How do I get to the…?: Directions, Places in a city + Prepositional phrases

Students will learn how to navigate through a city or town by learning directional verbs and vocabulary for places in a community. This lesson focuses on speaking and listening. It can be used in beginner–intermediate adult community classes or high school conversation clubs. At the end of the lesson, students should be able to ask “How do I get to the ___?” and answer the question by using a map as a reference.

Time: 1–1.5 hours

Materials:

• device to play audio file (phone, i-pod, etc)
• speakers
• white board
• board markers
• paper
• markers
• colored pencils

Vocabulary / Key Phrases:

*Cha Cha Slide phrases

• clap your hands
• to the left
• to the right
• take it back
• one hop this time
• right foot, let’s stomp
• left foot, let’s stomp
• turn it out
• slide to the left
• slide to the right
• criss-cross
• reverse
• hands on your knees
• freeze

~Questions and Directions

• How do I get to the _(place)_? // ¿Como puedo llegar al _(lugar)_?
• Turn right at the _(place)_. // Dobla a la derecha al _____.
• Turn left at the _(place)_. // Dobla a la izquierda al _____.
• Go straight for _#   blocks. // Sigue derecho por _#_ cuadros.

~Prepositional Phrases

• It’s in front of the _(place)_. // Queda en frente del  ____.
• It’s next to the _(place)   . // Queda al lado del ____.
• It’s behind the _(place)   . // Queda detrás del ____.
• …

~Places in a city

• street // calle
• alley // callejón
• park // el parque
• high school // el colegio
• post office // la oficina de correos
• church // la iglesia
• …

 

Dialogue:

Person A: Excuse me, how do I get to the _(place)_?

Person B: 

• Turn right at the ______.
• Turn left at the ______.
• Go straight for _#_ blocks.

• It’s in front of the ____.
• It’s next to the ____.
• It’s behind the ____.

Person A: Thank you.

Person B: You’re welcome. Have a nice day.

Person A: You too!

 

Lesson: 

1. Converse with students as they enter the classroom. “How are you today? How was your weekend?” etc. Perhaps bring some food to share. (5 minutes)

1. Cha Cha Slide song and dance: Write the phrases from the song on the white board, say the phrases, have the students repeat, and demonstrate the movements. Listen to the song once together, and point to the phrases on the board. Listen for a second time, and dance together. (20 minutes)
2. Present a hand-drawn map. Test the students’ prior knowledge by asking how to get somewhere on the map. (5 minutes)
3. Write the directional verbs and phrases on the board. Ask the students to repeat. Demonstrate with the map and with movements around the room. Example: “How do I get to the table? Turn left and walk straight…” (5-10 minutes)
4. Brainstorm places in a city. Example: park, school, church, etc. (5-10 minutes)
5. In pairs, students make their own maps, and label all the places. (20 minutes)
6. Again, in pairs, students practice the dialogue, changing roles and the locations where they’re trying to go. (10 minutes)
7. The students present their dialogue in front of the class. (10 minutes)
8. To assess their knowledge, the teacher asks each student how to get somewhere on one of the maps. (5 minutes)
9. “Goodbye! See you next week.” Clean up. (5 minutes)

Family + possessive adjectives

This lesson focuses on speaking and listening. It can be used in beginner to intermediate adult community classes or high school conversation clubs. At the end of the lesson, students should be able to identify family members on a family tree, form simple sentences in the present tense, and use possessive adjectives correctly.

Time: 1–1.5 hours

Materials:

• family photos
• markers/ colored pencils
• paper
• white board
• board markers
• post-it notes or index cards to write jeopardy questions

Vocabulary / Key Phrases:

~Questions and Key Phrases

• Who is he/she? // ¿Quien es? 
• He/She is ______. // Él/Ella es _____.

• What is his/her name? // ¿Cómo se llama?
• His/Her name is ____. // Se llama _____.

• How many ___ do you have? // ¿Cuántos ___ tienes?
• I have _#_ _(family members) . // Tengo _#_ ________. 

