Vocabulary and Speaking Lesson Plan for Beginners
Level: Beginner
Aims: To review vocabulary related to food; to practice ordering food from a menu in a restaurant;
Structure: Would you like…? I’d like…..I’ll have…
Time: Approx. 60 minutes
Assumptions: Students are familiar with basic food vocabulary, the target structures in this lesson, and can use simple present tense as well as simple future tense.
Aids: Board; handouts with a dialogue at the restaurant; recording of the dialogue; realia: menus, trays, plates, silverware, etc.
Free TESOL training: How to Introduce New Vocabulary
Free TESOL training: Authentic Material in Beginner Classrooms
-Learn to create professional lesson plans with an accredited TEFL certificate!-
Step 1: Warm up: Revision of vocabulary
Time: 5-10 min; Interactive pattern: group work; Aids: None
Divide the class in groups of 3 or 4 students. Each group is given one food category. For example, fruit for group 1. Each member of the group has to come up with words related to that category. The words cannot be mispronounced or repeated. If there is a mistake, the other groups that are listening to this first group have to clap and identify what type of mistake has been made. The teacher then chooses another group and another category of food for the new group. The game is over when all the categories that the teacher has chosen have been covered. Examples of categories can be:
meats, desserts, diary, and vegetables.
Example:
T: this group has to think of words related to fruit. The other groups have to pay attention. If you hear a pronunciation mistake or if the students in this group repeat one of the words, you have to clap. Are you ready?
S1: pears
S2: watermelon
S3: apples
S4: oranshes (Clap!!! ) The word is oranGes.
Step 2: Listening comprehension: Ordering in a restaurant
Time: 15 min; Interactive pattern: T-S; Aids: menus; pictures; handout with dialogue and activities
T: Do you know what this is? (showing a menu)
S: A menu.
T: Great. Where do we need menus?
S: In a restaurant.
T: That is correct. We need a menu to order food in a restaurant. Today we are going to practice how to order a meal. We are going to listen to a dialogue in a restaurant. I want you to listen and write down all the food words you hear. Do not worry about spelling at this point. (The teacher plays the dialogue and the students take notes. If the students are not familiar with taking notes at this level, then create a list of food words with some extra ones that are not mentioned in the dialogue and have them circle the ones they hear.)
The dialogue the students will listen to is as follows:
Waiter: Good evening. Here is the menu.
Customer 1: Hello! Thanks. What is the dish of the day?
Waiter: Today, the special is lentil soup and zucchini pie.
Customer 2: Mm! That sounds delicious. What would you like, darling?
Customer 1: I do not like lentils. I think I’ll have the zucchini pie.
Waiter: Would you like any salad with it?
Customer 1: Yes, that’d be nice. I’d like lettuce, egg and tomato.
Waiter: Sure, Sir. And, for your Ma’am, what would you like to eat?
Customer 2: I’ll have the lentil soup, with some garlic bread. And the zucchini pie, too.
Waiter: Would you like salad with it?
Customer 2: No, thanks.
Waiter: Would you like anything to drink?
Customer 1: I’ll have water, please.
Customer 2: A coke, please.
Waiter: Certainly.
Feedback: check students’ answers. If necessary, play the dialogue again. Write the words on the board and have them pronounce them. (Answer: lentil soup, zucchini pie, lettuce, egg, tomato salad, garlic bread)
Step 3: Eliciting the function and structures from the students.
Time: 5 min; Interactive pattern – T-S; Aids: board; handout with dialogue
Have the students listen to the whole dialogue again, with the purpose of paying attention to the way the customers order their meals and how the waiter offers something to eat and drink. Write them on the board. Model the examples and have them repeat:
Offering Ordering
Would you like anything to drink? I’ll have water, please.
A coke, please.
What would you like to eat? I’ll have the lentil soup.
I’d like lettuce, egg and tomato.
Step 4: Controlled Practice
Time: 5 min; Interactive pattern Groups of three – Aids: handout with dialogue
Students in groups of three practice reading the dialogue aloud, paying attention to pronunciation, and fluency.
Step 5: Semi – Controlled Practice
Time: 10 min; Interactive pattern S-S; Aids: cue cards with different foods and drinks
Have students change partners and role play the situation at the restaurant without looking at the dialogue. Provide them with cue cards or pictures to substitute the foods and drinks in the original dialogue. If possible, provide the students with realia, such as a menu, pen and note pad, as well as a cup, plate or tray.
Step 6: Free Practice
Time: 15-20 min; Interactive pattern group work; Aids: paper, pens, markers, realia
Divide the class in two groups. Each group will have to brainstorm different kinds of restaurants. Examples: coffee shop, tea house, steak house, Chinese restaurant, etc. Then they have to choose the one they would like to own and create a menu for their own restaurant. Once each group has created the menu, split the groups and have them role-play a conversation, asking about and ordering their favourite food based on the menu created by the other group.
Online TESOL courses: Learn to create professional lesson plans using the communicative approach.