Places in my Town Lesson Plan

Notes:

This is a nice easy lesson which introduces students to different places in their town and uses the present continuous to ask and answer questions.

IMPORTANT: This lesson should be taught after the Transport & Travel lesson as it uses the transportation vocab from that lesson in the "Where are you Going?" board Game.

Lesson Procedure:

Warm Up and Maintenance:

See our "Warm Up & Wrap Up" page.

New Learning and Practice:

1. Play the "Snake Follow" game
This lesson starts in a really fun way. Get everyone to line up behind the teacher. Get everyone to shout "Where are you going?" and on that prompt the teacher shouts back "Over here!" - then start walking to a different part of the classroom, with everyone following in a line behind you (like a snake).

Keep doing this as you snake your way around the classroom at different speeds. Other students can also have a go at being the head of the snake.

Play the "Snake Follow" game

2. Introduce the vocab
Before class prepare the flashcards for the different places in the song: school, the park, the shops, the beach, my friend’s house, the station, the zoo, home.

Hold up each flashcard and elicit / teach the word. Have students pass each flashcard around the class with each student saying the word as s/he passes the card.

3. Play "Flashcard Slam" and "Missing Flashcard"
First play "Flashcard Slam" – lay all the flashcards, picture up, on the floor and get everyone to sit around the cards in a circle (for large groups, have a few sets of flashcards so you can do this in groups). Teacher says "Touch the station!" and everyone must quickly slam their hand down on the correct card. Play this until every card has been practiced.

Then play "Missing Flashcard" – with the cards all laid out on the floor, tell everyone to close their eyes. Then the teacher takes away one card. Say "Open your eyes!" and everyone must shout out the missing card. Continue to play with other missing cards until all vocab has been practiced.

Play "Flashcard Slam" and "Missing Flashcard"

4. "I’m going to…"
You'll need two sets of the places flashcards for this game, which practices the key structures "Where are you going?" and "I’m going to …".

Get everyone to close their eyes as you place each card from the first set around the room (e.g. place the zoo card in the corner, the park card under a desk, etc.). Next, tell everyone to open their eyes. Give a card (e.g. zoo) from the second set to a student. Have the following conversation (model):

Teacher: "Where are you going?"
Student: "I’m going to the zoo"
Teacher: "Ok then. Goodbye"
Student: "Goodbye"

The student must then search for the zoo flashcard. When s/he finds it s/he can return to you for another card. As the first student is searching, give another card (e.g. the beach) to another student and have the same conversation. Eventually, you will have students searching all over the place and returning for another card – it’ll be a bit hectic but great fun – plus the key structures are being practiced.

Extension to the "I'm going to..." game:

If you have already taught the "Transport & Travel" lesson you can add an extra element to the short conversation as a review, as shown below:

Teacher: "Where are you going?"
Student: "I’m going to the zoo"
Teacher: "How are you going there?"
Student: "I'm going (e.g. by bus, by car, by bicycle, by rocket, on foot, etc.)"
Teacher: "Ok then. Goodbye"
Student: "Goodbye"

The student then searches for the card acting out the transport (e.g. steering the wheel of a car, zooming like a rocket, etc.). Each time the student searches s/he must use a new means of transport.

5. Sing the "Where are you Going?" song
Put the places flashcards on the board in the order of the song (or put up the song poster). Get everyone to stand up and show them the gestures (see below). Then run through the song a few times.

Lyrics for the "Where are you Going?" song

Chorus:
Where are you going?
Where are you going?
Where are you going right now?

Verse 1:
I’m going to school,
I’m going to the park,
I’m going to the shops,
I’m going to the beach.

Chorus:
Where are you going?
Where are you going?
Where are you going right now?

Verse 2:
I’m going to my friend’s house,
I’m going to the station,
I’m going to the zoo,
I’m going home.

(download MP3 here)

Gestures for the "Where are you Going?" song

The gestures are very simple and fun:

during the chorus everyone does the ‘question gesture’ (both palms up, looking quizzical) whilst swaying in time with the music.
during the verses everyone either walks around the classroom or walks on the spot – in time with the music.

We also have a video that you can stream in class to sing along with (Internet connection required):

6. Play the Where are you Going board game
Play the "Where are you Going" board game This is a great board game to play in groups of 2-4 players. Put the class onto groups and give out the boards and game cards (you’ll need to print and cut out before the lesson). If you can blow up the size of the game board to A3 when you copy (if not, A4 size is fine).

Each group needs a die and each player a small counter (pen tops, etc., will do.). Then explain the rules and model how to play the game (the rules are on the worksheet). Then let everyone play. As they are playing, walk around and help out and make sure the structures are being used.

7. Read classroom reader "Where's Mother?"
Let's finish the lesson with a nice story which uses the target vocab. Before class, download and print off the reader "Where's Mother?". As you read through the story, point to the pictures and elicit the different place the bird flies over. Ask questions about the features of each location, for example:

Teacher: (pointing to the picture on page 4) Where is Tessa flying over?
Students: A park!
Teacher: A park? Why do you think so? What can you see?
Students: Trees, grass and a pond.
Teacher: Ok, let's check .. (reading) .. "Tessa flies over the park". Yes, you are right! Good job!
etc.

Get the students really involved in the story by asking lots of questions about the features of each place. You can ask follow up questions about the features of the places in the students' neighborhoods, such as:

Teacher: (pointing to the picture on page 4) Does your park have trees, grass and a pond, Ken?
Student: It has trees and grass but not a pond.
Teacher: Good! What else does your park have in it, Ken?
Student: Swings and a cafe.
Teacher: That sounds like a nice park! How about your local park Mary? What does your park have in it? etc.