~Verbs

• To Be (I am, You are, He/She is, We are, You are, They are) // Ser (Yo soy, Tú eres, Él/Ella/Usted es, Nosotros somos, Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes Son)
• To Have (I have, You have, He/She has, We have, You have, They have) // Tener (Yo tengo, Tú tienes, Él/Ella/Usted tiene, Nosotros tenemos, Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes tienen)

~Family member nouns

• grandparents // abuelos
• grandmother, grandfather // abuela, abuelo
• parents // padres
• mother (mom), father (dad) // madre (mamá), padre (papá)
• daughter, son // hija, hijo
• granddaughter, grandson // nieta, nieto
• siblings // hermanos
• sister, brother // hermana, hermano
• niece, nephew // sobrina, sobrino
• wife, husband // esposa, esposo
• girlfriend, boyfriend // novia, novio
• aunt, uncle // tía, tío
• cousin // prima, primo
• step-mother, step-father // madrastro, padrastro
• step-sister, step-brother // hermanastra, hermanastro
• mother-in-law, father-in-law // suegra, suegro
• sister-in-law, brother-in-law // cuñada, cuñado

~Possessive adjectives

• my // mi, mis
• your // tu, tus
• his/her/its // su, sus
• our // nuestr@, nuestr@s
• your (pl) // su, sus
• their // su, sus

 

Lesson: 

1. Converse with students as they enter the classroom. “How are you today? How was your weekend?” Phrases from last week, etc. Perhaps bring some food to share. (5 minutes)
2. Tongue Twister: “My sister Sandra has short, black hair. My brother Brad has big, brown eyes.” (5 minutes)
3. Show your own family photos: “I have three sisters. Their names are Jennifer, Christina, and Laura.” etc. (5 minutes)
4. Ask the students questions to test their prior knowledge. For example: “How many siblings do you have?” (5 minutes)
5. Write the vocabulary and verb conjugations on the board, with Spanish translations if necessary. Hand out a photocopy or ask the students to copy the material in their notebook. Say each word and ask the students to repeat.Use a family tree from a popular TV show or movie, and ask students practice questions. For example: “Who’s Lisa’s sister? Maggie is her sister.” (For beginning-level students teach half the words on the vocabulary list.) (15 minutes)
6. Students make their own family tree or a fictional telenovela-like family tree, labeled with the vocabulary. (20 minutes)
7. Students present their family trees in front of the class. Example: “This is Helen. Brad is her husband. Alberto is her brother. Etc.” (10 minutes)
8. Jeopardy:The students will be divided into teams of 3 or 4, and they will answer questions from three categories: Vocabulary, Grammar, and Random. (15 minutes)
9. “Goodbye! See you next week.” Clean up. (5 minutes)

Day 1: Introductions in English

This is an introduction for the first day of class, combining basic phrases with interactive activities. The objective of the lesson is to get to know the students and create a comfortable environment for speaking English.

I have used this lesson with an adult community English class and high school English conversation clubs, but it can be utilized as a first day introduction for any type of English class. It’s simple enough for basic learners and a good introduction for advanced learners.

Time: 1–1.5 hours

Materials:

• paper ball with questions
• tape
• markers
• colored pencils
• board markers
• white board
• paper

Vocabulary / Key Phrases:

• My name is… // Me llamo…
• I am from… // Yo soy de…
• I am __ years old… // Tengo __ años…
• There are ___ people in my family… // En mi familia somos ___.
• I like to… // Me gusta…
• I am a/an… // Yo soy…
• I want to learn English because… // Quiero aprender íngles porque…

Lesson: 

1. Converse with students as they enter the classroom. “Hi, my name is Sarah. What’s your name?” etc. Perhaps bring some food to share. (5 minutes)
2. Icebreaker: Arrange the chairs in a circle, and pass the paper ball around. When a student catches the ball, he or she must peel a layer off the ball, read the question on the piece of paper, and answer it. For example: “What’s your favorite book? My favorite book is Norwegian Wood, by Haruki Murakami.” (Other questions include: What’s your name? Where are you from? How old are you? When’s your birthday? What’s your favorite food? What’s your favorite sport? What’s your favorite movie? What’s your favorite TV show? What’s your favorite genre of music?) (10 minutes)
3. Present a chart to introduce yourselves. The chart has eight categories: NAME, NATIONALITY, FAMILY, AGE, HOBBIES, PROFESSION, REASONS for learning English, and an IMAGE that describes you. Write all the vocabulary and phrases on the white board (with Spanish translations if necessary), and explain the meaning of each phrase. The students repeat each phrase. As an example, introduce yourself to the students with your chart. (15-20 minutes)
4. The students create their own chart. (20 minutes)
5. They take turns introducing themselves to the class. (Advanced speakers can talk about each category in greater detail.) (15 minutes)
6. The students split into pairs, and they practice using third person to introduce their partner to the class. For example, instead of saying, “I am from Colombia,” they say, “Yenni is from Colombia.” (Advanced speakers can try to introduce their partner without looking at their chart.) (15 minutes)
7. Ask the students if they have questions. (5 minutes)
8. “Goodbye. See you next week!” Clean up. (5 minutes)