where it is, what happens, what it means and what young people learn.

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This lesson plan also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students read a text about a coming-of-age ceremony and complete it with the missing words. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.

WORKSHEETS

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