Lesson plan

Objects around the classroom

Aims
• To learn or review vocabulary related to classroom objects
• To review prepositions of place
• To review the structure ‘It’s on the table.’
• To practise using the structure ‘There’s a pen on the table.’

Age/level
Primary
CEFR level A1/A2

Time
60 minutes

Materials
Before the lesson decide which classroom objects you will focus on, such as pen, pencil, folder, desk,
sticky tape, board, clock, etc.
1. a photo of your own classroom or a generic classroom picture, for example:
https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/colouring/classroom
2. a variety of the more mobile objects such as a pen, pencil, folder, book, etc. (one set per learner and
one for the teacher) or flashcards of the objects, for example:
https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/flashcards/classroom-objects-flashcards
3. a set of sticky labels with the names of the classroom objects written on them
4. a classroom picture for learners to draw on, such as the one above (one per learner)
5. a matching worksheet with pictures and words of the classroom objects (one per learner) – optional, for
follow-up/homework

Introduction
This lesson focuses on language to describe classroom objects. Learners will learn or review vocabulary
for a variety of classroom objects, as well as prepositions of place, in order to be able to describe where
things are in the classroom. They will draw, play games and sing a song to practise the language and
structures. There are also several additional suggestions for follow-up activities that can be set as
homework or done in following lessons as review.

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© The British Council, 2017 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
 Lesson plan
Procedure
1. Introduce the Show the class a picture of a classroom. Take a photo of your own classroom or you
vocabulary could use the one from LearnEnglish Kids suggested above. Project it onto the board,
or make as big a copy as possible to stick on the board.
• Elicit what the picture is. Find out what classroom words learners know by
holding up (or walking around the room and touching) examples of the objects
you have decided to focus on.
• Say the names of the objects and get them to repeat the words they don’t
know or have trouble saying. Don’t write them on the board at this point. If they
say the words before they see them written down, it’s easier for them to
remember the correct pronunciation.
• Now write the words on the board over the projected image or on the large
picture stuck on it.
• Give out the sticky labels to learners and get them to go round the actual
classroom and stick them on the correct objects. Give this task to the better-
behaved pupils. They love responsibility and this may inspire rowdy ones to be
better behaved for the next time.

2. Introduce the Next, they are going to review the vocabulary with questions and integrate
prepositions prepositions of place. Put a pen on a table.
• Ask the class, ‘Where’s the pen?’ Get them to point. Say, ‘Good. Listen. It’s on
the table.’
• Show them you want them to repeat with a sweeping hand gesture. Say again,
‘It’s on the table.’ Get them all to repeat it a few times in chorus. Repeat this
with other objects and prepositions.
• Now, on the picture on the board, draw a pen on a table. Give out the copies of
the classroom picture. Learners draw a pen on a table in their pictures. Drill ‘It’s
on the table’ as you do this. Repeat this with other objects and prepositions.
• Learners hold up their pictures. Confirm that they’ve done this correctly.

3. Introduce the • Say, ‘There’s a pen under the table.’ Learners draw it on their pictures.
sentences
• Now draw a pen under the table on your picture on the board. The learners can
then check if they’ve drawn it in the correct place on their table. Then say the
sentence again and get the learners to repeat.
• Do this for several objects depending on the time available. Then they
compare their pictures with the learners next to them.

4. Practise the In small groups, make sure learners have a variety of the objects. These can be real
sentences or flashcards.

www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2017 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
 Lesson plan
• One of the learners makes a sentence, e.g. There’s a book under the chair,
and the other learners race to be the first to put a book under their chair. Then
the next learner makes a sentence, and so on.
• Monitor to help with language use.

5. Song This song is sung to the tune of One finger, one thumb, keep moving.
A pencil, a rubber, keep moving,
We’ll all be merry and bright.
A book, a ruler, keep moving,
We’ll all be merry and bright.
Lay out a pencil, rubber, book and ruler (in the same order as the song) on your desk,
or stick flashcards up on the board.
• Sing the song at a fairly slow pace and point to the objects as you say them.
• Get learners to put their own pencil, rubber, book and ruler in order on their
tables. Sing the song again, but this time the learners should sing too.
• Now tell the learners that you’re going to sing the song again, but with the
objects in a different order. Don’t move your own objects at this point. The
learners should listen and rearrange their objects in the correct order on their
tables. See if the learners can then sing the new song without your support.
• You could repeat this with a different selection of classroom objects. This song
activity can also be reused for different vocabulary in other lessons.

6. Review game Mime using the objects (e.g. for a pen, mime writing with one) and get learners to
guess what it is.
• Get them to put their hands up, rather than shouting out, as it’s a good idea at
the end of the lesson to calm them down a bit, especially after a busy song.
• If you have time, choose a few learners to mime the objects instead of you.

7. Homework or • Prepare a worksheet with pictures of the objects in one column and the words
follow-up in another column for learners to match.
options
• If your learners are compiling a personal picture dictionary over the course,
they could write and illustrate the words they learned in this lesson in it.
• Learners design their own classroom. Encourage them to be creative! They
can then use their drawings to do a picture dictation in pairs, or if they are able
they can write sentences to describe their picture.

Contributed by
Jo Bertrand

www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2017 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.