Lesson Plan
There is/are (places in the city)
Level: Elementary
People: 6-12
Age: teens — adults
Aims: By the end of the lesson, the students will have been presented and practiced «there is and there are» in the context of places in the city.
Time: approximately 1 hour (but can be adapted)
Warm up
timing: ~5 min.
interaction: pairs, whole class
materials: board, markers
1. Write the following categories on the board (you may add more or delete some of them): free time, shopping, health, education
2. Put students in pairs. Set a time limit of 2 minutes for students to brainstorm places in the city for each of the categories.
3. When time is up, elicit the answers from each pair and write the places on the board.
Suggested answers:
Free time: cinema, café, restaurant, park, etc.
Shopping: supermarket, department store, shopping mall, etc.
Health: hospital, chemist’s (pharmacy), etc.
Education: school, university, etc.
Vocabulary
timing: ~15 min.
interaction: individual work, pairs
materials: Worksheet 1
1. Give out Worksheet 1 to each student and explain task 1.
2. Focus on the list of the places and read them as an open class. Drill the difficult words making sure all students pronounce the words correctly.
3. Individually, students match pictures with the given words. Check answers.
4. Get students to check their answers in pairs and then check as an open class.
5. Now, focus on task 2. Set a time limit of 2 minutes for students to guess the places. Check answers.
If time allows, put students in pairs and get them test each other. One student reads the definition and the other student names the place. Then they swap roles.
Example:
S1. You go there if you want to buy food
S2. Supermarket.
Grammar Presentation
timing: ~10 min.
interaction: pairs, whole class
materials: Worksheet 2 Task 1
1. Give out Worksheet 2 and focus on the dialogue in Task 1. Nominate students to read the dialogue aloud. After they have finished, ask them which construction is used to talk about the places in cities (there is / are). Get students to find and underline all the examples of ‘there is/are’ in the dialogue. Ask them what follows after ‘is’ and after ‘are’. Elicit answers.
2. Present grammar on the board. Include the following points:
+ There is a bank near my house.
There are some (2, a lot of) parks in my city.
— There is not an airport in my city.
There are not any (many) cafes near my house.
? Is there a library near here?
Are there any good restaurants near here?
Yes, there is. No, there isn’t.
3. Ask some CCQs to clarify the meaning of grammar:
— Can we use ‘there is’ for more than one thing or place? (no)
— Do I need to use ‘a’ after there is? (yes)
— Can I use ‘any’ in positive sentences? (no)
Practice
timing: ~15 min.
interaction: individual work, whole class
materials: Worksheet 2 Tasks 2-4
1. Focus on Task 2. Individually, students complete the sentences with the correct form of ‘there is/are’ according to the given instructions in brackets (positive, negative or questions). Check answers. Correct any mistake that might occur at this point.
There are; there aren’t; there is; there are; is there; there isn’t; is there
2. Focus on Task 3. In pairs, students unscramble the words to make correct sentences. Get feedback.
1. There are some houses in this town.
2. There is a big zoo in town.
3. There isn’t a school in this village.
4. Is there a church near here?
5. There aren’t two schools in this town.
6. There are a lot of cars in this town.
3. Finally, focus on Task 4. Set a tie limit for students to find and correct the mistakes in the given sentences. Check answers.
1. There is a library round the corner.
2. There are two cats under the tree.
3. There is a flowerpot on the floor.
4. There are many flowers in the room.
5. There are three cars in the yard.
6. There are two birds on the tree.
7. There is a boy and a girl there.
8. There are a lot of students at the conference.
9. There are two portraits on the wall.
10. There are three umbrellas in the corner.
11. There are some cakes on the table.
12. There are two apples on the plate.
13. There are many potatoes in the basket.
14. There are two tomatoes on the plate.
Production
timing: ~10 min.
interaction: group work
materials: none
1. Play the ‘Boasting game’. In groups, students boast about how good their neighbourhood is.
2. Give students some time to think of the places they have in their neighbourhood and prepare their sentences. For example,
My neighbourhood is really cool. There are a lot of shops near my house. There is also a big cinema and a swimming pool…
If you have students from different cities, they can describe their cities.
3. When they have finished the other student(s) in their group declare a winner.
4. Monitor and help. Write down any mistakes students might make during their conversations.
Follow-up
timing: ~5 min.
interaction: whole class
materials: board, marker
1. According to the previous activity, give some feedback. You may write down some of the mistakes on the board and ask students to correct them. Also, praise students for saying good sentences and using grammar properly. Answer any questions students might have.
***
This lesson plan is created for A1 students and covers grammar and vocabulary. All the tasks are easily editable and adaptable. If your lesson is 45 minutes long, you may omit the vocabulary part. If you need to expand the lesson, you may add some of the following activities.
For practicing vocabulary:
1) Letter scramble. Take a list of places that your students have just learned and write a scrambled version of each on the board. Allow students to unscramble the words on their paper. The first one to finish deciphering all the words wins.
2) 20 questions. Students play in pairs. One student thinks of the place (e.g. cinema), the other student asks yes/no questions to guess the place. Then, students swap roles.
For practicing grammar:
1) You may find a map of a city (or ask students to open Google maps for some cities, e.g. Barcelona, Rome, London, etc.). In groups or pairs, students describe what they can see on the map using there is/are.
