Lesson: Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Level Pre-intermediate, Elementary

Lesson Focus Speaking
Objectives Students will be able to distinguish between countable
(singular) and uncountable nouns and expressions of quantity
using a, an, and some.
Students will be able to use countable and uncountable nouns
correctly in sentences using “I would like”.
Students will be able to use the correct indefinite article
(a/an) with countable nouns.
Students will be able to ask “What would you like?” to find out
what food and drink their friends would like.
Assumed Knowledge Some knowledge of food and drink items will be useful, but not
essential. Just bear in mind, if the students are also learning
new vocabulary, it might take them a while to learn and
remember the difference between countable and uncountable
nouns and which expressions of quantity they should use.
Vocabulary Food and drink items (salad, bread, spaghetti, chicken, egg,
rice, sandwich, apple, banana, watermelon, cookie, cake, milk,
juice, water), a, an, some, I would like (you can easily
substitute this for “I want” if you prefer), Here you are,
Thank you
On Board Food vocabulary in two lists (1 countable & 1 uncountable)
Materials Nice food pictures (flash cards and PPT),
whiteboard/blackboard, flash cards of food and drink (small
and large), small (half of A4) pieces of paper (one for each
student), small food cards (three for each student), board
game, die.
Classroom Set-up Desks in rows of two, or in groups of 4.
Warm up exercise To get the students excited about food, show the flash cards
(Time: 2 minutes) or PPT of nice looking food. As you go through the pictures ask
the students if they like it. If your students know the
expression “I like…” have them say what food they like using
the full sentence.
Presentation 1. Have students look at the food vocabulary on the board. Go
(Time: 10 minutes) through the words, getting the students to repeat them a
few times. You can also use the flash cards or PPT for this
if you want to use more visual material, but make sure you
also have them written on the board. If this is the first
time the students are learning the food vocabulary, you
 should spend extra time on this.
Ask students if they know any more food vocabulary. Write
it on the board.
2. Choose one food item that is a countable noun (e.g. apple).
Ask the students if they can count apples. If they don’t
understand, on the board show them 1 apple, 2 apples, 3
apples, and so on. Now choose an uncountable noun, such as
milk. Ask if they can count milk. Explain that it is almost
impossible to count all of the drops of milk, therefore it is
uncountable. (Note: chicken, watermelon and cake can be
both. For the purpose of this lesson they should be used as
uncountable nouns since you would not eat one whole
watermelon in one go. Therefore when saying “I would like”
the students should use ‘some’ with these foods).
3. Ask “What would you like?” Model the answer for the
students. Showing a food flash card, say “I would like a
banana.” Have students repeat the question and a few
different answers.
Explain that when using countable nouns in the sentence “I
would like…” you need to use ‘a/an/a number’. When using
uncountable nouns the students should use ‘some’ before
the noun.
4. Check the students’ understanding before moving onto the
practice. All of the students should ask you “What would
you like?” You should respond with some correct and some
incorrect sentences. The students should put their thumbs
up if they think it is correct and thumbs down if they think
it is incorrect.
Practice 1. Each student draws a picture of food they want on a small
(Time: 15 minutes) piece of paper. They should then decide if it is countable
or uncountable. The teacher designates two spaces at the
front of the classroom: one for countable and one for
uncountable nouns. When students finish their picture they
should put it in the correct space. The teacher can walk
around the classroom and help any students who are having
problems. When all of the students are finished, the
teacher should review all of the pictures and correct any
mistakes. To review, the students should ask “What would
you like?” and answer “I would like (expression of
quntity)(food/drink).”
2. Circle game: If you have a manageable number of students
they can sit in a big circle for this game. If not, they can
 stay in their seats and the teacher can explain the order
they will go in.
Tell the students you are all at a restaurant. Everyone
should ask “What would you like?” together. The teacher
goes first by saying, “I would like a sandwich.” Then
everyone asks the question again, and the student next to
the teacher answers with, “I would like a sandwich and an
apple.” As you go around the circle or classroom, each
student must try to remember what their classmates said
before them. When they start to forget a lot of things,
they can start again with one item. If a student makes a
mistake, correct them and have everyone repeat the
correct sentence. Once the students get used to this game
they should try to go quickly.
Production 1. Card game: Preparation – Depending on your class size,
(Time: 30 minutes) this can be played in groups or students can play
individually and walk around the classroom. Students should
be given 3 cards each or per group.
The aim of the game is for individual students or groups to
get 3 of the same card.
If playing individually, the students should walk around the
classroom with their cards. They meet another student and
play rock, paper, scissors. The loser asks “What would you
like?” and the winner replies with “I would like
a/an/some…” If the losing student has the card they say
“Here you are.” and give the winning student the card. If
they don’t have it, they say “sorry” and find another friend.
When a student has 3 of the same card, they should go to
the teacher. They are the winner.
If playing in groups, use the same process except they can
stay seated. One student from each group can play rock,
paper, scissors to see which team will go first. The team
who goes first can choose any team to ask for a card.
2. Board game: Students will play a board game with a
partner or in groups of 3/4. They should use the key
expressions: “What would you like?” “I would like
a/an/some…”
Consolidation Review the new grammar learnt by holding up food flash cards
(Time: 3 minutes) and asking students “What would you like?” They should
answer with the correct sentence and expression of quantity.
Additional activities: 3x3 Bingo template
Coin Flick game
Crossword
Cryptogram
Word Unscramble
Word Search