TEFL Lesson Plans

Shopping for Food

Objective:
Sometimes you will want to practice dialogues with your learners in order to give your learners confidence, especially if they are about to go on holiday or have an extended stay in an English speaking country. When practicing these dialogues you will undoubtedly cover many grammar targets. This shopping dialogue covers making requests and how to handle countable and uncountable nouns. You can do this lesson with large or small classes, and adapt it so that you could teach children or adults.

Level:
Elementary – Lower Intermediate.
This lesson is suitable for teenagers and adults.

Lesson Length:
There should be enough material here for a lesson lasting 60 – 90 minutes.

Materials:
Realia: food (plastic or real)
Pictures / flash cards: food

Target Language:
Asking things in a shop
Making requests
Uncountable and countable nouns

Elicit:
Set the scene by eliciting a situation where you have no food and need to go to the corner shop to buy food. Using realia and/or pictures, elicit a list of what food you want to buy. Now elicit a situation where a shopkeeper and customer interact. Do not tell the students what each person would say. Rather, elicit what each character might say. Ask your learners if there are other ways of making requests. It is important for students to understand the various ways of communicating in a shop.

For example, look at the various ways a shopkeeper may ask to help a customer.

• May I help you.
• How can I help you?
• What would you like?
• May I help you?
• How can I help you?
• How may I help you?
• Is there anything you need?
• Is that all?

The level of your learners will determine how many different forms you will want to elicit.

Shopping Dialogue:

How can I help you?
May

B. Yes, I’d like to buy some _________ please.
I’d like
I want to buy
I want

A. How much would you like?
many

B. I’d like ______, please.
I want

A. Okay, that costs ___________, please.
will be (that’ll be)

B. Sure. Here you are.
No problem.
Of course.
Okay.
Certainly.

A. Thank you

B. How much do the ________ cost?
does
are the ___________?
is

A. They cost ___________.
It costs
They’re _____ per/for ______.
It’s

B. Okay, I’ll have ___________, please.
I’d like

A. That’ll be ___________.

B. Sure. Here you are.
No problem.
Of course.
Okay.
Certainly.

A. Thank you.

Pair work:
Low-level learners will want as much practice as possible. Remember to swap partners at regular intervals. Monitor your students closely. Make sure that your learners are not reading from the board. Wipe off as much as possible until all that remains is a basic writing frame.

You may wish to do a close activity at the end of your lesson to consolidate what your learners have practiced.