Countable and uncountable nouns with indefinite articles (a/an, some & any)
Elementary level
Description
Materials
Main Aims
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To provide practice and clarification of meaning, pronunciation and form of Countable and uncountable nouns with a/an, some and any in the context of Food
Subsidiary Aims
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To provide fluency and accuracy speaking practice in a conversation in the context of Food
Procedure (36-45 minutes)
Greet Ss with a warm smile and eye-contact to establish a good rapport with them. 1) I start with a visual pic on ppt of a common local Egyptian breakfast and ask Ss to look at and describe it, 2) then I tell a personalized situation," this is the food I used to have for breakfast, but I've been on diet for a week now so I've to eat food with low carbs and calories (healthy food), then ask Ss "can you guess what I had for breakfast this morning?" give them a few sec to think, let's check from my remain breakfast: 3) evoke Ss' curiosity by Realia (food items I bring in my plastic bag), Ss want to know what's inside my bag. at that moment, I get out the staff one by one, Ss tell what it's, I elicit some words from Ss they already know. 4) I divide Ss into pairs and give them 2 minutes to discuss the same question: "now tell your partner what you had for breakfast this morning?" 5) Ss come up with some answers, I monitor closely and elicit from their responses. 6) I get a feedback by nominating a few Ss and asking them to report back to the class on what their partners said.
I assign the first two activities (write missing letters and matching words with correct columns) to test Ss' current ability and get an idea of what they already know about TL and what they need to learn. 1) I introduce the pic and ask Ss to look at the number and write the missing letter of each word. I'll demo with Ss example No1 and allow 1 min to do this exercise by their own, then pair up to compare their answers before OC feedback. 2) Then I divide Ss into pairs and ask them to match these words with correct column, before that I demo 1st example using open pair technique. 3) I give OC feedback by writing the answers on the board as marker sentences I need in the up coming (clarification) stage. I might correct mispronounced vocabulary orally.
1) Introduce new vocabulary related to the matching activity, I write on the board the word "food" ask Ss what words/adjectives come in front of "food" to describe different kind of food, I elicit from their responses e.g. fast food, healthy food, unhealthy, etc. 2) Pre-teach difficult ones in the activity: Luxury /ˈlʌkʃəri/ (n/adjective) Definition = something very expensive you enjoy but you don't really need. Context "I was invited to a very expensive dinner in a 5-star hotel", what can we say instead of "very expensive"? Elicit the word, model, drill and highlight the stress syllable on the board with different marker color 2) Draw Ss' attention to the three baskets, elicit what's in each basket and pre-teach the difficult vocabulary items in each basket, e.g. vegetables, ice cream, lettuce, mineral water, smoked salmon, steak, biscuits etc. Ss might mispronounce some of these words so I make sure to do some drills (corals and individual) and highlight the stress syllables in color-marker on board. 3) I show Ss pic of cartoon characters and introduce one by one to them till eliciting which type of food each one. 4) Divide Ss pairs to match the characters with the baskets, then nominate for OC feedback. 5) This's followed by independent exercise where Ss need to circle what's in each basket by using (there's/there're), Ss notice TL in bold (some, any, a/an), I elicit from their answers, model, drill TL pronunciation features and write the marker sentences/given examples on board as a written-record. - There's some ice cream. - There isn't any fruit. - There aren't any vegetables. - There're some biscuits. - there's a lettuce. To convey the meaning, I draw Ss' attention away from board, then I elicit the meaning of TL through asking CCQs: a) MS (there's some ice cream) What is in basket 2? (some ice cream) Is it singular or plural noun? (singular) Can you count ice cream? (No) Is it positive (+) or negative (-) form? (Positive form +) b) MS (there're some biscuits) Look at basket 3, what's in it? (some biscuits) Is it positive (+) or negative (-) form? (Positive form +) Is it singular or plural noun? (plural) Can you count biscuits? (yes) what's the singular of it? (a biscuit) c) MS (there's a lettuce) What's in basket 1? (a lettuce) Is it singular or plural? (singular noun) Can you count? (yes) d) MS (there aren't any vegetables) Is this sentence positive or negative form? (Negative) Can you see vegetables in basket 3? (No) So there are no vegetables in basket 3? (Yes) What can we say instead of it? (There aren't any vegetables) When do we use any? (With negative sentences) Ask a question? (Are there any vegetables?) can we use (any) in questions? (Yes) Model and drill sentences to clarify pronunciation (linking, weak forms, etc.) and highlight TL as color-coded. To elicit the form of TL, I ask Ss what parts of speech each word, then I write in different color the grammatical structure underneath the example sentences on board. E.g. "there are some vegetables in basket 3." Subject pronoun+ V. to be + some/any + Noun (C/U)
1) I assign completing exercise by their own in which Ss need to complete the rules with some, any or a/an. First, I chest the HO, demonstrate first example, then ask Ss ICQs: 1- How many sentence you have to complete? (Three) 2- What (+) means? (Positive sentence) 3- what (-) means? (Negative sentence) First they answer individually, then check in pairs before giving OC feedback. 2) If there's enough time, I'd go through more complex completing activity (WB, p.58) where Ss need to write sentences in negative (-) or positive (+) form to test how they're improved. Ss do these 3 sentences individually ( No. 4,6,7), I demonstrate 1st example and ask ICQs: How many sentences you 're going to rewrite? (three) Do you rewrite in positive or negative form? (Both) Then compare their answers in pairs before I go over the answers as a whole class.
Ss practise the TL through speaking activity, as I divide them into pairs (or GW to be more challengeable) : SA has to say affirmative and negative sentences about the basket, SB needs to guess which basket it is. They swap roles. I demonstrate first using open pair technique, monitor closely, get content/linguistic feedback from their responses. Correct errors anonymously on board after praising the good ones.